It has not escaped the Indian Government to seek to sow confusion in the minds of foreigners by playing on words. How can the State of India be Portuguese ? It is situated in India; therefore, it must be Indian. The Indian Representative did not forget to repeat in the Security Council this played-out symptoms of Indian propaganda.
Let us get our ideas clear.
India is the whole sub-continent which includes, besides the Indian Union, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Portuguese State of India, Sikkim (also annexed by Indian Union), Myanmar (Burma), Sri Lanka (Ceylon), etc. The Indian Union is not the whole of India and cannot legitimately claim any territory in the sub-continent other than the part of British India attributed to her by the relevant Act of the British Parliament in 1947. The Indian Union took the name of "India that is Bharat", when she came into being in 1947, and has since been called India for shortness sake only. It flatters the imperialistic dream of the Indian that she be called so, for it is the ambition of New Delhi to make its empire co-extensive with the whole sub-continent. New Delhi cannot reconcile itself with the fact that its territory is only a part of India. Hence, it plays on the world "India" to create the impression that the entire sub-continent is its lebensraum. This is a gross falsehood. Historically, the sub continent has never at any time been under a single rule. When the Portuguese reached Goa in 1510, there were no fewer than 11 kingdoms in the Indian Peninsula, only two of which were Hindu Kingdoms. There arose later the Mughal Empire, the Maratha Empire, the British Indian Empire. But the Portuguese State of India was there all that time. British India broke up in 1947 into the Indian Union and Pakistan (West and East), proving once again that there was no such reality as a single Indian nation.
In brief, the Portuguese State of India existed as a political entity in the Indian sub-continent over two centuries before British India came into being and over four centuries before the independent State of Indian Union or "India that is Bharat" was born as a part successor to British India, which was itself a part of India. It is worth repeating: the modern state called India for shortness’ sake must not be confused with the sub-continent of India. The latter also includes territories which are under legitimate sovereignties. The Portuguese State of India is one of those territories. The Indian Government officially recognized Goa, Damão and Diu as foreign territories by maintaining a Consul General there for no fewer than 8 years after the independence.
If it is alleged that Goa, Damão and Diu must belong to the Indian Union by reason of geographical contiguity, then it must be agreed that, for equally good reason, Alaska must belong to Canada, the tree Guianas to Brazil, the Andaman and Nicobar islands to Indonesia, etc, quite independently of the history and traditions of the respective populations and even again their will. This would be an enormity. But the Indian Union has already perpetrated it in Goa, Damão and Diu.
Resolution 1541 (XV) also mentions racial and/or cultural differentiation. Undoubtedly, the people of Goa, Damão and Diu belong somatically to the Indian sub-continent. So do the Pakistanis and the people of Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan. But their traditions and cultural heritage are certainly not the same as those of the Indian Union. Mr. Nehru himself publicly recognized this fact on a number of occasions and most explicitly on June 4, 1956 when he said:
"…if and when the Portuguese go and the people of Goa deliberately wish to retain their separate identity, I am not going to bring them by force or compulsion or coercion into the Indian Union".
And again:
"I merely say that my national interest involves the removal of the Portuguese from Goa, not coercion being used in bringing about the union with India…that is matter ultimately for the people of Goa to decide"
.
And concluded:
"I want to make it perfectly clear that I have no desire to coerce Goa to join India against the wishes of the people of Goa…but the point is that we feel that Goa’s individuality should remain and that whenever the times comes for any changes, internal or others, it will be for the people of Goa acting freely to decide upon them".
But Mr. Nehru went back on his word. His imperialism betrayed itself and him. Will the present Indian Government make amends for his misconduct ?
Or will it seek to retain the ill-gotten territories by continued use of force against the helpless local populations ?
For, neither geography nor racial and/or cultural differentiation can justify annexation of the territories by the Indian Union, by force of arms and without consulting the respective populations.
One agree that the Goans never have the opportunity to decide about their future. The Indian Union used force and annexed Goa, Damao and Diu!
We Goans have the right to demand THE RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION with a free expressed referendum as happen in East Timor.
Viva Goa!
No comments:
Post a Comment