In my recently published ‘Goa Outgrowing Post Colonialism’ one of the chapters is entitled “Dying and killing for forged identities”, where I seek to stress that there is no such thing as an unchanging identity, either individual or collective. Mutations, including even DNA mutations, belong to the essence of any living being, and they affect the building blocks of our living cells as well as the external physical and cultural components.
Identities based on language, caste, region, nation, religion, etc., are no more than social constructs along the history of mankind for the purpose of domination or survival. They are not very different from family feuds on a larger scale, resulting generally in mutual diabolisation.
To illustrate, the early Aryan migrations probably faced inter or intra-tribal conflicts and some changed their route in the Pamir region and moved westward towards Iran. Asura (Ahura) venerated by them became demonic figure for the Aryans who moved southwards towards the Indian subcontinent. This is just one instance of many diametrically opposite meanings acquired by several figures that are common in the myths of Vedas and Avesta. Asura Varuna, the early Vedic God of righteousness, was equivalent to Ahura-Mazda of Avesta tradition, but would gradually cease to be the prominent God of the Vedic pantheon. The Devas of the Brahmanas became demons in Avesta.
In Goa too, the Portuguese missionaries converted not just the Hindus, but also their friendly and protecting devchar into a demon. There was a problem in translating the paradise. The paradise on earth became bhuimvoikuntt, but vaikuntta would not serve as a heavenly abode to the kailasvasi converts from among prominent Salcete Shaivites. Hence, the Jesuits had to search for a neutral term svarga, the heavenly court of Lord Indra, as acceptable to both major Hindu sects of Goa. Also the vedi was considered pagan for the Christian cult, and was replaced with the foreign word “altar”.
We have noticed these days a lively discussion in the Indo-Portuguese History internet forum provoked by a recent op-ed column written by Radharao Gracias in Herald. There have been comments that ridicule his suggestion that GSBs of Goa may be a lost tribe of Israel. While some tried to see it as Radharao Gracias´ tongue-in-cheek style of writing, the author himself admits he wants to see a serious discussion on the topic, and does not care what established history authorities, particularly in the West, have to say. He countered the critics by stating that Galileo would not have discovered anything new if the thinkers of those times had the final say.
Who is a Jew? A child born to a Jewish mother, or an adult converted to Judaism. Only such Jews are allowed nowadays to immigrate to Israel under its Law of Return with all the privileges reserved for its citizens, even though the nature of conversion continues to be controversial. However, what interests our discussion here is that Jews do not have to be semites, neither belong to some of the classic known groups, such as Sephardic, Ashkenazi or Mizrahi.
Leaving out the curious tale of lost tribe, there is nothing to prevent that some of the immigrants from the Middle East, including Jews, may have integrated themselves in the Brahmin caste in India. The clever Jews may have found it a very convenient strategy to adapt themselves to the Indian social structure.
You can’t determine Jewish ancestry solely by haplo group. There is no one haplo group that is all Jewish, and there is no one haplo group that all Jewish people belong to. There are some Y-DNA and mtDNA subclades that may be predominantly Jewish, but I’m not aware of any that are 100% Jewish.
I would recommend to those interested in this debate to read the book published a couple of years ago by Bernardo de Souza. It is entitled The Last Prabhu, and deals precisely with the genetic genealogy and the ambiguity of the DNA composition of the Hindu castes. Most identities are forgeries and political constructions, and they have little to do with DNA. Hence, the traditional saying that blood is thicker than water is to be taken with more than a pinch of salt.
To conclude, the more we relativize the identities, the safer and healthier it could be for all concerned. It could certainly promote greater social harmony and expose sectional self-interests.
(Teotonio R. de Souza, is the Founder-Director of the Xavier Centre of
Historical Research 1979-1994).
