January 30, is celebrated as World Peace Day in India, to honour the martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi, a man of peace and non-violence.
Many Goans who have extensively travelled abroad have told me that we are the most peaceful people in the world. Goans have always lived in peace and harmony in the society. They have always loved and promoted peace. They have grown in this psyche which they have inherited from their ancestors, who lived in this atmosphere of peace and tolerance, from times immemorial in their village communities and have it in their genes. Down the corridors of time, they have resolved their conflicts peacefully, as it happened between the village communities of Malar and Divar, wherein they planted Bonderam (flags) on their boundaries and settled the boundary dispute amicably. Today this festival of Bonderam (flags) has become a tourist attraction, but the real meaning is forgotten. There is no history in Goa of one village community fighting against another.
Before the arrival of the Portuguese in Goa in 1510, there were some Jewish settlements, in the Island of Tiswadi, who were involved in trading with rulers of the time, living peacefully with other Goan communities. When the Portuguese started ruling in Goa, despite the allegations of forced conversions and establishment of Inquisition in 1560, lasting around 2 centuries, (when the inquisition was formally abolished), the various communities continued to live in peace and harmony with each other and are maintaining the same spirit till date. This spirit is alive even in the families where in the past centuries two or three brothers became Christians, the others did not – but they maintain their family ties intact till date without any discrimination.
Communal harmony is the ‘hallmark’ of the State of Goa. For the people of Goa, religion was a private affair. Within Goa itself, we see how Goans have respected each other’s practices, symbols, festivities, etc. Goans have carried along with them, the spirit of peace, tolerance and harmony, wherever they migrated for whatever reasons.
I may quote a few examples of this mutual respect of Christian symbols by our Hindu brethren within Goa. It is recorded in the Book of Pareceres (Opinions), 1916, Vol. IV, by Antonio Floriano de Noronha, on page 371, that the Bhagvati Temple Committee in Parsem, Pernem, repaired at its own expense, one old Cross which was situated in the said temple property very close to the temple. This Christian symbol of Cross was called Mungsal. Similarly, near Kavle Mutt Temple in Ponda Taluka, there is a Cross, 250 years old which our Hindu Brethren, hold in high reverence. Examples of this sort of respect and even veneration can be quoted at length from different parts of Goa, where our Hindu Brethren celebrate Litanies near various Crosses in thanksgiving for favours received, therein we can learn a lot about the mutual respect of each other’s religion.
All over the State, Goans take part in each other festivals, like Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali, Christmas, Eid, Mapusa Milagres Feast, Fatorpa Yatra, Baradi Cross, Bambolim Cross, etc. The Feast of St Francis Xavier, popularly known as ‘Goencho Saib’, is attended by all Goans and non-Goans irrespective of their religion. Many other ceremonies, like marriages, funerals, cremations, etc, are attended by all communities, thus bonding their old brotherly Goan ties in the land. In my own village of Jua, the Porobos and Sawants, who were the original Ganvkars of the village, still honour the Patron of the Village Church, St Estevam. They all come in their festive attire, with flowers and other gifts, which they place at the feet of Saint, after the solemn procession of the Feast Mass. These Goan traditions of mutual respect and amity between various denominational communities have become part of the main elements of our Goan identity, which we must all appreciate and nourish in future.
While travelling outside Goa, we observe that our Goan brethren who migrated to Coastal Karnataka and Mangaluru, have carried these traditions along with them. We see our Goan Catholics being very much trusted by others for their honesty and hard work. Rani Chennamma of Kelladi Kingdom donated vast agricultural fallow lands to Goan Christians to be developed by them. According to Allan Machado, a historian and a Goan origin Mangalorean, presently living in Bengaluru, at the end of Rani Chennamma’s rule, there were 27 churches in her kingdom. In Agrar, Bantwal Taluka, we find three settlements of Goans from Salvador de Mundo, namely the Lobos, D’Souzas and Rodrigueses, who were given Mutt lands to be brought into cultivation. They were granted land to build their church on the top of the hill and elephants to carry logs of timber up the hill for the same construction. In Kirem, Mangaluru District, during the deportation of Christians to Srirangapatna, when the troops of Tipu Sultan were about to destroy the Church of Our Lady of Remedies, the Bunts who had donated their land to build the said Church, stood together like a barrier and did not allow them to destroy the same. In recognition of this fact, every year on the Church Feast Day, the Parish Priest sends a bunch of bananas to the descendants of these Bunts, as a sign of friendship and in appreciation of the generosity of their ancestors.
The State of Goa has never witnessed communal riots or conflagration as we sometimes see in other States in India. Communal harmony is ingrained in Goans and we should not allow it to be disturbed or destroyed at any cost. Recently, some signs of disturbance of this unique communal harmony of the State of Goa, have been noticed at Sancoale. Some fundamentalists and vested interests of recent origin appear to be bent on disturbing Goa’s communal harmony.
The role of Religion (re-ligare), is to unite and not divide the people. We are one Universal Family of God, the Sanskrit words ‘Vasudaiva Kuttumbam’, express clearly this reality.
Mahatma Gandhi who died to unite the different communities of India, has said that different religions are different paths to the same God. We hope and pray that the minds of those who may be trying to disturb the communal fabric of this State, may be enlightened by God and the State Authorities deal with such elements with firm resolve.
Long live Goa’s Peace and Communal Harmony!