Very little research has been carried
out on the ethnic tribes of Goa and this book provides an insight into their history, culture, struggles and plight today. Fernandes finds that no one has put Goa’s history into proper perspective and this book, he claims, is his attempt to do so by examining history from their standpoint. Fernandes didn’t expect to encounter any hurdles when documenting Antonio’s life
since the activist maintained diaries and old records. But to his dismay, when he approached the family after Antonio’s death in 2011, he found that they had burnt all his records. And so the author was forced to start from scratch. He spoke to over 30 of his contemporaries to gather facts about Antonio’s life, devoted to fighting for his community and for Goa’s progress.
The book will be released in Antonio’s own village of Quelossim, where the community’s presence is very prominent.
The author didn’t think it fair to make money from telling Antonio’s story. “We’re all part of a cause,” he says. Proceeds
from the book which is priced at Rs 200 will instead go into a fund called the Bab Anton Francisco Fund which
will be used to propagate his ideals and
his mission.
If the government is really interested
in their welfare, he says they should
make sure the book has a wide reach,
especially in schools and colleges so
that it reaches all ST community students.
He also wants to get the book digitized
so that readers across the globe have
access to it. He says, “This issue is not
limited to Goa. It is a global phenomenon.
I want people to know their fate.
When we talk of modern day development,
it is always only the indigenous
people who suffer the consequences.”
He explains their plight in finding
jobs today. He writes that as of 2011
there was a backlog
of 2442 vacancies
reserved for STs yet
to be filled, with 18
corporations and
departments not filling
vacancies reserved
under the tribal category.
He writes, “Despite government’s assurances,
tribal villages and hamlets
have not been officially surveyed. Tribal
areas are not demarcated or notified by
the government of Goa. This lack of
clarity gives scope for diversion of funds
to non-tribal projects.”
The culture also is dying out and he
stresses on the need for tribal schools
and colleges. He doesn’t feel these will
categorise them further. Instead he says
there will be more focused development.
The state doesn’t even have a tribal museum.
“Maharashtra has tribal schools,
institutions and even a tribal museum.
It is only in Goa that they have been
kept subjugated and marginalized. Goa
only wants to show the world that they
have beaches and properties for SEZs.
Nothing else,” he says in disgust.
Another major problem the community
encounters today is that of scarcity
of land. The tribals always owned land
collectively under the ganvkari system
but this worked against them when
the Portuguese, in connivance with the
Church, usurped their land. While those
belonging to the upper castes were
able to enter their names, the tribals
couldn’t. Today Cyril Fernandes says
the village of Quelossim and St Jose de
Areal are the only two villages where
only tribals are members of the comunidade.
He blames the Church too and says
they cannot wash their hands of this
since they were a part and parcel of
the Portuguese government and didn’t
do anything to prevent the injustice.
The land which wasn’t taken away from
them by the Comunidade system is
now being acquired by the government
for industrial use. Their grazing grounds
are being taken away from them. Rapid
development is also resulting in large
scale upmarket housing which is beyond
their reach. He fears they could soon
be displaced from their own land..
The community’s faith originally revolves
around Mother Earth. He writes
that the Gavvdas were first Sanskritised.
A section of them was then converted
to Christianity in the 16th century.
One section of Christian gavddas bore
the brunt of yet another conversion
when in 1928 a missionary Masurker
maharaja converted them to Hinduism.
They became the Nav-Hindu gavddas,
distinct from the Christians and Hindu
Gavddas. Fernandes writes that this
load of conversions have contributed
to their deprivation with other communities
surpassing them and outgrowing
them by utilizing their resources.
On the fringe of Goa’s development
today, the tribal community deserves
more. “We have played with their lives
to promote our own agenda. They have
gone through so much. The whole focus
of the government is aligned towards
things which are not at all in consonance
with the real life and real people in Goa.
This marginalized section has been
totally neglected. They are simply not
in the picture.”
