The 35th anniversary of Goa Statehood Day was celebrated on May 30. On this occasion, His Excellency, the Governor of Goa, Shri P. S. Sreedharan Pillai appealed to all present at the function and Goans in general to study in depth, the communal harmony and the system of jurisprudence that existed in Goa till 1961 and later.
There was no comment on the said appeal and so far, I am not aware that anybody from the Government or politicians bothered to do any serious study regarding what the Governor said or they might not have even understood what he said since most of them were born after 1961. They may not be aware about how peaceful the Goa of that time was.
Our State Governor, P S Sreedharan Pillai deserves our thanks and praise for having opened the eyes of Goans to the reality of Goa before 1961. He is a very erudite personality and bears a lot of love for Goa and Goans. Although the role of the Governor is very limited with regard to the administration of the State, yet his words of wisdom are an eye-opener to all.
I hope Goans will take his words seriously and try their best to study their past, because from the past we can draw lessons for the future. In this article, I will try to delve on these two concepts: communal harmony and the system of jurisprudence which prevailed in Goa before 1961. Communal Harmony constitutes the Hallmark of the State of Goa.
In this land of Goa people of various religious denominations and even atheists have lived in peace and harmony. History tells us that during the Ashoka Empire, Buddhism prevailed in Goa for around six centuries.
The caves at Arvalem and a statue of Buddha which was found in Colvale and is presently at Heras Institute, Mumbai, is enough proof of it. There is a huge Jain tank with niches at Naroa. An Armenian Cross was found in the ruins of Velha Goa port area, thus signalling the existence of St. Thomas’ Christians at Goa Velha and we also find the alleged ruins of a Jewish Synagogue at Curca.
All this shows that our communal harmony is multi-secular and even multi-millennial. Goa being a trade zone even before the arrival of the Portuguese, temples, mosques and synagogues were co-existing in Old-Goa. There is no record that there was any communal trouble among any religious denominations.
After the arrival of the Portuguese, although they demolished all the mosques from the city of Old-Goa and later on many temples in the Portuguese Goa of that time, communal harmony prevailed in Goa till date and constitutes the hallmark of the State. It is very unfortunate that of late it is being sought to be disturbed by various statements. This should not be allowed to happen at any cost, but on the contrary, all should be proud of it and promote it and show the other States that various linguistic, religious and cultural denominations can live in peace and harmony with each other in this State.
From where did that communal harmony come to be recognised as one of the constituent elements of Goan identity? This question will lead us to the second part of the Governor’s appeal – the system of jurisprudence which prevailed in Goa pre-1961 and a little later. Goans are unique and known the world over as the most peaceful people without any exaggeration.
Goans are people who for millennia have lived a community life in their village communities, Ganvkaris or Comunidades (in Portuguese) and it is this ‘community spirit’ that makes them ‘different’, the most peaceful, loving, caring and sharing people in the whole of our country and the system of village communities or Ganvkaris/Comunidades is based right from its beginning in a concept of jurisprudence, which was similar to the concept of Roman Jurisprudence, where decisions were arrived at democratically during the village community meetings.
When the Portuguese arrived in Goa in 1510, the system of Roman Jurisprudence was formally adopted in Goa and was part of it till 1961. David Sinclair in ‘History of India’, Madras 1896 and G Duncan M Derret in his chapter on Hindu law in Goa: A contact between Natural, Roman and Hindu laws, speaks of this kind of jurisprudence. In the Roman concept of jurisprudence people have a say in the governance and laws, while in the British concept of jurisprudence which was followed in India during British domination, people have no say because the Queen/State is supreme, while in Portuguese Goa, the opinion of people mattered.
The British Jurisprudence is followed in India even after 1947 and in Goa after 1961. The basic difference between the earlier jurisprudence and the present one is the State is imposing its decisions on the people, without taking them into confidence, which has made Goans suffer a lot and disturbed their peaceful living and is responsible for many Goans leaving Goa and settling abroad.
In the post 1961 period of Goa till date, the laws passed and enforced in Goa under the British concept of Jurisprudence, without taking into account the people, have taken a toll of the peaceful Goan identity, especially its land. Now past land scams are surfacing more and more, which were with active connivance of many authorities.
Goans should seriously study the issues of communal harmony and the system of jurisprudence which prevailed in Goa pre-1961, if they want to see better times!
(Visitacao Monteiro is an author and columnist)
