My Kingdom Is Not Of This Earth

HERALD

OPINION

www.oheraldo.in

“My Kingdom is not of this Earth”

o= HERALD o= Vol No CIX No: 101 Goa, Saturday 11 April, 2009

I

Firmans from afar

n the old days (notice the conspicuous omission of the prefix ‘good’ from that well-worn expression), the Moghul Emperors of India ruled vast swathes of the subcontinent from their capital, first in Agra and then Delhi. They had little touch with the ground realities in the farflung corners of their empire, but their power was absolute. It was enforced by the royal command, known as a ‘firman’. The problem was that these firmans were issued from the royal court, based on submissions by courtiers, often with very little idea of the actual situation in that distant province. Times have changed. Telecommunications have made the world – and India – a much smaller place. It is now so much easier to understand the actual situation before one takes a decision on anything. In the case of Goa – which is India’s smallest state – it should be even easier. Despite the recent vexing traffic jams on our National Highways, it takes a little over two hours to traverse the entire state north to south, and even less to do it from west to east. However, the mentality of the rulers – of issuing firmans – has not changed. And so it came to pass that the Election Commission (EC), in its wisdom, directed the Excise Department to obtain a daily stock statement and daily sales log from each and every liquor shop in the state. In response to this ‘harassment from election authorities’, the Liquor Traders Association, which represents liquor wholesalers and retailers, has threatened to stop selling liquor. This could prove a dampener for traditional Easter celebrations, coming up at midnight tonight. The Excise Department has confirmed that it is collecting daily reports of alcohol transactions from manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers. But Liquor Traders Association co-convenor Mangaldas Naik says that it is not practical for shop owners to minutely keep daily stock statements of the sale of liquor. He complains that despite this, EC officials are demanding daily stock statements. Mr Naik says that the authorities have issued notices even to those who do maintain daily stock statements. The association is sore that election officials have also been harsh on liquor distilleries. The Excise Department has confirmed that around 30 distilleries and bottling units have been sealed. This, says Excise Commissioner Sandeep Jacques, is a ‘precautionary measure’ to rule out illegal manufacture of liquor, which could be used for enticing voters during elections. Liquor Traders Association Convenor Barnabe Sapeco says that Goa is not like other places in the country. Here, liquor is not bought purely to drink (or, as the EC suspects, to get voters drunk). Most tourists who visit Goa buy bottles of liquor as souvenirs of their visit, to take back home, just as they buy sea-shells, cashew nuts, cocum syrup, bebinca, Goa sausage, and other unique Goan foods and beverages. That is why, he explains, even if two bus-loads of tourists stop at a shop to buy liquor, they could buy 300 or more bottles within the span of a 15-minute stop. It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, under the circumstances, he adds, to record all the details of these sales on a register. A special clerk would have to be appointed for the purpose, he feels. Not everything that the liquor traders are saying may be true. But is it likely that all of it is a lie? Businessmen would never wilfully deprive themselves of their earnings just to prove a point. Obviously, it really isn’t possible for them to report on sales in the way the EC wants. But this does not mean that it is altogether impossible for them to cooperate with the EC to ensure that misuse of liquor is curbed in the Lok Sabha election. When the EC wants to closely monitor the sale of liquor in the state during the election campaign period, what prevents it from calling the representatives of the liquor traders – especially when they have a functioning association – for a discussion about how this can be effectively done, before they issue directives? An hour or two of productive talk can prevent huge amounts of strife, standoffs, loss of business for the traders, loss of tax revenue for the state, and loss of goodwill for the EC.

Politicians, beware! Fernando Do Rego, Panjim The story of the shoe in the history of mankind is centuries old. The first evidence of their use dates back to the sandals of the Pharaohs of Egypt in 1200 BC. The shoe is repeatedly mentioned in the Bible. Shoes were also thrown on a wedding car, to wish all the happiness to the bridal couple! Shoes/stockings play a major role in the fun and frolic of Christmas, when Santa Claus comes down with present to the children. The first tool to make shoes was invented in the USA in 1845. Curiously, the shoe was famously first used as a tool for expressing protest for the very first time against the US President, in December 2008, when Muntazar al-Zaidi threw one at the then US President George Bush. Chinese PM Wen Jiabao too got one in February 2009, hurled by a German student in Cambridge. In March, the Iranian President Ahmadinejad was targeted. On 21 March, Indian Supreme Court jugde Arijit Pasayat got one in the courtroom. The latest was when journalist Jaipal Singh lobbed one at Home Minister P Chidambaram. We all know that Goa is boiling against corruption by our politicians. Soon they will be out in public giving us speeches. But they should beware – instead of garlands, they may be greeted with a fusillade of shoes.

