Dr Jack de Sequeira was a great visionary with big dreams for Goa and the Goans. Soon after Liberation, the then prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, visited Goa and said that tiny Goa needs to be safeguarded and assured this for Goa.
In 1963 in the first assembly elections the United Goans Party (UGP) saw 12 representatives being elected. Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) garnered 13 seats and with the help of independents and others formed the government.
MGP being the ruling party decided to merge Goa with Maharashtra and insisted that Marathi be made the official language. When this came to the notice of the opposition party all of us the elected representatives came together with Dr Jack de Sequeira.
Dr Sequeira approached Nehru and explained the hidden agenda of the ruling party in Goa. Nehru was surprised and suggested that an Opinion Poll be held before any major decision on Goa’s future could be taken.
After Nehru died Lal Bahadur Shastri took over the reins of the government. Maharashtra leaders Y B Chavan and Vasantrao Naik and some Goan MGP leaders approached Shastri and expressed their desire to merge Goa with Maharashtra. They also worked out a plan to put the said proposal in the assembly and take a decision.
But Erasmo de Sequeira, who was the then MP, conveyed these plans to his colleagues in Goa. Dr Jack Sequeira instantly formed a committee and decided to meet the PM at a meet in Bangalore. They also met the Karnataka Congress ministers and revealed the plans of the MGP. Shastri said that he would like to place the issue in the Parliament and decide accordingly.
During the war between India and Pakistan, Shastri visited Russsia and expired there. Next to follow him as India’s prime minister was Indira Gandhi. Dr Jack de Sequeira approached her and explained that Nehru had assured an Opinion Poll for Goa, but that it was pending.
Gandhi agreed to the Opinion poll but asked the UGP to join the Congress. Dr Sequeira explained to her that the UGP thought alike with the Congress on various strategies but would decide later about its merger.
When the Opinion Poll was announced, it was under the initiative of Dr Sequeira that the UGP and Congress propagated the issue on one platform. This brought victory for the Union Territory. On the day of the results, all the local dailies declared Dr Sequeira as the father of the Opinion Poll. And it is a fact that due to his genuineness and honesty that many Goans voted for ‘Don Panam’ the symbol of Union Territory.
Dr Sequeira was a man with a vision and mission. He was a cultured man. He would always dream of how to develop Goa and bring up the Goans. He would put forth his plans before me concerning unemployment and ways to eradicate it. He hoped to govern Goa for just five years and develop it by educating the masses. It is my request to the government to erect a statue in honour of Dr Sequeira and include those historic moments of the Opinion Poll in the history text books for the knowledge of the student community.
As told to Pio Esteves
