Vasco da Gama the Pirate, Not Hero
Dr. Jai Maharaj
Courtesy of Hindu Vivek Kendra
Vasco da Gama is a pirate and not a hero for many Goans
by G R Singhal
The Indian Express
April 24, 1997
Should India take part in the Portuguese celebrations to mark 500
years of Vasco da Gama's discovery of the sea route to India? This
has caused much debate here with opinions divided over the issue.
Portugal is preparing to commemorate the Gama event in a big way
next year. The Portuguese Government is said to be busy putting
together a big test called "Expo-98" in Lisbon as part of these
celebrations and India has decided to participate in these
celebrations.
Goa bore the maximum brunt of Portuguese colonisation, who ruled
the state for nearly 450 years before the Indian "Operation Vijaya"
in December 1961 finally brought freedom. Naturally, protests
against Indian participation in the Gama event here have been the
strongest.
Those involved in Goa's freedom struggle naturally cannot easily
forget the Portuguese atrocities of the past and denounce the Gama
celebrations as honouring a "coloniser". But some others feel that
since the discovery is a historical event, it should be
commemorated.
Strongly reacting to the Indian decision to participate in the
celebrations, former Goa police chief and a veteran freedom fighter
Prabhakar Sinari said, "It is all right for the Portuguese to
celebrate the event. For them Vasco da Gama is a hero since it is
thanks to him that the Portuguese could set up their colony here.
But it is shameful for us to participate in the celebrations as for
us Gama was a pirate and a looter. He added that people of Portugal
would make fun of us for agreeing to participate in the
celebrations.
Former MP Erasdo de Sequeira does not think there is anything wrong
in participating. The Portuguese explorer was a historical
personage and we should take the whole thing in the right spirit
and look at it from proper perspective, he said. Stating that
history should not create bitterness and rancour, he said "We
should worry more about the current economic neo-colonisation of
our country than about the long dead political colonisation of the
past."
Another prominent freedom fighter Dr J F Martins, while strongly
opposing Indian participation, said Indian image will be adversely
affected because some Goans, who lack national spirit, will rejoice
at the celebrations as an event of Salazarist revival.
Courtesy of Hindu Vivek Kendra
Jai Maharaj
http://www.flex.com/~jai
Om Shanti
Manuel Abranches Pintor
Certainly Vasco da Gama were a pirat and a hero, depending
the viewes.
But EXPO'98 isn't a "Gama event". It's a universal expo related
with Oceans. Try http://www.expo98.pt/
The "Gama event", organized by portuguese gov., is another
subject and has nothing about "salazarist revival".
Try: http://www.cndp.pt/
For the Peace and "comunication" between both peoples.
Manuel Pintor
Dr. Jai Maharaj <j...@mantra.com> escreveu no artigo
<5k0qsk$3t0...@news.alt.net>...
Adelino Morte
Pirate or the Hero" ???
Adelino Morte
Ashley King
So you think that Vasco da Gama was bad for India...
What about the British?!?! Were they angels from heaven that helped
the great nation of India to became stronger...
Don't think so!
Isabel Melo