This is in relation to the report which appeared in the local news paper on April 26, ‘Goans still demand unconditional apology from Portugal,’ I am a Goan and believe it smacks of arrogance for Mr Sinari to presume to speak for me.
I have no apology demand from Portugal of contemporary times, other than for the fact that it permitted an unelected (provisional government’s) President Mário Soares, to recognise India’s sovereignty over Goa, Daman and Diu in 1974, without any ascertainment whatsoever, of Goan people’s wishes, as the relevant international law required.
There were nationalist Goans who were anti-Portuguese, without being pro-Indian protagonists, and their wishes were hardly taken into account, despite Jawaharlal Nehru’s known views and, particularly the following statement in Bombay on June 4, 1956: “I want to make it perfectly clear that I have no desire to coerce Goa to join India against the wishes of the people of Goa, but the point is that we feel that Goa’s individuality should remain, and that whenever the time comes for any changes, internal or other, it will be for the people of Goa acting freely, to decide upon them.”
As I was transitioning into adulthood in the late 50s, I myself began acquiring and vocalising sentiments that were antagonistic to Portugal’s colonial-dictatorial rule in Goa, although I used to be fearful of a mid-night knock on the door from PIDE, the Portuguese secret police. I romantically looked up to organisations like the Azad Gomantak Dal to help facilitate the decolonisation process, given that its name was synonymous with “Free Goa Party.”
However, it did not take very long before I became disillusioned after learning from people in the know, particularly Goans living across the Goan border, about some of the anti-Portuguese activists’ thuggish and extortionist activities on Goa’s border against hapless and poor Goans, who used to have to cross the borders to travel from and to non-Goan territory during the Indian-imposed blockade.
Stories abounded at the time about how some portrayed themselves as “freedom fighters” when they were really fugitives from justice in Goa.
Sinari appears to live in the past, because Portugal itself has moved on, and most authoritative people in Portugal acknowledge the shortcomings of its colonial past.
The Portuguese government’s issuing of passports is not confined to Goans. Passports are available to all those (including Gujaratis and other natives of Daman and Diu) who have entitlement to birth registration in Portugal or in the Portuguese civil registration system. Thousands of Indians with ancestry in Goa, Daman and Diu must be considering themselves fortunate that the Portuguese registration of their birth opens windows of employment opportunity in Europe.
Bravo Alvaro. Like you I also being Goan do not ask for an apology from the Portuguese, nor do I give right to this Chor Sinari to ask one on my behalf nor want him to represent me or any other Goan who has not given him any Vakalatma. These pension fighters only make noise to show ghantis that they are alive. IZMOL given by Goans to them may be doing some harm . In Konkani we say POCHONA. Chora Sinari your breed is fast deminishing and very soon you will be forgotten.Before you leave this earth say sorry for all the Goans for LOOTING them.
ReplyDeleteMr Sinari does not speak for me or other Goans, he is just another freeloader of Goa.
ReplyDeleteBesides those genuinely entitled for Portuguese passports, many Indians too have obtained Portuguese passports through false documents.
Why doesn't Mr Sinari mention the names of the Goans who, according to him, "still demand unconditional apology from Portugal"? I am sure those Goans could be counted in the fingers of one hand. Anyway, he is not the spokesman for Goans, even if he can lay a claim to be the man who puts in the spoke among Goans.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the so-called "freedom fighters", I have mentioned before about those "fugitives from justice" who have portrayed themselves as freedom fighters. It is said that all they did was to fight for their own freedom from the clutches of justice.
Why should Portuguese apologise to the Freedom Farters of Goa? Who is Sinari to demand the apology? The dog Sinari is a murderer and a rapist along with cowdung Naguesh Karmali. They will find solace only in Manohar Parrikar and the BJP.
ReplyDeleteI doubt the future generation of Goans will want to remember the likes of Sinari. Under the Indian occupation Goans have nothing BUT misery bestowed upon them. If Sinari has the guts he should clean up the mess created by the Indian occupation if not shut up and die with the curse of True Goans.
ReplyDeleteIt might look strange that, in using the Niz Goenkar (NG) medium, I am commenting on my own statement made to, and kindly published by, the Navhind Times (NT) recently. Unfortunately, NT has a 500-word restriction and, consequently, the text of my letter underwent a truncation.
ReplyDeleteThe NT-excised segments of the text of my statement are as follows and I thank NG to allow me to complete the "story".
... As Goa, at the time, had no import restrictions as did India, I was also dismayed to learn in the late 50s that some of these self-styled freedom fighters were known to engage in smuggling of “foreign” goods from Goa into India, thus participating in economic sabotage against India. So much for their nationalism! In the wake of this, I was soon to comprehend the real meaning of Samuel Johnson’s pronouncement of patriotism being the last refuge of the scoundrel!
I have noted Mr Sinari’s vague pronouncements in the past in regard to “Portugal’s attempts to prove” how “superior” Portugal is, and I cannot help but think he may be carrying a chip on his shoulder or an inferiority complex, for there has not been any such palpable official Portuguese attempt since 1974.
I don’t understand what Mr Sinari means by “Portuguese atmosphere” and, if indeed it is Portugal’s intention to preserve that atmosphere, why does he have to be paranoid and intolerant about it? Surely there are both good and unsavoury aspects in every culture, and if it provides Goans with the opportunity of benefiting of the good ones, I would have thought it is a part of cultural enrichment.
