It happened in Shaxtti 78 years back, but the nationalism of the people who live here today is doubted. 18th June reminds us that the spark may have been lit in Margao but it was conceptualised in the heartland of Salcette in Assolna. Today the choice of Shaxttikar’s of a Kargil War veteran and social activist as their MP, is questioned. In times when society is veered around nationalism tempered with elections, the roles of the minorities are put to test by a majoritarian narrative. In Goa, it is the Catholics that are suspect, as much as Muslims in other parts of the country.
Salcette has always been a cradle of free thought. It was the liberal and critical mind set of stalwarts like Francisco Luis Gomes, Julião Menezes, Luis Menezes Braganca, T B Cunha that created the space for breeding of the freedom movement. These minds were influenced by western and Indian liberal thought. Gomes proudly identified himself with the land of the Mahabharata and the place where the Chess game was invented.
If not for Julião Menezes and his association with Dr Ram Manohar Lohia, the 1946 Civil Disobedience Movement which sparked the last phase of the freedom struggle movement in Goa may never have seen the light of the day. It was for the first time in over 400 years, that there was a mass movement which the Portuguese simply termed Movimento de rua (a roadside movement).This was followed by the arrests and deportation of hundreds of freedom fighters, both Hindu and Catholic.
In Goa Hindus, Catholics and Muslims have always lived as good neighbours. These communities have fought shoulder to shoulder to protect the Goan identity during the Opinion poll in 1967 and even before that religion and caste never mattered to our freedom fighters in the freedom struggle especially when they were incarcerated in jail. Goan Catholics have always been patriots and nationalists even though in the colonial period their faith sought allegiance to the Church backed by the Portuguese colonial State, times were different then–even democracy had not taken firm roots in this part of the globe.
Many were professionals like advocates, doctors, journalists, teachers etc. from Salcette. These risked ostracism by the church and imprisonment by the State. During the colonial rule, the Church and the State were two sides of the same coin. Cultural hegemony is the tool for the politically and socially powerful to use cultural influence to dominate a less powerful class. This class has to then adapt in a social structure and culture to achieve the interests of the dominant class. It is a concept of leadership or dominance raised by the ruling class in this case by the Portuguese for over 400 years from 1510 to 1961. The Catholic freedom fighters had to face a double edged sword of ostracism from their own pious families, their community, as well as fear imprisonment by the State in their struggle for Goa’s freedom.
The Military Tribunal records preserved in the Historical Archives of Goa, personal interviews as well as the documentation in the book, ‘Who’s Who of Freedom Fighters of Goa’, as well as the newspapers of that period like the Gomantak, the Goan Tribune and Free Goa show that there were a large number of Catholic freedom fighters who fought shoulder to shoulder with their Hindu brethren against the fascist regime of Salazar. Often the sole earning member was in prison.
Many refused to get married in the church, or even baptise their children whom they registered with Indian names. My parents named their children Babu, Jai and Jahan, pre-fixed with the pre-conversion surname Sawant. Most wore the Gandhi cap with a kurta and pyjama, while the women wore sarees with a bindi and flowers in their hair (banned by the Church Edict of 1736) – as symbols of protest! Goans after conversions had to suddenly stop their cultural traditions which they had practised for generations.
Many children of freedom fighters who studied in Catholic schools in Bombay e.g St Sebastian School for boys were innocent victims for not being baptised. There were of course exceptions among the priests like Fr H O Mascarenhas, a Sanskrit scholar who accompanied Goan freedom fighters in a delegation to meet Pandit Nehru in Delhi in March 1961.
Julião Menezes and Luis Mendes co-founded the Gomantak Praja Mandal (GPM) and were branded as communists. This was in the late 1930’s and his views on Catholicism are in the public space in the bi-lingual newspaper, Gomantak and his books, Goa’s Freedom Struggle and Contra Roma. The GPM was formed within six months of the death of Luis de Menezes Bragança in January 1939 in keeping with his philosophy. The Clube Juvenil de Assolna (Youth Club of Assolna) started by Menezes was looked upon suspiciously as a political organisation. In fact there are letters by the Parish Priests of Assolna Church written to the Bishop that they suspected these members to be responsible for the desecration of crosses in the village. In case the Viceroy or the Governor passed away, the Archbishop took over the reins of the government, till the new arrival from Lisbon. Cultural hegemony was reinforced by the Church and the State.
The trial of T B Cunha saw crowds pouring out from the court rooms into the streets. Cunha was instrumental in the formation of the Indian National Congress (Goa) and getting it affiliated to the National Congress in 1928. His views are discussed in his many writings especially his book, ‘De-nationalisation of Goans’. The Church refused Cunha burial space because of which he had to be buried in the Municipal cemetery at Sewri. Times change and attitudes also change!
The context of their criticism of the Church was the close link that it shared with the colonial State. It is pertinent to note that none of these Catholic freedom fighters renounced their Catholic faith till their death, although a number of them had expressed their wish to be cremated–a trend which had begun in the late 1800’s with Bernardo Peres da Silva opting for cremation and today his ashes are preserved in the Cemetario de Praxeres in Lisbon. Bertha Menezes Bragança ashes are also buried in the Chandor cemetery.
Many were members of the Azad Gomantak Dal in the early 1950’s, the Goa Liberation Army, the Goan Youth League while the majority were members of the Indian National Congress. Most of these were forced to live in Bombay and came to Goa only after December 1961. Julião Menezes, Luis Menezes Braganca, T B Cunha, Lambert Mascarenhas, Luis Mendes, Roque Santana Fernandes, Euclito de Souza, Anthony Furtado, Flaviano Dias, Joaquim Dias, Veressimo Coutinho and countless others were victims of this cultural hegemony and looked upon with suspicion by the church as non-practising Catholics. Most were forced to live in exile for fear of imprisonment and often rebuked by their own family and community.
Today many Goan Catholics proudly adorn the defence uniform. Different communities and different religions provide the spice of a cosmopolitan set up which has made Goa the brand that it is. 18th June only reminds us that this diversity exemplified by Saxxttidom deserves to be celebrated.
(Dr. Sushila Sawant Mendes is Author & Professor in History & Goa Govt. Best College Teacher Awardee)