Sandesh Prabhudesai
19 October 2000
Why is the Sangh Parivar concentrating on Goa, a peaceful tiny state on the western coast of India, where hardly 1.5 million population lives in a perfect harmony ?
Little difficult to rule it out as a mere coincidence that different organisations belonging to the parivar have been organising its important national-level summits in Goa only after the anti-Church movement has started dominating its agenda.
Close on the heels of a crucial national executive meeting held here in April last year was the Dharm Jagaran Yatra, which began from Goa on 20 October, to hit the national capital on the eve of visit by Pope John Paul II to India.
The just-concluded two-day meeting of the kendirya margadarshak mandal of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad is the third major event in last 15 months, which has raised the controversial issue of Ram temple construction once again, besides the alleged conversions.
"We have no special interest in Goa. It was just a long-pending invitation from the local VHP unit", says Ashok Singhal, the working president, while dismissing any other design behind it.
Though they deny having any other place than Kashi, Mathura and Ayodhya on its agenda, the VHP leaders however have been consistently making statements about Goa's history that several churches standing here today had temples in the same place before the Portuguese conquered the coastal state in 1510.
"We have no intention of raising the controversy over these churches except the three holy sites", clarifies Ashok Chowgule, president of the VHP's Maharashtra and Goa units. Being a leading industrialist locally, he has however succeeded in roping in two other leading mine owners – Dhempo and Salgaoncar – into their camp of sympathisers.
The two-day VHP meet, incidentally, also released a six-page colourful brochure on Konkan Kashi, narrating the history of how Goa was a major pilgrimage centre of Hindus in western India before the Portuguese rebuilt it as a pilgrim centre for Roman Catholics.
"Goa, even now four decades after liberation, is misguidedly projected as Rome of the East, particularly in the field of tourism – both by government and non-government agencies. But the fact is Goa is the Kashi of the west coast India...The Portuguese are not the makers but destroyers of Golden Goa", states the brochure.
Though the Christian population of the tourist state is diminishing day by day from 35 per cent mark in 1961 census due to the influx of non-locals (mainly Hindus) coming and settling down here, it continues to remain projected as Christian state since all the four coastal talukas among total 11 are Christian-dominated.
"We stress upon Goa because we want to smash the image that this is a Christian land", quips Singhal. Dr Peter de Souza, HOD of Political Science at Goa University, however points out that this image is being projected by commercial interests and not by any particular religion.
"Even the Christians here are equally hurt due to this projection. But it is a clash between locals and tourists, not Hindus and Christians", he points out, recalling how Goans belonging to all the religious communities together faced the Portuguese bullets to liberate the colony.
"We definitely quarrel but never fight with each other", observes Dr de Souza. Describing the attempts of the sangh parivar as the hegemony of North Indian Hindus, he fears it may destroy the amity here where even the Hindu festivals have Christian participation from centuries together.
Sitaram Tengse, a veteran journalist, however dismisses this fear, stating that no Goan Hindu would prefer going very close to the sangh parivar considering the social fabric of the state. "The BJP can't even win simple municipal elections here without the support of Christians and Muslims", he states, pointing out at the recent municipal poll results.
It is a fact that the BJP made a debut in Goa Assembly only in 1994 with four legislators in the 40-member House, rising it to 10 now while forming a coalition government today with the Francisco Sardinha-led Congress splinter group. Interestingly, the local Church played a major role in helping the BJP to win both the Lok Sabha seats last year.
But while raising the slogan of swadeshi church, the VHP appears to have been using the religious conversions that took place here in the 16th century, linking it to the alleged conversions in India today. Goa, thus, has a new projection now – the saffron style !
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