It is appropriate that in the context of the ongoing debate and demand for Special Status for Goa by some Goan elites, accusing the ruling party of backtracking upon its electoral promise in this regard, we need to reflect upon and seek to understand the implications of such a demand. One major accusation against colonialism was its drive for converting souls. What seems to characterize postcolonial Goa is the drive to convert lands.
About a year ago I released in Goa my latest book entitled “Goa outgrowing postcolonialism – Historical Explorations (1961-2014)”, carrying a Foreword by the former Cabinet Minister Eduardo Faleiro. It is distributed online by Amazon [http://amzn.to/1APnLjH] through its Indian affiliate in paperback and kindle versions. It contains a chapter on “Indian Federalism and Goa´s Future”, as a help for understanding the Special Status.
India’s Constitution is not a covenant, or compact, between the states. The states are the creation of Constitution, and subsequently of Parliament. Goans know it well since the time when the Indian Parliament voted to grant Goa the status of Union Territory, the Opinion Poll, and two decades later the statehood.
The uniqueness of present Goan identity is the net result of a paradox: a mix of the success and failure of the Portuguese colonialism. Its success consisted in converting a sizable one-third of the population to Christianity. Its failure was its inability to stamp out the Konkani language and its cultural moorings.
Despite obvious frictions and conflicts of group interests, these cultural elements continue to bond the Goan Hindu majority and the strong Christian minority into a working relationship which permitted Goans to outgrow colonialism. The ongoing challenge of Goa’s liberation lies in nurturing and strengthening this unique partnership in India by outgrowing postcolonialism.
The first Panchayat and Assembly elections in 1962-63, were still an expression of communal and caste politics, a legacy that was exploited by colonialism. After the Portuguese had gone, the Goans were still fighting the colonial battle among themselves. It was still a phase of outgrowing colonialism.
The victory of the Opinion Poll in 1967 was a decisive moment for safeguarding Goan identity and first great response to the challenge of outgrowing postcolonialism. The victory was possible only with a partnership of Hindus and Christians as studied and analysed by Rajan Narayan and the late Sharon D’Cruz in their book entitled “The Triumph of Secularism” (2011).
We owe to Valmiki Faleiro a valuable piece of research, published as “Patriotism in Action” (2010). He threw light on the Goan Christian participation in the armed forces of India and their commanding role in the Operation Vijay, which crowned the integration of Goa into the Indian Union.
The high-point of the Hindu-Christian partnership and leadership could be seen in the unanimous recognition of T.B. Cunha by all freedom fighters as their representative by placing his ashes in the monument erected at Azad Maidan in the capital city of Panjim. The active participation of Hindus and Christians in the freedom struggle was proportionate to their numbers. This can be measured with the numbers of those who suffered imprisonment, not by including those who chose an armchair struggle, now glorified by some as a Third Force.
The language issue and the creation of the State of Goa with Konkani as official language was another positive expression of outgrowing post-colonialism. This is unfortunately followed ever more acutely by an unbridled enthusiasm for English education at all levels.
Konkani has nearly ceased to be the privileged language spoken at home. Probably in a very near future, Konklish will replace Konkani in most Goan homes, affecting more the Christian than the Hindu community. If Konkani has still chances of survival, it will be due to the SCs and STs in Goa, amounting to nearly 15 to 20 % as per the latest census figures.
The poor immigrants from the neighbouring and distant states learn Konkani within some months after settling in Goa by sheer need for survival. They will soon be the major guardians of the Goan identity. Yet, many of them languish in slums of Zuarinagar and elsewhere in the territory, raising the question: What have they to gain by supporting a Special Status for Goa?
Under Article 371 of the Constitution some sensitive border states were granted partial autonomy, to meet the threat of separatism. Also the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution contains provisions to limit land transfers. This has been applied to some tribal and undeveloped regions, recently in the former Andhra state.
Such Constitutional concessions have also suffered under Article 356, which defines the President’s rule and Emergency powers, often restricting the popular sovereignty of the elected governments. Article 356 was used at least 90 times when state governments were ruled by parties that were opposed to the ruling party at the Centre. This tendency has been partially reduced by the recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission in 1998, and by a judgement of 1994 providing for a judicial review of Presidential rule.
If Goan political elites have prospered in post-colonial times by converting communidade lands and providing them generously to retired and non-retired officials and institutions of the Central government, how can they convince the Centre that they are serious about protecting the Goan identity through Special Status? How is that identity safeguarded by neglecting Konkani and neglecting its tribal and slum-dwelling population? Goans need to do some serious soul searching and abandon much hypocrisy before presenting the demand for Special Status as legitimate.
(Teotonio R. de Souza is the founder-
director, Xavier Centre of Historical
Research, Goa (1979-1994).
