DAY OF JOY

[JOHN DE FIGUEIREDO]

Attached is an article that may be of interest.

John M. de Figueiredo

[Roland Francis]

Historically the letter of protest would have taken much courage and caused repercussion to its signatories, but are you sure it should have been a Day of Joy for Goans?

It made no dent in Salazar’s thinking (although that was Salazar’s fault, not theirs) not was it responsible for the ultimate repeal of that Act, so what is it that we should be celebrating.

Roland Francis
416-453-3371

On Fri, Jul 5, 2024 at 8:03 AM JOHN DE FIGUEIREDO <john...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

Attached is an article that may be of interest.

John M. de Figueiredo

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[John de Figueiredo]

We should celebrate the fact that those four brave Goans, by doing what they did, created a record that we, Goans, have the right to self-determination. Had they not done what they did, those individuals who denied that right to us, Goans, might have turned around and say: “Did you ask for that right? For future reference, you should always ask.” Now they cannot say that.

This is why I consider what happened to us, Goans, as a historical fatality, because we did not exercise that right and because we will never again be able to exercise that right.

I view the Declaration of Self-Determination as the most important document in the history of Goa. I would like to respectfully propose to all my fellow Goans that they should frame that Declaration and hang it on a wall in their houses. I have already done it myself. 

John M. de Figueiredo 

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On Jul 6, 2024, at 9:33 AM, Roland Francis <roland....@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Frederick Noronha]

This is what the lawyer-politician Radharao Gracias posted on his Facebook page some days ago. Would anyone know how accurate it is? Though I met Joao Cabral while he was alive (in the late 1990s or early 2000s, not sure), probably others like me might not have been aware of these details. FN

PS: Nehru Seizes India was available online some time ago (full text), but can't seem to locate it now.

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[John de Figueiredo]

Roland,

A small correction. The document mentioned in my article was not a letter. It was a declaration signed by the four democratically elected members of the Government Council. This declaration was approved unanimously by the Government Council in a session that took place on July 4, 1930, chaired by Governor Joao Carlos Craveiro Lopes. The document did not just reject the Acto Colonial. It asserted that we, Goans, do not give up our fundamental human right of self-determination. After he returned to Portugal, Governor Craveiro Lopes (father of future President of the Portuguese Republic Francisco Higinio Craveiro Lopes) publicly condemned the Acto Colonial, risking being disciplined by the military and sent to jail. (To my knowledge, this never happened.)

John M. de Figueiredo 

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On Jul 6, 2024, at 9:33 AM, Roland Francis <roland....@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Luis Dias]

Frederick, the book is "Nehru seizes Goa", and I've found it online here:

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015016919634&seq=5

Best wishes,

Luis

_____________________________
Dr. Luis Francisco Dias
Casa da Moeda
Near Head Post Office
Panaji, Goa - 403001
INDIA

Tel: (+91) 9011051950
http://luisdias.wordpress.com
http://www.childsplayindia.org

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.

[Roland Francis]

Thank you for that interesting addendum. I now realize the importance of that Declaration document. 

Sometimes the demand for self-respect can be more powerful than that of any Act that proscribes it. 

Roland Francis
416-453-3371

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[Nuno Cardoso da Silva]

Much changed in Portugal, throughout the 19th and 20th centuries in respect to our idea of Portugal. Mistakes were made - like the Acto Colonial - and corrected. And the idea of “Portugal from Minho to Timor” was not just a slogan from the Estado Novo. It is still true today, although confined to the space between Minho and Algarve. The idea being that we accept as Portuguese all peoples from the old Ultramar - and even Brazil - as long as they feel Portuguese and wish to work with us building our nation. In that sense, "Portugality" is a real concept.

 

Nuno Cardoso da Silva

 

 

Sent: Sunday, July 07, 2024 at 2:46 AM
From: "John de Figueiredo" <john...@sbcglobal.net>
To: goa-rese...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [GRN] DAY OF JOY

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[John de Figueiredo]



To Roland:

Forgot to tell you that the Declaration was not initiated by the Government Council. Dr. Oliveira Salazar had asked all Government Councils of the overseas territories for their opinions on the Acto Colonial. The Declaration was a response to that request. It is a legal document. It speaks highly for Menezes Bragança that he was able to contain his indignation at the Acto Colonial and draft a relatively mild criticism with a relatively modest request for greater autonomy. Although the Declaration was a voice in the desert, the fact that it exists in the annals of our history is a big deal, and in my opinion, the greatest deal in the history of Goa.

John M. de Figueiredo 

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On Jul 7, 2024, at 1:51 PM, Roland Francis <roland....@gmail.com> wrote:



Thank you for that interesting addendum. I now realize the importance of that Declaration document. 

