A minority is never really at ease, especially when
members of the majority community continue to
take potshots at it for various reasons. This is perhaps
why, when push came to shove, a community
leader had to speak out. On the occasion of the
feast of St Francis Xavier, regarded by the Catholic community
in Goa as a very auspicious occasion, Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas
had a message for political parties and their affiliates.
“Please give us the freedom to live our faith, to practice
our faith. Please do not interfere with our education, with our
activities and with our work.” He said this from the pulpit at
the feast mass, just before he delivered his final blessing to the
congregation, one that also had many politicians, including
the chief minister present. A strong statement like this was
long overdue.
The good bishop did not aim for any party in particular but
sought out to include all parties and affiliates under one ambit.
He just wanted the Catholic
community to be left alone. This in
the middle of the controversy over
the request for submission of income
tax returns by the department
of income tax, when political affiliates
have been targeting the Catholic
community and the Church in
particular for the decision to support
English as the medium of instruction
in its diocesan schools.
Groups have equated the fight for
English with anti-nationalism, and
have even verbally targeted the
Archbishop in this regard.
The Bishop is right in stating that
Christians are a patriotic community.
There are members of the community
who hold prominent positions across most parties in
Goa and have been loyal servants for years, if not decades.
The community has a major stake in the freedom movement,
not just to seek liberation from the Portuguese, but also of a
free India as well. Francisco Luis Gomes, for example, started
discussions of an India free from colonial rule back in the
late 1850s. To call the community anti-national because they
veer towards fighting for the right to have their children educated
in English in schools that receive grants from the government
is just not right, especially when the larger percentage
of students in these schools are from other communities and
insularity in this regard is not practiced by the diocese. In fact,
schools founded by the Church formed the backbone of early
education in an India that was still finding its feet after getting
free from colonial rule.
The community has the constitutional right to live and practice
their faith in the country and make choices based on that
faith. In fact, they should be welcomed as equal stakeholders.
Faith cannot be used as a reason to divide people in Goa.
