Goans who left Goa for foreign countries, particularly so the exodus to England, are targeted for accused of betraying their land. Those who have chosen to stay in Goa instead of discarding the Indian passport for the Portuguese one often deride those who have obtained the passports of our once colonial masters. The measure of Goans now settled in England will perhaps be seen in latter years, as the children of the Goan diaspora grow up and stake their claims in the new land of their parents’ adoption.
In this light, one can point out to the example of Antonio da Costa, the current prime minister of Portugal, son of the famous Goan writer/poet Orlando da Costa who penned the immortal O signo da Ira, written just before Goa was liberated from its Portuguese shackles in 1961. The Portuguese prime minister will be the chief guest at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, to be held in Bengaluru from January 7, 2017. He’s going to address the inaugural session of the PBD convention on January 6.
I haven’t read any report of his coming to Goa, but surely Goans who may participate in the PBD can engage him in discussions over the raucous over Goans holding Portuguese-passports. The Portuguese may be right in waiving it aside as not a “Portuguese problem” and that the issue is to be decided by India. It’s back-and-forth for this troublesome issue as can be seen how the Goa government is running into circles trying to solve it. It’s back at the desk of the Ministry of External Affairs, while the Election Commission has deleted thousands of names from the electoral rolls of Goa. The ball is kept rolling from one court to another, while some political parties demanding the restoration of names back in the electoral rolls.
Though Goans form a small part of the Indian diaspora, some Goans have rose up the political ladder. Antonio da Costa is obviously now the prime example, though he had made a name for himself as mayor of Lisbon. The others who have shown in the political arena are Keith Vaz and his older sister Valeria Vaz in the United Kingdom The newest Goan entry into the Mother of Parliaments is Sue-Ellen Cassiana Fernandes, popularly known as Suella Fernandes, who was elected in May last year as Conservative MP. Both Keith and Valerie belong to the Labour Party. Besides these Goans, there are members of other Indian communities in the UK parliament.
While these three carry the Goan flag in UK, no Goan has achieved big political success in some of the other favourite countries like Australia, Canada and the United States. Members of other India communities in the above-named countries have strode into the top ranks of politics. In the US, the president-elect has created history for the Indian-American community by naming two persons of Indian origin to top posts in his cabinet. They are Nickki Haley, whose original name is Nimrata Radhawa, and Dr. Seema Verma. Both women are now role models for Indian women in the diaspora, and form part of the “model community”, as Indians in the US are called.
As the current governor of South Carolina Haley’s was a surprise pick by Donald Trump as Ambassador to the UN, as she was one of his critics. I have watched her on TV support Florida senator Marco Rubio, and when Rubio dropped her she turned her support to Texas senator, Ted Cruz. Probably Trump has seen her as a feisty woman in the Republican party who can shore not only the Indo-American support for his presidency but also the women who have come to despise him for his sexist remarks against women and the alleged sexual assaults victims.
Dr. Verma, selected as Administrator of the Centres of Medicare and Medicaid Services, comes with a big reputation as president and founder of SVC, Inc, a health policy consulting firm. Trump has made Obamacare as one of the prime target for making substantial change, and Dr. Verma will have the task of reforming the American medical system.
It’s so shocking that Trump has chosen immigrants in his cabinet, after his anger and backlash against the American immigration system in his campaign speeches. He’s taken a U-turn, and is now wooing Mitt Romney, who like Nickki lashed out at Trump during the campaign. Their recent dinner meeting seemed to have gone well, with Romney having eaten his harsh words. He now says that Trump is “increasing hope” and “better future” for the country.
In the Indian diaspora context, there’s no one more significant than Ujjal Dosanjh, an activist/politician who rose from being a son of a farmer in Punjab to becoming premier of British Columbia, and later a Canadian federal minister under Paul Martin. I have just finished reading his illuminating autobiography, Journey After Midnight: India, Canada and the Road Beyond. Those who read Indian Express will be familiar of his writings in the “blog” section of the online edition. I have known him, having first met him during my visit to Vancouver, as part of a tour of certain parts of Canada, to do an commissioned article for Frontline following the visit of the then Prime Jean Chretien to India.
He writes, “I have lived as a global citizen, but India has been my mandir, my masjid, and my girja: my temple, my mosque and my church. It has been, too, my gurdwara, my synagogue and my pagoda. Canada has helped shape me; India is in my soul. Canada has been my abode, providing me with physical comforts…. India my spiritual refuge….”. On the current state of affairs in India, he says, “….forces of the religious right are ascendant, wreaking havoc on the foundational secularism of India’s independence movement… concerned about the ubiquitous financial, moral and ethical corruption… corruption’s almost complete stranglehold threatens the future of the country while the ruling class remain in deep slumber… it is toward India, the land of my ancestors, that my heart leads to.”
(Eugene Correia is a senior journalist who worked for The Hindu, and Free Press Journal)