Sometimes the demand for self-respect can be more powerful than that of any Act that proscribes it. 

Roland Francis
416-453-3371

On Sat, Jul 6, 2024 at 11:56 PM John de Figueiredo <john...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

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[Roland Francis]

It would be useful to refresh our memories if you could give us an idea of the harm done to Goans and their aspirations with the Acto Colonial. 

Thanks.

Roland 

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[Nuno Cardoso da Silva]

Not wishing to be part of an authoritarian Portugal, Goa and Goans had deserved the right to independence. Over 450 years of autonomous existence were more than sufficient to have the world respecting their right to sovereignty. Nehru's India thought otherwise and freedom was replaced by irrelevance. Had we been smarter, in Portugal, and such fate might have been avoided...

 

Nuno Cardoso da Silva

 

 

Sent: Sunday, July 07, 2024 at 5:30 PM
From: "Roland Francis" <roland....@gmail.com>

To: goa-rese...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [GRN] DAY OF JOY

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[Pedro Mascarenhas]

Roland

The Colonial Act, which will form part of the future Constitution of 1933, defines all occupied territories as an Empire. Colonization was seen as a divine plan for the nation and the civilizing work would be based, not on education or religion, but on work. The Indigenous Statute was approved, which racially, socially and culturally discriminated against natives and gave them the conditions for acquiring citizenship.

The fields become crops with a single and obligatory culture, as was the case with cotton in Angola and Mozambique, with the black population forced to cultivate it to the detriment of their own subsistence. Hunger, disease and violence against the natives became widespread, which would later give rise to the first legitimate revolts against the Portuguese State, as happened in the north of Angola, in 1961, with the peasants of Baixa do Cassange.

Video.

https://ensina.rtp.pt/artigo/o-imperio-de-salazar/

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[Roland Francis]

Many thanks Pedro for your brief and summarized explanation of the Act and its purpose. 

Your link to the video provided an enlightening context to the circumstances in Portugal and Europe that gave birth to it. It was the 1930s and our Antonio was probably riding on the chariot of the expectation of world domination that was already germinating in the minds of his buddies Adolf and Benito. Otherwise there was no other sensible explanation that required such a regressive piece of legislation intended to replace a chapter of the existing constitution. It also made no sense to replace a smooth law with a potentially disruptive change. 

It was an informative video even if with my inadequate Portuguese I followed along no more than 25% of the contents. 

I was fortunate to find on a Google search a very nice explanation via an article by Sushila Mendes in a Goa newspaper that described that event while in the last paragraph providing one more explanation, a raison d’être if one could could call it, of John de Figueiredo’s Declaration Statement in protest of the Act, that started this discussion. 

https://www.navhindtimes.in/2023/01/29/magazines/panorama/lessons-from-history-acto-colonial/

Thanks to all. 

 

Roland, Toronto. 

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[John de Figueiredo]

Roland is asking about the harm done to the Goans, not Africans.

While I am not an expert in Constitutional Law, this is my understanding:

Following the trend initiated by Pombal and by Dom Pedro IV, the 1911 Constitution envisioned progressive decentralization of the administration of the overseas territories with the goal of they eventually becoming self-governing entities. The Acto Colonial and the 1933 Constitution reversed that trend and redefined those territories as “Império Colonial Português”. So the Goans, all the sudden, were redefined as assimilated (Lusified) colonial subjects. Which means that the people of Goa would never become a self-governing entity. In essence, it established two classes of citizens. This legislation could be invoked to justify all sorts of discriminatory policies that had been abolished since the days of Pombal. For example, individuals who wanted to join the military had to have both parents born in Portugal. The sons of a Portuguese European, Ruy da Cunha Menezes, a distinguished member of the Portuguese military, could not join the armed forces because his wife was Brazilian. The family moved to Brazil where they distinguished themselves in the Brazilian armed forces.

This is why I cannot understand how those individuals who believe that Goa was a colony (whatever “colony” means) can logically also condemn the Acto Colonial. It seems to me they should have applauded it instead of condemning it. Unless, of course, they believe that only the Goans can say that Goa was a colony, and not Europeans like Dr. Oliveira Salazar. 

Menezes Bragança condemned the Acto Colonial because he believed that Goa was an integral part of the Portuguese Nation and in many ways different from the rest of India, and that the Goans were equal to those born in Minho or Algarve, and that they should have the right to decide on their future. In short, he believed in the doctrine of the 1911 Constitution.

I already discussed this in greater detail during my conversation with Dr. Cristiana Bastos.

