Should Portugal apologise?

Sometime last year, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was the guest speaker at the Annual Debate of the Oxford Union in England. He chose for his theme the destruction of India by the British Raj. There was never a mention about the good that Britain had indisputably done in creating a modern functioning democracy, After having delivered his mendacious piece, there must have been a sumptuous champagne lunch with Tharoor mingling freely with the Oxford dons who, in all good humour and magnanimiity must have praised his performance. More than half-a-century after the British and Portuguese colonial powers left our shores we still pursue them with accusations of every evil. We are, after all, babes in the wood. Wouldn't it be far better if we devoted our talents and energies in trying to alleviate the sufferings of the millions in our midst?

And now, Sudin Dhavalikar has put his foot in his mouth yet again, demanding that Portugal should apologise to all Goans and Indians for shaming them (Herald 10 January). This time, during the visit of Senhor Antonio Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal, a son of Goa, we Goans are justifiably proud to have welcomed wholeheartedly. Every colonial power has left behind some good. In the true spirit of empire builders, the Portuguese built our magnificent churches 300 (or more) years ago, which have stood the test of time without leaks or cracks. Yes, some 158 of them, and each of these having at least at least two chapels besides to cater for the spiritual needs of the village. Unlike the petty-minded men who, it is our misfortune, to have as our rulers, post-liberation, our erstwhile rulers were men of character, substance and vision, like the great Afonso de Albuquerque who abolished suttee, the barbarous Hindu practice of widow-burning which had the sanction of their religion. Another legacy of the Portuguese was the registration of births, marriages and deaths in one's parish. I can still go to my village parish church, or the archives in Panjim (oops, Panaji!), and trace my ancestry going back a few generations, a practice non-existent before the advent of the Portuguese.

Mr Dhavalikar's latest demand is typical of his crude, diabolical ambition to destroy the Goan Catholic community. Not seeing any future for themselves under the present dispensation, is it no wonder Catholics are leaving Goa for the UK taking advantage of the magnanimous gesture of the departing Portuguese of giving us the option of Portuguese nationality. They were after all fidalgos in the true sense of the word, unlike our present rulers who could easily, but prefer not to, grant Goans dual citizenship. 

While we are quick to get up on our hind legs and start accusing other nations of racism, it is typical of our dishonesty that we studiously ignore the rabid racism that exists in our midst. My advice to Mr Dhavalikar and the medieval men of his ilk is to take a holiday in Portugal and share a glass of genuine port wine with his like-minded guys; forget that he is Shri and have the pleasure of being addressed Senhor for a refreshing change. He is greatly in need of a dose of cosmopolitanism. How about it, Mr Dhavalikar? Be a sport. Saude!