Sunday 27 September 2009

Indian colonialism - Ashburn and Leron Pereira, Porvorim

http://www.oheraldo.in/pagedetails.asp?nid=27786&cid=13
Indian colonialism - Ashburn and Leron Pereira, Porvorim
Arwin Mesquita, in his letter ‘Review Goa’s Liberation (Herald, 22 Sep) says that “we need to have an urgent post-liberation analysis of Goa”. Was Goa liberated or conquered?During the 1500s India never existed as a separate country. The Indian subcontinent under the British Raj basically consisted of British India and the Princely states. India came into existence only after the British left in 1947. No one is in doubt that the Portuguese conquered Goa in the 1500s. Before that, Goa was in a state of constant siege. The Portuguese gave Goa stability after they took over and put up a valiant front against the enemy forces, till the invasion and expulsion by India’s troops in December 1961. According to the landmark judgment delivered by the Supreme Court, Goa was ‘conquered’ by India and not ‘liberated’ from the Portuguese. Also, according to the UN resolution 1514 (XV), Goa is listed as ‘invaded’. We have now undergone 47 years of corrupt Indian colonial rule over our Goa.

1 comment:

Gaunkars of Goa said...

Dear Friends,

We all know that the territory of Goa of the Indian sub-continent was colonized by Portugal in 1510, and was under rule for 450 years. Later the Indian Republic Annexed the said territory through Conquest in 1961, the move rightly termed as illegal by the UN Security Council as per Chapter I Article 2 of the UN Charter (Ref: http://www.undemocracy.com/S-PV-988.pdf ) , S/5030. Subsequently a peace treaty was signed between Portugal and India as regards transfer of Sovereignty of Goa to india. Goa was declared as a non-self governing territory by the United Nations during the Portuguese rule. This status is given to all colonized territories which were sovereign and independent before the conquest by the colonial powers. Non self-governing territory means the colonizer becomes the administrator and is under obligation to make the territory fully self-governing and independent and further enable the indigenous people to exercise their right to self-determination to develop their free political institutions ( Article 73e of Chapter XI of the UN Charter). Goa stands as a sovereign, independent territory of the Indian Sub-Continent, since times immemorial (existed as sovereign thousands of years before Portugal conquest and the Indian Union). The indigenous people of Goa have their right to self-determination as per UN charter, and decide their future in relation to other independent nations.

Also ,the two most important issues being discussed in the United Nations today concern ‘Self-determination’ and ‘Rights of indigenous peoples’.



Best Regards,
Gaunkars of Goa

gaunkars@gmail.com