It was sometime in the mid 1960s that some of us students, out of fear, strongly refused to allow ourselves to be vaccinated against small pox. So the older students caught and immobilised us. The process was completed within seconds, to lasting effect. But the majority of students had readily agreed and was vaccinated without fuss. As I grew up I realised, that the vaccination was forced on us, because the authorities believed that it provided immunity and was for our well being. The other consequence was that the dreaded scourge was eliminated, the world over.
Exactly a similar thing had happened in the 16th century. The scourge that afflicted Goa was the Adil Shah who had made life miserable for the people. As history records, the Portuguese were not interested in Goa at all and were on their way to the Red Sea to challenge the Arabs. At this time, Mhal Poi from Verna and Thimmaya Naik from Honavar unable to face the atrocities on them connived and misled Afonso de Albuquerque to believe that the Adil Shah was dead and Goa was ripe for conquest. The commander of the Portuguese Forces changed plans and with the assistance of his Goan allies attacked Goa and finally overthrew the Adil Shah. It was the November 25, 1510.
After the conquest, the Portuguese did not appreciate the way of life in Goa and sought to mould Goa on their own lines. The very first decree abolished the entrenched practice of Sati. The Portuguese then offered their own way of life to the conquered people. Many gladly accepted it. A few refused and like the young students who were vaccinated against their will, those who resisted were forced to accept the Portuguese way. In the end as in my school, all fell in line. And in both cases it was for the good of those who were forcibly vaccinated or coerced to change their ways, in the perception of the authorities.
The descendants of the converts form 25% of the State’s population while the non converts are 66%, as per 2011 census. But the converts have provided and continue to provide 90% of Goan Officers to the Indian Armed Forces as of date. (Patriotism in Action. by S V Faleiro).
Why must we join the army? Here is why: “In response to a question in Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said that the Army has the maximum shortage of 7,791 officers followed by 1,557 in the Indian Navy and 572 in the IAF”(The Print February 4, 2022)
Why do the Goan non-converts refuse to join the armed forces despite such a huge shortage of personnel? Is it not something for Parashuram devotees to investigate? Must the country not be grateful to Goencho Saib and other missionaries whose efforts have created such a patriotic section of people in the State? Why then must conversions be opposed? On the contrary, must conversions not be encouraged?
And what exactly is the opposition to Saint Francis Xavier being called Goencho Saib? Let us consider another saint, purportedly a Muslim whom the non-converts have deified. He is worshipped as the Sai Baba. Does anyone know his real name? Where does the honorific Sai Baba come from? Does anyone question it? The same is true with Goencho Saib. No one person has given either of these names. These appellations were given by their contemporaries. And no one can take them away! When Parashuram was not Goencho Saib to his contemporaries, how does he become so now?
Now let us examine whether the proposal to create a new Goencho Saib is sustainable.
“The Mahabharata and the Puranas record that Parashurama was born to the Brahman sage Jamadagni and the princess Renuka, a member of the Kshatriya class. Later, to avenge the murder of his father by a Kshatriya, he killed all the male Kshatriyas on earth 21 successive times (for, each time, their wives survived and gave birth to new generations) and filled five lakes with their blood. Parashurama is the traditional founder of Malabar and is said to have bestowed land there on members of the priestly class whom he brought down from the north in order to expiate his slaughter of the Kshatriyas…” (Encyclopaedia Britannica).
Currently there are six Kshatriyas elected to the Goa Assembly one of whom is the CM. The other Viswajeet Rane holds powerful portfolios and the third Subhash Faldessai is a minister. Should the man, who ruthlessly slaughtered the Kshatriyas to settle Brahmins, (less than three per cent of the current population) in their place, be called Goencho Saib? What happens to the other 97% for whom Parashuram had no consideration?
At least our Goencho Saib has slaughtered no one! He only converted the people and set them on the right path to patriotism. Is that an offence?
Had Goencho Saib lived a little longer, had the inquisition been a little stronger, then perhaps Goa would have had a much larger population of patriots, resulting in a lesser shortage of personnel in the armed forces!
Will the resilient Kshatriyas, who have made a strong comeback despite the horrors inflicted on them, be so daft as to acknowledge the man, who mercilessly slaughtered their ancestors, as Goencho Saib? Will Parashuram accept to be the Saib of the land which has undone his efforts to eliminate the Kshatriyas and instead handed over the command of the land of Goa to the Kshatriyas, whom he hated so much? Will it not be a contradiction, either way?
(Radharao F. Gracias is a senior Trial Court Advocate, a former Independent MLA and a political activist)
