MARGAO
Cuncolkars paid rich tributes to the 16 Chieftains as they commemorated the 438th anniversary of the historic 1583 revolt against the Portuguese rulers on Thursday.
At a function organized by the Cuncolim Chieftains Memorial committee near the Cuncolim Municipal building to commemorate the historic revolt, speakers recalled how the people of Cuncolim had fought the colonial power by launching a non-cooperation movement refusing to pay taxes.
In his keynote address, Principal of CES College, Cuncolim Dr Sanjay Desai said the local people had confronted the Portuguese for around 12-13 years before the confrontation culminated in the 1583 revolt. “History showed that the people of Cuncolim had revolted against the colonial power as over 280 Temples were razed down to the ground during the period”, he said.
Dr Desai underscored the need to study Portuguese by every Goan to get to know the history of Goa which has been documented in Portuguese. “We have to depend on experts for translation of the works into English or regional languages. Just the study of Portuguese can give us huge access to the history books written in that language”, he said.
Cuncolim Municipal Chairperson, Prof Laximan Naik, said the people of Cuncolim had unitedly faced the colonial powers.
In his address, President of Cuncolim Chieftain Memorial Trust Oscar Martins said Cuncolkars are proud of the Chieftains and their forefathers, who had fought against the Portuguese rule. “I am proud to say that the Chieftains had launched the non-cooperation movement against the Portuguese rule by refusing to pay taxes. Since the people had refused to pay the taxes, the Portuguese had confiscated the community lands, which the people got back only after liberation”, Martins said.
He lamented that the 1583 revolt has not found a mention in the school history books, hoping that Chairman of the Goa Board of secondary education get the history into the school curriculum at the earliest.
MMC vice-Chairperson Anthony Vaz, Cuncolim Municipal Councilors, Elvis Gomes, Subhash Velingar and others joined the people in paying tributes to the Chieftains.