Shoe perspective S N D Poojary, Miramar In a shoe-throwing incident, we focus our attention only on the victim, forgetting about the predicament of the thrower. After his brave attempt, he realizes that he is left with only one shoe. The police whisk him away from the scene and he is made to walk with one shoe, and limps as he is carried away. He cannot go and buy another pair, as the police won’t allow him to go. Neither do the police return him the shoe that The offices of OHeraldo were closed from 8 April to 12 April 1909 on account of Holy Week (Easter Day was on 11 April that year), and there were no editions published in that period. The column ‘100 Years Ago’ will therefore appear again only on 14 April.

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The Eastern church has always prized the role of the Holy Spirit in the governance of the church, says TEOTONIO R DE SOUZA

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he Papal States, also known as States of the Church or Pontifical States, in central Italy, with nearly two and half million subjects, were till 1871 under the direct temporal rule of the Pope. The Popes had become de facto rulers of the city of Rome and the surrounding area by the 6th century AD. This territory was formally granted to Pope Stephen II by Pepin the Short, king of the Franks, in 754 AD. Additions were made by gifts, purchases and conquests, and even by forging the so-called Donation of Constantine, until the Papal States included nearly the whole of central Italy, reaching their greatest extent in the 16th century. Incidentally, the 13th-century Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio lost a wall, while a section of the nave collapsed in the earthquake that took place in Italy week, with its epicentre 60 miles northeast of Rome. The church, combining Romanesque and Gothic architecture, played host to the crowning of Pope Celestine V in 1294 AD. The acquisitions of the papacy were for the most part retained until 1797, when the French forces of Napoleon Bonaparte seized much of the territory. In 1801 Pope Pius VII regained some power, and, following the fall of Bonaparte in 1815, the Congress of Vienna restored nearly all the territory of the states, placing them under Austrian protection. The final dissolution of the Papal States came in 1870, when nearly all the territory, including Rome, was annexed to a united Italy by its king, Victor Emmanuel II. The jurisdiction of the Pope was confined to the Vatican. As a protest against the Italian occupation, each succeeding Pope remained a voluntary prisoner until 1929, when the Lateran Treaty under Mussolini recognised the full and independent sovereignty of the Holy See in Vatican City. Ironically and sadly, the kicks of history – not Jesus of History before Pilate or in his Risen state – were the best advisors of his vicars on earth. The eve of Easter, which Christians the world over commemorate this week, could and should be a welcome moment to reflect on these deflections that have pained more than saved mankind. History provides a vast and open field for the biblical enemy to sow the weed, not just at night-time, but even in broad daylight! We shall point out some that affected the Christianity of St Thomas in India in the recent colonial past. Despite the historical denudations of the papacy, to most who do not belong to the European tradition of mixing religion and politics, even under the modernist and veiled legal garb of the separation of the Church and the State, a sovereign Vatican state with representation in international forums still waits for more historical kicks to convince Christ’s vicars on earth to comprehend his vision of the “Kingdom of God”. In

A detail from the painting ‘Crucifixion’ (1959) by F N Souza (1924–2002)

HISTORICAL EXPLORATIONS times of computer networking (and the Vatican is proud of managing an advanced radio-network and astronomical centre), there is hardly any reason why the jurisdictional centre of the Catholic church needs to be in Rome. The place where Peter died is more important than the place where Jesus was born and died? God may know why, but scientists blame Italy’s tragic history of earth tremors on the fact that the country lies directly over the Eurasian and African fault-lines, where the borders of two tectonic plates move together and apart. This also accounts for Italy’s relatively high number of active volcanoes: Etna, the largest active volcano in Europe; Stromboli; and Vesuvius, the only active volcano on the mainland of Europe. While God works, we humans (more so in the distant Orient of the magi) may still have hope of reaching the Kingdom of God. As long as the hierarchy of the Catholic Church is a

