GOA BAGH: Finally, Goa caught up with Shaheen Bagh, Lucknow Bagh and Mumbai Bagh with Goa’s growing Muslim population, the main victims of CAA, joining other communities in opposing the diabolical unconstitutional CAA plan of the BJP

By Rajan Narayan

The giant rally against CAA last Friday at the Azad Maidan saw a record turnout of Muslims along with other communities. This has unfortunately led to many nasty messages against migrant Muslim community on Facebook. The minority communities are playing into the hands of the BJP whose primary aim is to polarize Goa on communal lines and disenfranchise non-BJP voters….

IT IS not surprising that the rally which was organized on Friday, February 21, 2020, from 3.30pm onwards at Azad Maidan in Panaji attracted residents of all communities of Goa. Though it was clear that the majority of the 15,000 plus, plus crowd was made up of the Muslim people. Muslims from all over Goa from Valpoi to Moti Dongor to Curchorem to Sanquelim were present at the rally. Individual Muslims might not be confident enough to stage a protest or take the leadership in organizing a protest against the Constitutional Amendment Act (CAA) of which Muslims are the first victims. The CAA is an enabling provision which permits the government of India to confer citizenship on Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain and Parsi and other residents of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan except for Muslim residents of these countries. Never mind that there are several lakh if not several crore Muslims who migrated to Pakistan at the time of Partition are unhappy over being treated as second class Muslim citizens in Pakistan especially. They are referred to contemptuously as Muhajir which is equivalent to bhaile in Konkani.
Pakistan is dominated by the Punjabi Muslims, who broke away from to the united Punjab and from the core of West Pakistan. Indeed, Bangladesh came into being because culturally East Pakistan was Bengali and not Islamic. For Goans who may not be familiar with Indian history, as part of the Partition Punjab and Bengal were divided on the basis of Muslim majority taluka becoming Pakistan. East Pakistan of course was liberated and became Bangladesh.
There was a moral to the giant rally on Friday. It revealed the huge increase in the Muslim population in the state. More significantly it dramatized that the Muslim population in the state is totally united and comes together for any common cause. The corollary is that Muslims constitute themselves into vote banks in whichever part of Goa they settle in. For instance, Muslims in Panjim are part of the vote bank of Babush Atanasio Monserrate. Similarly, Muslims in Margao are a vital part of the vote bank of the former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat. Which is why Digambar Kamat skipped an important meeting on the Margao carnival to attend the anti-CAA rally in Panjim. Rohan Khaunte, also at war with the BJP, was present at the rally along with Girish Chodankar. But significantly the rally remained non-political and none of the politicians were on stage or allowed to speak.

PANJIM HINDUS

THERE were members of other communities at the rally. As Devsurabhee Yaduvanshi, who has been creating an awareness on NPR and CAA points out, there were even priests and nuns. Relatively, there were fewer Hindus as Hindus in Panjim are committed to the BJP. Former president of the RSS, Subhash Velingkar, may have disagreed with the late Manohar Parrikar on the official language issue. But on the question of CAA and NPR he is totally with the BJP. Similarly, in Margao also a majority of Hindus are BJP supporters and correspondingly in favour of CAA and NPR. It is the Hindu MLAs who have large numbers of Muslims in their constituency who have no choice but to oppose CAA.
The Schedule Tribe Association is also against CAA and NPC. The STs constitutes 12% of the population of Goa. Till the Bahujan Samaj was formed by Goa’s fi`t Chief Minister Dayanand Bandodkar, they were treated very badly both by the Hindu bhatkars and Catholic Church. In the churches of Goa the ST people comprising of Gawdis, Velips, Kunbis and Dhangars were not permitted inside the church premises and had to stand outside. Which is why the majority of ST people in Goa reconverted to Hinduism, particularly in areas like Odxel. In Aivao village there was a split and a Shanta Durga Temple was set up by the pro-Hindu group of the Schedule Tribes.

