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Naval Gazing

A commemoration of Portuguese rule leaves Goa divided on its colonial past

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Naval Gazing
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A Brief History

  • November 25, 1510: The Portuguese conquer Goa
  • 1955: Goa still in Portuguese hands at Indian Independence; but by this year mounting local protests, as well as the Indian blockade against Goa, Daman and Diu build pressure on Portuguese
  • Dec 16, 1961: Indian troops cross into Goa for Operation Vijay, involving land, sea and air strikes; unconditional surrender by Portuguese three days later
  • Dec 16, 2010-Dec 16, 2011: Year-long celebrations in Goa to mark 50 years since the end of Portuguese rule

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It was a perfect evening; a show-stopping sunset followed by scores of gem-cut stars twinkling over the Mormugao harbour. On board the recently anchored NRP Sagres, where the Goans were the guests and their former rulers the hosts, everyone mixed almost seamlessly, with the divine voice of Sonia Sirsat, a Goan who sings Fado (a Portuguese musical genre), bringing tears to many an eye. Many joined in, with perfect knowledge of the melodies and words. Behind her, on a video screen, there were changing images of the Motherland, Portuguese beaches and ancient cities dusted in hues of turquoise and gold. Best of all were the sailors, gorgeous in their navy whites, polite and helpful, with enchanting accents and sun-kissed complexions. “I used to think that the Goan aristocrats, with their adoration of and nostalgia for Portuguese rule, suffer from the Stockholm Syndrome,” said a European woman, martini in hand, as she practically swooned over a passing officer. “Now I understand”.

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Wine And Song Celebrations aboard Sagres, with Sonia Sirsat singing Fado. (Photographs by Aimee Ginsburg)

The Sagres, on a prestigious two-year voyage around the world to commemorate the explorations of Vasco da Gama, will be hosting such receptions at all former Portuguese colonies. “Everywhere we have been, everyone has been happy to come up and meet us,” says Rosado Gaspar, an officer and one of our hosts for the evening. “People speak Portuguese and eat Portuguese food all around the world, even though they have never been there!” “We are very moved to meet our culture in so many places, so far away from home,” adds petty officer Batista, one of the 136 crew members aboard the Sagres. “It helps with the homesickness.”

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Although not officially celebrating Portuguese imperialism, the fact that the boat docked in Goa last week in sync with the 500-year anniversary of the conquest of Goa was not lost on many here, among them the All-Goa Freedom Fighters’ Association (those who fought Portuguese rule and contributed to its ending in 1961), the Catholics for Devanagari and the bjp. When the ambassador of Portugal, Luis Castro Mendes, together with the ship’s commander, Pedro Proenca Mendes, invited Goa’s chief minister Digambar Kamat and governor S.S. Sidhu to a cocktail reception on board the Sagres, Naguesh Karmali, president of the All-Goa Freedom Fighters’ Association, announced to the press that the brave men of his organisation, all in their 70s now, were willing to risk jail terms to physically prevent the two leaders from boarding. “We will protest,” he promised. “How can anyone in their right mind celebrate the arrival of our oppressors?”

Clearly, the visit had brought to the surface an ever-present, palpable and deep (yet not often spoken of) Goan divide. There are those here who see the Portuguese as benevolent fairy god-uncles who infinitely enriched and transformed Goa; who will always be joined with them in the deep longing for a shared, poignant past. There are as many, perhaps more, who see the Portuguese simply and starkly as imperial conquerors—divisive, coercive, plundering and cruel. In the middle are those who try to find a liberal, conciliatory spin on this perceptual chasm. “I can see that the visit is possibly in bad taste,” said Frederick Noronha, a leading Goan journalist and thinker, “but no more so than the Commonwealth Games.”

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NRP Sagres Tracing Vasco da Gama’s legacy across the world

“Were they cruel?” ruminated well-known Goan artist Subodh Kerkar, one of those aboard the Sagres for the starlit cocktail reception last Sunday evening. “Yes, of course they were. The inquisition, the brutality are very real. But shall we stop eating chilli?” he asks, his question quite obviously a rhetorical one. “Cashews and bread? Sorpotel and cafreal? What about the beautiful architecture? There is a special, standout sparkle in Goa, in large part thanks to Portuguese rule. We need to accept that gracefully.” (Without a doubt, chilli is the forerunner in the popular Goan list of Portuguese contributions to her colony, closely followed by succulent gravy dishes and gorgeous houses with big balcaos.)

“There was good and bad, but that is not the point,” says Ramesh Kambli, a restaurant owner and respected opinion leader in the village of Anjuna. “Maybe we would welcome them and their ship if they had gone from here without war, or if they now came apologetically; but as a commemoration, a celebration, of our occupation? We, the majority, were their slaves, oppressed and afraid. Everyone I know was very happy to see them go.” And if your father or grandfather would have been invited aboard the Sagres? Kambli’s answer is clear: “They would have refused the invitation.”

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A People Freed Indian troops during the liberation of Goa in 1961

In the end, the chief minister and the governor also refused the invitation and stayed away. “The CM had to respect the feelings of the Goan people,” Suresh Walve, the chief minister’s press liaison officer, told Outlook; the governor received the ship’s commanding officer and the ambassador at his home. Rear Admiral Sudhir Pillai, the naval flag officer commanding the Goa area, was the highest ranking Indian official at the event, along with several other Indian navy officers on board with their wives, all looking smart. “We are here as equals, as hosts,” said one of them, “I actually feel good facing them in our own uniform, eye to eye. I think it is important, it is about the present and not the about the past.”

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Officer Gaspar also prefers the present to the past, saying that he, like most of those in his generation, is not fond of Portuguese colonial heritage. “It was all about wars,” he explains. “We are now people of peace.” Batista lists the ports they have already been to since setting sail, and when he names Hawaii, his friends pause to recall if Hawaii was indeed ever a Portuguese colony. “Well, I think we had only stopped there for a visit in the 1500s or 1600s,” surmises one crew member, “and then stayed on a long while.” When asked about the protests against the visit, Gaspar responds: “It is only 30 or 40 people out of a billion; so what?” But does he know and understand what they are protesting about? “No,” says the officer and gentleman, his gaze warm and bold, as he searches the horizon for the right words in English. “Truthfully, I don’t really care.”

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