Teeny-Weeny Nano

Tongue in Cheek

M

y family owns a couple of four-wheelers and three two-wheelers. One would say those are enough wheels for a family of four. Sorry, make that five – I forgot our dog Snoopy. But my elder son is away, studying in Bangalore. So that again makes us a family of four. My younger son is still a minor, my wife cannot handle a two-wheeler, leave alone a four wheeler. So the only person who does all the riding and the driving is yours truly. So one would say that those are a lot of vehicles for a single user. Mind you, even the most powerful woman in India, and probably in the entire world, Sonia Gandhi does not own a single car, nor does her son Rahul, if one goes by the declarations made while filing their nominations. So owning a couple of cars and another three bikes keeps me one step ahead of all these powerful people. But then many of the politicians have declared that they have no cars. Does that mean that these politicians travel by the State Transport buses and the local trains? By no means! They of course travel by the official cars, run on the expense of the state exchequer. So what’s the need of owning a car? Quite logical, if you think about me. You may ask why I am all of a sudden writing about cars. Well, cars have been in the news in recent weeks. Tata’s little beauty Nano has hit the

he has tossed in the air in the direction of the victim. Further, he cannot get a replacement for the thrown shoe; because shoes are always sold in pairs, if one is lost, you cannot get the matching shoe and the shopkeepers do not sell single shoes. Apart from all this, he has to suffer indignity throughout his life for missing the target. His self-confidence is shattered: if he cannot hit the bull’s eye with a shoe, how can he participate in shooting competitions? For that matter, how would he play cricket with such poor throwing skills? Thus, there is a human dimension to the whole episode which we tend to ignore. It may be worthwhile to develop this sport because there might be a growing need for the trained specialists in this discipline in the years ahead.

Misuse of freedom Gregory Fernandes, Mumbai Hurling shoes at politicians by media personnel has become a new and effective form of protest. This kind of protest by media personnel must be deplored and discouraged, especially since it comes from a section of people who are respected in society and therefore are expected to uphold the law. Both Muntazar al-Zaidi and Jarnail Singh were purportedly acting on behalf of the communities they belonged to, giving vent to the communities’ ire against the leaders. But by their action they have misused their profession. This sort of incident is bound to create a feeling of insecurity among politicians and expose journalists to unnecessary security scrutiny.

Sonia’s falsehoods Arwin Mesquita, Dubai On 29 May 2007, Sonia Gandhi, in her South Goa Campaign speech, said that “Goa is a jewel of the Country”, and then allowed her party to loot and destroy Goa till today. She also said that congress will see that Goa tops in all parameters by 2012, when the state would celebrate the golden jubilee of its liberation. But by that time, Goans would be in a minority and would wonder if they are celebrating Liberation of Goa from the Portuguese or Liberation of Goa from the Goans. Now Sonia is coming to Goa again on 16/17 April to raise false hopes again and ask Goans to

prisoner of a Roman style of governance with a jurisdictional base, and as long as the financial dependence on the West is needed to sustain the institutional display of the “universal” church, we may have a long time to wait. Had Jesus been of Hindu culture, he could at least hope to be reborn. But even that has been denied to him, and the passion plays have become a pathetic substitute for the reality shows. To illustrate, let us return to the Christians of St Thomas in Kerala. It was the Tridentine Christianity of Rome that the Portuguese sought to impose upon them through a synod at Diamper (Udayamperur), at the close of the 16th century. Though some doctrinal differences served as a pretext for interference by the Padroado authorities of Goa, the real and profound motive for discord was the nature of the organisation that governed St Thomas Christians. Their bishops, or Mar as they were titled, came from Mosul (presently