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On Jul 10, 2024, at 10:29 PM, 'Pedro Mascarenhas' via Goa-Research-Net <goa-rese...@googlegroups.com> wrote:



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[Roland Francis]

Thank you for your usual erudition John. You say something which continues to make the subject more and more interesting to me. 

The next question that pops up is what made Salazar repeal the Act. Wiki gives credit (almost solely it seems) to Froilano de Melo.

Quote 

The Act was repealed only in 1950, in part because of the contributions of Froilano de Mello, a Goan Catholic doctor and an independent member of parliament in Lisbon.^[1] He represented Goa in the Assembly of the Republic. He fought for the rights of Portuguese Indians. De Mello was so successful that, from 1950, Goans regained their status and were treated in equal terms like other Portuguese citizens from the metropolis.^[1]

I don’t think a hardhead like Salazar would be swayed by the soft graces of a Goan intellectual. Without diminishing Dr De Melo’s role, he Salazar being an economist, there must have been a practical, monetary push that made him repeal it. 

Whoever it was, one or a group, I wonder if all the Goans who have made Portuguese passports and left en masse for Britain and Europe, continuing to do so till today, spare a thought for those who have made it possible for them to have changed their lives. 

Froilano de Melo is the uncle of Adelino Francisco de Melo to whom my maternal aunt Emilia Araujo (of Loutolim) was married. Almost every summer holiday I spent in Goa was at Benaulim in that ancestral house where I drank, dined and made merry under the penetrating, watchful eyes of a large portrait of Froilano de Melo, who by the way with his white goatee had the demeanour of the Count of Monte Cristo. I knew little of him then, other than that he was married to a Swiss woman whose pictures also hung in that hall. 

Roland. 

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[John de Figueiredo]

Dear Roland,

Thank you for your kind words. I am not an expert on the history of the Estado Novo so I cannot comment on what led to the repeal of the Act.

Regarding Froilano de Melo, I had written about him in one of my Notes on the history of Escola Médica and will be happy to send you that Note separately if you do not have it in hand.

Best regards,

John

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On Jul 13, 2024, at 2:59 AM, Roland Francis <roland....@gmail.com> wrote:



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[albe...@sapo.pt]

Roland

........... one or a group, I wonder if all the Goans who have made Portuguese passports and left en masse for Britain and Europe, continuing to do so till today, spare a thought for those who have made it possible for them to have changed their lives. 

My take:

The Portuguese passport is emptying Goa, with the majority of Catholics not skilled in London, where they are exploited. The ghost of the colonizer or Salazar continues to harm Goa. Few Hindus from Goa queue up outside the foreign consulate. The ghost of the Inquisition prevents them from going there. 

----- Mensagem de Roland Francis <roland....@gmail.com> ---------

Data: Thu, 11 Jul 2024 11:03:45 -0400

De: Roland Francis <roland....@gmail.com>

Assunto: Re: [GRN] DAY OF JOY

Para: goa-rese...@googlegroups.com

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.

----- Fim da mensagem de Roland Francis <roland....@gmail.com> -----

[Roland Francis]

Albert, part of what you say with regard to getting unskilled, lower paying jobs, is true of the first generation but not of the next. That first wave living rough ensure their children no longer suffer from a lack of education and therefore better lives. 

As for Hindus not emigrating using Portuguese passports, why should they? They just benefit from the assets, the low lying fruit on the tree left by the emigrating Christians. 

Roland.

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[Eugene Correia]

The  issue of immigrating to UK on Portuguese is easy. Many are immigrating because tthere are not  too many jobs in Goa. That's the main reason. Some could be going for the betterment of their children.

However, its one blessing that Portugal has provided to its colonized people. 

Different perspectives of the Act. Some still maintain Portugal should have held a plebiscite or rather given control of the land into Goan hands.

The case of Pondicherry is often cited. France did a magnanimous act by letting go of its colony. 

Would it be different for Goa is Portugal had done the same? Goans would be unable to rule within the India landscape. Goans lacked political expertise.

Sushila Sawant Mendes is daughter of a nationalist,  Adv Louis Mendes. From that perspective, her views reflect what the  Bombay nationalists stood for. 

Whatever happened is now history. However,  the Act was  not so honourable to the people of the colonies. Pversess empire is just a hollow term.

Eugene Correia 

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[Rowena]

Hi, I'm looking for someone to possibly do fieldwork and research on some aspects of the real estate market in Goa. Should have social sciences background and worked with quantitative and qualitative methos.

If there are enthusiastic persons, please let me know at the earliest.

