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.