in Iraq) and were merely the pastoral leaders of the community. The temporal jurisdiction lay with native faithful, under the leadership of an archdeacon. Lack of such separation of spiritual and temporal powers continues to be the bane of the Rome-inspired and ruled church that we have inherited from the Portuguese. Let us not forget that more than the Latin church of Rome, which the Portuguese sought to implant in Goa and elsewhere in their former colonial possessions and trading-posts, the Eastern church always prized more and gave a central place to the role of the Holy Spirit in the governance of the church. It was this centrality and faith in the power of the Holy Spirit rather than in the jurisdictional powers of the human institutions that has been the cause of rifts between the church over time in the West and the East. If the Resurrection of Christ has taken him beyond space and time, depriving the Christians of an equivalent of Muslim Mecca, thereby making Christianity truly universal, the West has succeeded so far in restricting him to Rome, delaying the time announced by Jesus to the Samaritan woman: “But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him. God is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4: 23–24). The Goans who usually prefer to read American or European historians or novelists could read, for a change, a classic work entitled As Confrarias de Goa (1973) authored by Aldona-born Leopoldo da Rocha (he was my professor of liturgy at Rachol seminary). It was his doctoral dissertation presented to the Gregorian University in Rome. He traces, among other things about Goan confraternities, the origin of santos passos and the holy hysteria they were meant to generate with competitions between various religious orders and their respective confraternities in the old city of Goa. Incidentally, Leopoldo Rocha has very recently departed from the traditional genre of scholarship and produced an equally enthralling autobiographical novel Casa Grande, wherein he exposes much hypocrisy that he was forced to live as a priest and as a member of an aristocratic family in colonial Goa. To conclude on the high note of the festivity that will cheer many Goans this week, it is important that we neither disown the culture we have inherited nor throw out the baby with the bathwater. We need to review it critically and purge it. Is it not that which we often ask from the caste inheritance of the Hinduism? I cannot but remember our great artist Newton de Souza, who spent his life struggling with Christ and died with him on the Good Friday of 2002!

Goan roads … well, not exactly, it has only hit the showroom. The teenyweeny car is attracting hordes of people. Some with the intention of buying it, others just out of curiosity as to why Mamata Banerjee did not want the car to roll out from her State and what the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi saw in the little car. The Nano has caught the imagination of an entire nation. From a distance it looks like a toy car belonging to the baby of a giant. Probably no other car, after the good old Maruti 800 hit the road, has made heads turn and eyes roll the way the Nano. For one, you do not need a large purse to own the ultra small car. It can easily fit in the budget of a middle-class Indian who owns a two-wheeler and dreams of driving his own car. In fact, owning a Nano could be considered a graduation from a two-wheeler to a four-wheeler without feeling the pinch. As a matter of fact, with the Nano hitting the road, the sight of a family of five balancing precariously on a bike will be a thing of the past. Now they can travel comfortably in a Nano. The Nano is probably designed keeping in mind the physique of an average Indian. A guy above six feet in height will probably have difficulty fitting into the car. But then most Indians are five-footers, which makes the

By Adelmo Fernandes Nano the right car for us. Though I am not exactly in need of one more car, I asked myself what is wrong in adding to my already existing ‘fleet’ of cars. So I decided to explore the advantages of going in for a Nano – besides the price, of course. Some say that a Nano is a no-no car for them. I asked the reason. “Well, I am used to speeds of 100-plus and hence the Nano is surely not my cup of tea,” said a young chap who seemed to be a guy in a hurry. “Nano is for my eighty-year-old nani,” said another college lad. But a married man had another view. “I am going for it. It’s the best car for my better half. I won’t have to accompany her on shopping trips,” he said. All said and done, the Nano does have advantages. Being the smallest car means it will require the smallest parking space, which should not be very difficult to find. It will definitely give more mileage than the bigger cars. Thus it will add to your monthly savings. So for me it is a yes-yes car. My garage does have enough space for another car, especially for the little Nano. Our housemaid has already booked one. What stops me from following suit? Absolutely nothing! “Nano, here I come!”

Letters to the Editor

Letter of the Day

Spurious fly-by-night NGOs

Soter D’Souza, Socorro

The once-sacred word ‘social worker’ has been cheapened by dubious politicians and anti-social elements who have no other socially credible achievements to attribute to themselves. It is not uncommon to see birthday wishes of aspiring politicians with the words ‘Dynamic Social Worker’ accompanying them. Of late it is seen that the term ‘NGO’ is increasingly being affixed to any and every group. Blackmailers, power brokers and political party agents seem to have embarked upon a mission to infiltrate public spaces with social action groups, claiming them to be NGOs. Corrupt retiring government officials and political parties are also known to float organisations to siphon off money from government schemes. These crooked ulterior motives are then attributed to civil society organisations across the board by the very collaborators and perpetrators of this fraud. It seems that a very systematic campaign has been unleashed by politicians and oppressive economic forces to vitiate the atmosphere and discredit genuine social change facilitators in the eyes of the public. These last few days have seen reports about the formation of some NGO forums in Goa that are threatening to teach a lesson to the government by aligning themselves with one or the other candidate in the fray for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. Behind these so-called forums appear to be familiar agents or sympathisers of builders and politicians, along with leaders of village groups which just yesterday claimed to have been formed to address issues arising from development. The mission of these village groups is often obscure and they are in no way accountable. The timing of the launch of these groups further creates suspicion about their motives. It is these free-floating unaccountable groups that then go about conducting questionable activities calling themselves ‘NGO’. Genuine civil society groups, even if unregistered, will have a viable vision with definite objectives and meticulously maintained records of their funding sources and activities. However there is nothing of this visible with these fly-by-night groups calling themselves NGOs, which just yesterday pretended to be concerned about the problems of the people but have now plunged into electoral politics and are acting as political brokers and fixers. Will the Goan electorate be wise enough not to fall into this trap laid by cunning politicians, some real estate developers and their agents? give her party the chance to continue destroying Goa and its identity.

