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Sangh Parivar eyeing Goa

Why is the Sangh Parivar concentrating on Goa, a tiny peaceful state on the western coast of India, where hardly 1.5 million population lives in perfect harmony?

It is a bit difficult to rule it out as mere coincidence that various parivar organisations have been organising national-level summits in Goa only after the anti-church movement started dominating its agenda.

Close on the heels of a crucial national executive meeting in April last year was the Dharm Jagaran Yatra, which began from Goa on October 20, to hit the national capital on the eve of a 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 15 months, which has raised the controversial issue of the Ram temple construction once again, besides alleged conversions.

"We have no special interest in Goa. It was just a long-pending invitation from the local VHP unit," says Ashok Singhal, working president.

Though they deny having any other place than Kashi, Mathura and Ayodhya on the agenda, VHP leaders have been consistently making statements about Goa's history that several churches standing here today had temples in their 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," clarified Ashok Chowgule, president of the VHP's Maharashtra and Goa units. Being a leading industrialist locally, he has succeeded in roping in two other leading mine owners - Dempo and Salgaoncar - into their camp of sympathisers.

The two-day VHP meet also released a six-page 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 four decades after liberation, is misguidedly projected as the Rome of the East, particularly in tourism - by government and non-government agencies. But Goa is the Kashi of the west coast India... The Portuguese are not the makers but destroyers of Golden Goa," stated the brochure.

Though the Christian population of the tourist state is diminishing from 35 per cent in 1961 due to the influx of non-locals (mainly Hindus), it continues to be projected as a Christian state since all the four coastal talukas among 11 are Christian-dominated.

"We stress on Goa because we want to smash the image that this it is a Christian land," quipped Singhal. Dr Peter de Souza, head of department of political science at Goa University, however pointed out that this image was being projected by commercial interests and not by any particular religion.

"Even Christians here are equally hurt due to this projection. But it is a clash between locals and tourists, not Hindus and Christians," he pointed out, recalling how Goans belonging to all religious communities faced 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 feared it may destroy the amity here, where even Hindu festivals have Christian participation.

Sitaram Tengse, a veteran journalist, however dismissed 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 a simple municipal elections here without the support of Christians and Muslims," he stated, pointing to recent municipal poll results.

The BJP made a debut in the Goa Assembly only in 1994, with four legislators in the 40-member House, raising it to 10 now, while forming a coalition government with the Francisco Sardinha-led Congress splinter group. Interestingly, the local Church played a major role in helping the BJP win both Lok Sabha seats last year.

But while raising the slogan of a swadeshi church, the VHP appears to have been using 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 - saffron style!

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