Regards, rowena 

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[Eugene Correia]

The Liberation issue is much a "talking point" these days, as it was after India's military march in Goa. Leo Lawrence, if I remember correctly, was Portuguese Consul in then Bombay. I have the book and had read it. Now I have an e-book of it. Whatever position those Goans who spearheaded the Liberation movement were bravehearts. They were seized with nationalist ideas, much due to the work of Dr. Rammanohar Lohia and Dr. Juliao Menezes with Tristao de Braganza Cunha spurring the susegado Goans to think and move ahead to fight against Colonialisation with his sterling call for reinvention of Goanhood in his booklet, Denationalisation of Goans.

The fire was light and it was only time that it became a vast flame that engulfed many Goans into the fight against Portugal. If only Salazar was kind enough to listen to the Goans, he would hand it peacefully for Goans to rule instead of inviting the wrath of Nehru. Coming into the embrace of India was good enough, as Goa would not be able to stand alone in the Indian ton.ination. We have seen how the ruling powers have behaved since Liberation. 

Eugene Correia

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[Pedro Mascarenhas]

The topic of this subject is not about Goa, but I will respond.

Eugene, see what is happening with the independence of East Timor with serious problems and which did not want to be part of Indonesia with a dazzling development. The Flores Island, Indonesia (with a Catholic majority, formerly Portuguese and formerly Netherlands) have a higher life index than East Timor. Goa is benefiting from being part of India, one of the 5 giants of the world. Goa has its own government and no longer receives Governador Geral de Portugal.

 

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[Eugene Correia]

Rowena, I just finished reading the book, Goa@60, Transition of Goa Post-Liberation, by Dr. Seema P. Salgoankar. It covers various topics and Real Estate in one of them. It also highlights the rise and good and evil of tourism especially considering the rapid development of coastal areas into hubs of of hotels and the spread of drug culture.

The prices of real estate has soared and a substantial part of villages like that of Assogao and Siolim have concentrated land ownership/houses by mostly rich Indians, who may have constructed houses as "summer homes" to escape their harried lives in cosmopolitan towns/cities such as Delhi and Bombay.

Bollywood has sparked interest and besides filmstars the trend has hit cricketers, who can afford to own property and construct houses in Goa. Maybe it has added prestige to Goa and, hence, land sharks are wading into the dirty pool of making money when the going is good. When in Goa early this early, I was approached at least three people who asked if there's any land/house available in my little village with a beach, Bogmalo, where came a big hotel then named Oberoi Bogmalo, run by the well-know Oberoi group but the hotel belonged to a rich Indian.

How long will this trend last and how far it will Goa one cannot say for sure. But Goa is in the minds of locals, as well as foreigners some of whom have made Goa their seasonal homes.

Welcome to Goa is a tourist cry, and much rides on it. Real Estate has risen and will rise as days and years pass one. Hope an end will come in the near future.

Eugene Correia

On Sun, Aug 4, 2024 at 6:16 PM Rowena <rtbro...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[António Colaço]

With due respect to the above interventions and respective points of view, it should be considered that the annexation of Goa occurred at the end of 1961 and we're presently in mid -2024. More than 63 years have relapsed, corresponding to the existence of 2 generations thereafter. It is useless to "chorar sobre leite derramado" ( to cry over spilt milk). Referring to the actual Goa situation, one must consider 2 aspects: sociological and political. The Goan freedom fight is in line with the general anticolonial process that occurred in Asia (India included) and Africa. Paying my homage to the freedom fighters - Hindu or Catholics - the fact is that immediately after annexation, had it not been for Jack Sequeira, leading  the linguistic demand for Konkani, Goa would have been integrated into Maharastra. 

So, where to find, today  the basis for the goan individuality, if, from 400.000 goans till 1961, Goa is the home land of more than 1.800.000 living in Goa? This reality should be taken into consideration. Besides, from a sociological (and also religious) point of view, a "case study" arises to find a basis for Goans to defend the Hindutva "philosophy" and  accept the refusal of the official recognition of the Romi script of Konkani. These are real issues that concern Goa. 

Best wishes to all      António Bernardo Colaço

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[William Robert Da Silva]

Why this rumination now with or without nostalgia about Operation Vijay, Goa's Liberation, Goa's adoption of Konkani as Goa's state language and heroisation of this one or that one participating in on this side or the other side? Don't you think good work with Dalgado Konkani Akademi with Konkani in the Romi script and discussion on Goa's present problems - they are many - be more appropriate? I might be wrong to suggest this, but reading through the 'nostalgia' of return to 'good or bad old days' seems to me to be a distraction away from the myriad issues Goa faces today. A good analysis of the events of the past might be a good solution. All could participate with their own personal share in these discussions. Some basic orientation of the theme would go a long way for all to participate and discuss. Long live GRN.

W R Da Silva

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