GOA - NEVER BELONGED TO ANY COUNTRY CALLED INDIA By Shaun José Roiz Rodrigues

This note explains why GOA was never a part of any country or nation called India before 1961 annexation due to invasion and violation of the sovereignty of the people of GOA followed by inappropriate and failed procedures of 1974/75 between a nation called Republic of Portugal and another called Republic of India registered with the UN without the consent agreement in black and white of any of the diverse and multi-ethnic people of the land called GOA who had/have ancestry of five generations and more and who owned the Land of GOA for generations of ancestry.

It also explains why not all GOANS associate themselves as Hindustani or Industani or Indians.

Let us understand about the REPUBLIC OF INDIA that was formed in 1947. Why was it called INDIA ? 

The answer lies in the fact that there was INDOOSTAN much before the Age of Discovery, This INDOOSTAN (also called as HINDOOSTAN) in the subcontinent was a huge land by geography and this huge land by geography made of many parts was not or never ruled or governed or administered by any central governance at the same time in the form of one Emperor, King or Lord until its capture by Britain in the later years where the people (one of the exception in the asian subcontinent: the people of GOA) of this huge subcontinent INDOOSTAN were subjects of the Rulers of BRITAIN till they gained Independence in 1947 as the people of the British Empire in the subcontinent were not the same by Law and rights as the people residing in Britain.

(GOA and its PEOPLE were one of the exceptions in the Asian subcontinent and were never ever SUBJECTS of the rulers of BRITAIN)

The name INDOOSTAN was due to the great river called INDUS, its total length approximately is 3,180 km (1,980 mi).  The ancient Greeks on a generalized approach referred to the people around the river Indus as "Indói" (Ἰνδοί), literally meaning " the people of the Indus '' in English it would mean '' Indian ''. 

Today the Republic of India has a name continued from the River Indus (Indoostan, Industan, Hindoostan, Hindustan) and this river Indus today does not belong to the Republic of India but to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. 

GOA was indeed geographically in the ASIAN subcontinent and was made up of islands and provinces (Island of Chorao and Divar, Island of Angediva, Island of .... , Province of Salcete, Province of Bardez, etc ). Today's GOA as defined by boundaries had various Rulers, Kings, Lords, Feudal Lords, tribes etc and consisted of lands subdivided by ownership and owned by various captures as in the case of the whole world at that time(Conquer and capture was POWER). During the Age of Discovery, Parts of today's GOA was under the Mughals after which parts of it were conquered by Afonso de Albuquerque(and his men) and it became a part of the Portuguese Empire from 1510 with the King of Portugal as it supreme head and ruler. In time some more parts of GOA were conquered and these were called New conquests. The entire GOA of today was ruled followed by governed by the Kingdom of Portugal over its Portuguese Empire followed by the Republic of Portugal (from 1910) over its colony and then its overseas province until 1974/75. The people of GOA were by birth PORTUGUESE pre 1961 just as any PORTUGUESE in mainland or other overseas provinces such as Azores, Madeira, Angola, Macau, Mozambique, etc.. They had the same rights, the same constitution, etc. There was no difference by LAW in any form. GOA as one entity was a province of the Republic of PORTUGAL just as any other province in mainland of the Republic of PORTUGAL. Since GOA was geographically located in the Asian Subcontinent which was on a generalized approach given the name Indoostan, the name in Portuguese for the  Portuguese subcontinent provinces together was called Estado da India as India came from Indoostan which meant the name of the region and not a Nation or Country or Governance. 

GOA hence was never a part of a Country or Nation or Governance called India exclusively pre 1961. The people were never Indian. GOA cultures, its uniqueness was formed by people of various ethnicity, diversities, mixtures, tribes, etc that had/have influences from various regions of the globe. So GOA should not be generalized in any form and currently has its right to be either of the following:

1) Continued Statehood with the Republic of India with the current form of governance.
2) Special Status Autonomous dependency of the Republic of India.

3) Sovereign Free Associated State.

4) Sovereign country, fully independent (DRG : Democratic Republic of GOA)
  

In conclusion, GOA - Was Never a part of any country called INDIA but located by latitude and longitude in the Asian huge subcontinent which people called as a generalized word Indoostan , Hindustan that actually had Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc and just as we would not call a Pakistani as Indian not all Goans appreciate to be called Indian. 

NOT ALL GOANS are INDIANS in ASIA just as not all ENGLISH and SCOTTISH in EUROPE.