JOIN USGoa meet to focus on anti-colonial struggle
Goa’s NRI Commissioner Eduardo Faleiro said the conference to come up later this year as part of the state’s golden jubilee celebrations would pay a special tribute to Goans who played a significant role in the freedom struggles of colonies in Africa such as Mozambique and Kenya.
Like Goa, Mozambique became a Portuguese dominion in the early 15th century. The British took over Kenya in 1920.
“The damage done by colonialism to different nations was similar and so are the challenges faced by them at present on their way to a post colonial resistance,” said the former Union minister.
Faleiro sees similarities in the imperialistic expansionism of the West in the early centuries and the present-day aggressive strategy employed by the United States and its junior partners in the Arab uprising.
“What we are seeing in Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq tells us that colonialism is very much alive and we must remain ever watchful. One should not get carried away by media controlled by them,” he warns.
Key role
A number of Goans played a key role in the anti-colonial resistance in Mozambique and Kenya. Pio Gama Pinto, Kenyan-Goan journalist, was assassinated in 1965 two years after his country’s Independence.
Aquino de Bragança, journalist-academic and a key advisor to Mozambican President Samora Machel died in the aircrash that also killed Machel in 1986.
Former vice-president of Kenya Joseph Murumbi had Goan origins. Faleiro said efforts would be made to reach many of those still alive today like former Kenyan deputy speaker Fitz D’Souza and Oscar Monteiro.