community and promote small-scale businesses that will help them in their progress.

Upholding workers’ faith

Protest is now a fashion

Cajetan Peter D’Souza, Mumbai

A K Sharma, Dona Paula

The recent recession has broken the hopes of many workers who have lost their jobs . This is the time when these workers, instead of having a lethargic approach towards their faith and families, should work to build a strong rapport with God in upholding their faith. The Catholic Church must look into enriching and empowering these workers not just by their homilies but also encourage them to form a

Protesting has become a fashion and a handful of protestors are holding the state to ransom. This is the truth prevailing in Goa in recent years. Protest against development, protest against industrialization, protest against any progress in the state. Mr Nitin Kuncolienkar, President of GCCI, has rightly brought out these facts. A handful of so-called NGOs are holding the very progress of state to ransom by protesting against

everything. As brought out by Mr Kuncolienkar, no major industry is willing to set foot in Goa. The socalled NGOs protesting against development are actually the major hurdles in moving the state forward. It is time now for the people of Goa to wake up to this reality and condemn the actions of unaccountable NGOs and actively participate in the progress of the state and take it to the next level.

Words of Wisdom

Well done, Ravi Naik! Savio Queiroz, Verna Kudos to Home Minister Ravi Naik for his daring steps to pre-empt the entry of the Shri Ram Sena in our peace-loving state of Goa. Although we may believe in different religions, we are all peaceful, loving people, living in harmony in the loving state of Goa. We will not tolerate any violence. United we stand, and at the need of the hour, we Goans will fight tooth and nail against the elements trying to disrupt the peace, love and harmony. Ravi Naik has shown that he has guts. A word of appreciation to Mr Parrikar, who stood up and supported the ban on the Shri Ram Sena.

All fun and games? S Kamat, Alto Betim Looking at the Indian election process currently under way, one is rather surprised to see so many film and sports personalities jumping into the fray. In earlier times it was quite rare to see sportspersons standing for elections, while film personalities were used mainly to draw crowds for rallies to be addressed by one or the other politician. These people remained apolitical and concentrated on their own activities and their professions. However, lately we have film stars standing for elections or being nominated to the Upper House, and giving us unwanted advice, more often than not putting their feet into their mouths. The reason for this trend of film and sports personalities participating in the election process could be on the rise because politics is today all fun and games and a world of makebelieve. Naturally film stars are quite at home in this situation with the breed of politicians who populate the legislatures.

Holy Saturday Holy Saturday is the day after Good Friday. It is the day before Easter and the last day of Holy Week, in which Christians prepare for Easter. This day commemorates the day that Jesus Christ’s body lay in the tomb. In Roman Catholic Churches, the sanctuary remains stripped completely bare (following the Mass on Maundy Thursday) while the administration of the sacraments is severely limited. Holy Communion is given only as Viaticum to the dying. All Masses are strictly prohibited. No Mass at all appears in the liturgy for this day. Many of the churches of the Anglican Communion as well as Lutheran, Methodist, and some other Churches observe most of the same; however, their altars may be covered in black instead of being stripped. Liturgically speaking, Holy Saturday lasts until dusk, after which the Easter Vigil is celebrated, marking the official start of the Easter season. In Roman Catholic observance, during the “Gloria” of the Mass (which is the first Mass since that of Holy Thursday), the church statues and icons, in places where they are covered with purple veils during Passiontide, are dramatically unveiled. In Eastern Orthodoxy, this day, known as Holy and Great Saturday, is also called The Great Sabbath since it is on this day that Christ “rested” physically in the tomb. But it is also believed that it was on this day he performed in spirit the Harrowing of Hades and raised up to Paradise those who had been held captive there.

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