“Goa is part and parcel of India and the people who live there are as much Indians as those living in the rest of this country. These latter have every right to demand that the former should be reunited with them to share the blessings of freedom.”
JUNE 3, 1955
Goa
PORTUGAL CLAIMS A SORT OF DIVINE RIGHT TO RULE OVER Goa. What she does with that piece of India and the people living there is regarded by her to be nobody’s business but her own. And so far she has done things pretty much in her own way, especially in the matter of suppressing the freedom movement among the Goans. But Goa is part and parcel of India and the people who live there are as much Indians as those living in the rest of this country. These latter have every right to demand that the former should be reunited with them to share the blessings of freedom. Of course, the Government of India are of the same view and have done everything to bring about this consummation with all their resources. But they have had to take account of the fact that a foreign power is in possession in Goa. This has somewhat limited their choice of the method by which to bring about re-union, in the sense that the problem partakes of an international character and India has been following, with some success, the policy of peaceful negotiation in the settlement of her disputes with other countries. Naturally it is a policy which calls for great patience but it has by no means been barren of results. A problem very similar to that of Goa has been solved satisfactorily in the case of French possessions in India. But Portugal is different from France and there are those who believe a firmer handling is called for; the record of Portugal seems to provide justification for this view. Its repercussions in India have been seen in the growing public resentment against Portugal and the insistent demands that a more active policy should be adopted to make her yield. At the popular level a move has been launched to enter Goa in fairly large numbers and seek to aid the liberation movement by the same method by which India won her freedom, namely Satyagraha. Our Prime Minister has. therefore, been called upon to explain why the official policy cannot be changed at present. In his Press Conference on Tuesday, Mr. Nehru said, “We attach great importance to the basic principles governing our policies, international policies especially. We have gained some credit in the world for following those basic principles and we do not wish to be hustled or hurried into forgetting or bypassing those principles. Naturally, one has to adapt that basic policy from time to time to a changing situation, but the basic policy must remain”. The pursuit of this policy has led to a clearer understanding and appreciation in foreign countries of our objective in Goa than was the case previously. To that extent it has weakened Portugal’s hope of getting the Western Powers’ sympathy and support on which she mainly relies.
There remains the question of the Government of India’s attitude to the Satyagraha movement. Mr. Nehru sees no objection to individual Indians showing their sympathy for the Goans by actively participating in the freedom movement. But he is against the entry of Indian nationals into Goa in large numbers, though it would be easy enough to do so and paralyse the administration. His first reason is that it would enable Portugal to say that the movement is engineered by outsiders and to hide the fact that an overwhelming majority of Goans, irrespective of their religious faith, desire merger with India. The more serious reason, from a practical point of view, is the fact that the Portugese Government and officials have little understanding of Satyagraha and other peaceful methods of agitation. And it is to be feared that a situation might result in which large scale shooting and killing might take place and rouse passions in India and elsewhere. The Goan authorities have already given a sample of their brutal way of handling Satyagrahis on a small scale.
But the Portugese Government would be making a big mistake if they thought that these views of our Prime Minister amount to a guarantee for an indefinite continuation of the present stalemate. They would do well to take heed of Mr. Nehru’s warning that it is nothing of the sort; “It is my business what happens in Goa and it is only our definite policy of peaceful approach and restraint which prevents us from taking other steps. I think it is completely open to us to take such steps in the economic domain as we consider proper. We have taken some; we may take others”.
Reference:
The First 100
A Selection of Editorials, 1878-1978, THE HINDU, VOLUME I