I am puzzled at Mr Sinari’s branding as “immature” Portuguese Ambassador’s comparison of Portugal’s record in India vis-à-vis other colonial powers – it appears to he a case of malapropism. What does appear immature, however, is his charge that Portugal “interferes in the internal matters of Goa” - a most ludicrous concept I can imagine in the face of bare reality.
... Why, it is understood that countless Goan “freedom fighters” or “political sufferers” have availed themselves of the entitlement not only for their own direct benefit but also for their descendants. Portugal itself has NO financial benefit in this, but it is a measure of that country’s commitment to the peoples whose lands they once ruled – in marked contrast with what, for example, Britain did, in many cases treating its Indian population in East Africa as second class citizens at the time of their exodus some decades ago.
Thousands of Indians with ancestry in Goa, Daman and Diu must be considering themselves lucky that the Portuguese registration of their birth opens windows of employment opportunity in Europe vis-à-vis poor prospects in this regard in overpopulated India. Mr Sinari’s energies might be better applied to fight graft in Goa so that our poor Goan youth do not have to bribe their way to ministerial levels just to secure even a peon’s job in a government department.
I fail to understand Mr Sinari’s paranoia about the potential for creation of a “breed of neo-pro-Portuguese Goans!” If that culture appeals to them, then it is their wish and democratic right to adopt it. Or does he fear a ridiculous possibility of Portugal returning to Goa as a ruler? As to his questioning Goans’ loyalty in a far-fetched scenario of a conflict between Europe and India, why would their rôle be any different from, say, that of people of Indian origin holding citizenship of other European nations like Britain, Belgium, France etc.?
It might look strange that, in using the Niz Goenkar (NG) medium I am commenting on my own statement made to, and kindly published by, the Navhind Times (NT) recently. Unfortunately, NT has a 500-word restriction and, consequently, the text of my letter underwent a truncation.
ReplyDeleteThe NT-excised segments of the text of my statement are as follows and I thank NG for letting me use this space.
... As Goa, at the time, had no import restrictions as did India, I was also dismayed to learn in the late 50s that some of these self-styled freedom fighters were known to engage in smuggling of “foreign” goods from Goa into India, thus participating in economic sabotage against India. So much for their nationalism! In the wake of this, I was soon to comprehend the real meaning of Samuel Johnson’s pronouncement of patriotism being the last refuge of the scoundrel!
I have noted Mr Sinari’s vague pronouncements in the past in regard to “Portugal’s attempts to prove” how “superior” Portugal is and I cannot help but think he may be carrying a chip on his shoulder or an inferiority complex, for there has not been any such palpable official Portuguese attempt since 1974.
I don’t understand what Mr Sinari means by “Portuguese atmosphere” and, if indeed it is Portugal’s intention to preserve that atmosphere, why does he have to be paranoid and intolerant about it? Surely there are both good and unsavoury aspects in every culture, and if it provides Goans with the opportunity of benefiting of the good ones, I would have thought it is a part of cultural enrichment.
I am puzzled at Mr Sinari’s branding as “immature” Portuguese Ambassador’s comparison of Portugal’s record in India vis-à-vis other colonial powers – it appears to he a case of malapropism. What does appear immature, however, is his charge that Portugal “interferes in the internal matters of Goa” - a most ludicrous concept I can imagine in the face of bare reality.
... Why, it is understood that countless Goan “freedom fighters” or “political sufferers” have availed themselves of the entitlement not only for their own direct benefit but also for their descendants. Portugal itself has NO financial benefit in this, but it is a measure of that country’s commitment to the peoples whose lands they once ruled – in marked contrast with what, for example, Britain did, in many cases treating its Indian population in East Africa as second class citizens at the time of their exodus some decades ago.
Thousands of Indians with ancestry in Goa, Daman and Diu must be considering themselves lucky that the Portuguese registration of their birth opens windows of employment opportunity in Europe vis-à-vis poor prospects in this regard in overpopulated India. Mr Sinari’s energies might be better applied to fight graft in Goa so that our poor Goan youth do not have to bribe their way to ministerial levels just to secure even a peon’s job in a government department.
I fail to understand Mr Sinari’s paranoia about the potential for creation of a “breed of neo-pro-Portuguese Goans!” If that culture appeals to them, then it is their wish and democratic right to adopt it. Or does he fear a ridiculous possibility of Portugal returning to Goa as a ruler? As to his questioning Goans’ loyalty in a far-fetched scenario of a conflict between Europe and India, why would their rôle be any different from, say, that of people of Indian origin holding citizenship of other European nations like Britain, Belgium, France etc.?
i am really surprised not to hear from some individuals who had different opinion regarding the above. one is gone into coma and and the other into the cave.
ReplyDelete@d2d7e150e8a7dcc2d291a0c820d2b22b
ReplyDeleteDid the drugs pedlers let you go? are you still taking some cheap Goan drugs?
For me and many others Goa was invaded by some crooks with the support of crooks like you. Likes of you are destroying our culture and selling us to the Indians.
Why dont you name the individuals , so we can decide on the correctness of your innuendo.
ReplyDelete