CAA PROTEST

Many of the present MLAs including Vijai Sardesai of the Goa Forward have to oppose the CAA because Fatorda has a large ST population besides the Muslim population. The Catholic MLAs are in a dilemma as there are under pressure from the party to support the CAA. But the Panchayats in their constituency, as in the case of Clafasio Dias, the Cuncolim MLA who supported the CAA in the Legislative Assembly, was boycotted by the Panchayats which have passed resolution against the CAA. Even staunch MLAs like Michael Lobo have clearly opposed the CAA.
The mass turn out of Muslims at the rally in Panjim has invited abuse on them. Suddenly there are posts asking the Muslims to go to Pakistan. This is first time there has been any bias against the Muslims in Goa. In the history of Goa there was only one minor communal riot in Curchorem in 2006, allegedly BJP-instigated. The riot was fueled by false rumors that armed Muslims with iron rods and swords had come from Hubli and Dharward to target the Hindu community. The origin of the dispute was the conversion of a housing board flat in Gudemal in Curchorem into a madrassa.
As the Muslim population has increased from less than half percent during Liberation to an estimated 18 to 20% in 2020 there have been disputes, ironically between Christians and Muslims over land. An expanding Muslim community needs land for mosques, burial grounds and madrasas. Most of the newer migrants are settled in South Goa. Though they may work in Margao they stay in surrounding villages like Nuvem, Curchorem and Raia. The Catholic-dominated south is unwilling to even sell them land as unlike in the case of the Hindus there has been no tradition of co-existence between Christians and Muslims in Goa.

EARLY MUSLIMS

THIS is because though Adil Shah whose Adil Shah palace was used as the Secretariat at one time, was driven out by the Portuguese. The Goan population preferred the Portuguese to the Muslims. The early Muslims in Goa were primarily Khoja Muslims traders like the Adanis, Nooranis, Nizaris, etc. Unlike the original Muslims the migrants have not merged with the Goan community as closely as they should. Though there are many second and third generation Muslims in the state who speak Konkani better than most English-educated Goans themselves.
It is unfortunate that the communities seem to be divided on the CAA issue. While admittedly both Muslims and Catholics have opposed the CAA they have not been attending each other’s rallies. The three groups which are worst affected by the National Population Register are the Muslim migrants, the Schedule Tribe population and the Goans who have secured a Portuguese passport. A question that has been raised is whether in the context of BREXIT, Goans who have Portuguese passport will have to surrender it. There are even doubts expressed whether the BJP will do away with the provision for citizens of Indian origin. Besides their distrust of Muslims the BJP does not have any sympathy for the Catholic minority community.
Historically the BJP has been a party of Brahmins which has looked at the ST community with this regard. If the BJP has not attempted to carry out the Hindutva agenda in Goa it is because they need the Catholic minority community for political reasons. The best way of countering the BJP is for Catholics, Muslims and Schedule Tribes to unite. Together they will form more than 50% of the population of Goa.

Finally, it is all about politics. The objective of the CAA and NPR which will lead to the National Citizens Register like in Assam, is to dis-franchise the non-Hindu vote. The objective of the BJP is to convert India into a Hindu state like Nepal. Which is why they want to encourage the over three crore Hindus in Pakistan to return to India. In turn they expect to expel an equal number of Muslims to Bangladesh or any of the other Islamic countries. Fortunately the composition of Goa’s population makes it mandatory for the BJP to woo both the Christian community and the schedule tribes.
This is small consolation as the fear of merger has risen again. Will the Modi government try to merge Goa with Karnataka or Maharashtra? We need to be cautious and oppose the CAA and NPR collectively. It is unfortunate that the Goa Assembly has not passed a resolution against the CAA as many Congress-ruled states have. It is heartening that many panchayat have passed resolution against the CAA in the gram sabha. Finally, there is an issue which can combine all the non-BJP communities in Goa.
Unfortunately the Congress is in mess. One wishes that there will be a revived Aam Aadmi Party under the leadership of Digambar Kamat which will dislodge BJP from power. If the AAP can defeat the BJP on three consecutive occasions in the national capital, there is no reason why they can’t do it in Goa. It is even more significant to know that the AAP maintained its status, losing only four seats to the BJP and securing 62 of the 70 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Delhi. In Goa if the Catholics, Muslims and Schedule Tribes, and enlightened Hindus get together, a new party can get 40 out of 40 seats in the Goa Legislative Assembly.