As a young man I was following up the Political Indonesia way back in May 1998. With the long time President Dr. Suharto of Indonesia falling from power through a public revolt, reports started coming that now attention was falling to a tiny enclave called East Timor which was a former Portuguese colony and was occupied by Indonesia in 1975.
Had heard that two years before two East Timorese, Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo and José Ramos-Horta won the 1996 peace prize for peacefully fighting for the cause of East Timorese Independence. And with Suharto’s fall the fall of this illegal occupation began. Beginning October 1999(just 12 years back) east Timor became a free country though there was lot of Bloodshed.
Indonesia always justified it’s occupation of East Timor by saying INDIA INVADED GOA(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Goa#Implications_for_East_Timor). But finally Humanity triumphed in East Timor.
If you see in history, the following lands were occupied by the Portuguese.
1) Goa,Damao, Diu
2) Brazil
3) Mozambique
4) Sao Tome and Principe
5) Cabo Verde
6) Guinea-Bissau
7) Angola
8) Macau
9) Timor Leste (East Timor)
Have a look at all these lands today. If you see Macau has been handed to China but follows the “one state two administration policy” meaning Macau is culturally distinct from Communist China. All The rest except “GOA” have become free countries, some of them are even smaller than Goa in Population and by land. Sao Tome is such a small country, Could Gabon(its large neighbor) not claim it? Could Senegal not Claim Cabo Verde? Nothing happened. All the other Portuguese Colonies are culturally distinct.
And not to me mislead facts, The KASHMIR issue today just rises from the fact that Maharaja Hari Singh wanted to be ruler of a free Kashmir. When he needed Help, he pleaded it from India which agreed only provided he joined the dominion of India. And what follows is what we see
Finally why did India Need Goa? Just to immerse its people in Goa’s better lifestyle and Culture and to use Goan Identities for getting PORTUGUESE Passports and enter the European Union. I just tell this. India had such a Big Coastline. But Only Goa was kept so good.
Why? Was just because of the Portuguese. I’m not saying they had to stay forever, but we Goan’s needed a land of our own after 451 years of rule by the European powers when the concept of India did not last till 1947. And seeing the state of Goa now all I can say is what Good was done by the Portuguese in 451 years was undone by India in 25 years ( not saying 50). All I can ask is, Why, Why, Why? Why only we among all other Portuguese colonies had to suffer. Can anything be done now?
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