IS GOA ECONOMICALLY VIABLE? By Lucio Mascarenhas

The opponents of the Goan nationalist movement are fond of repeating ad nauseam the baseless lie that Goa is not economically viable as an independent country, and needs India to survive.   Goa has always been economically viable in itself, as have been the very many territories now part of the Indian Union and that had been independent states at one time or the other.
At the moment of the 1961 occupation, Goa had a huge budget surplus.
Again, it is to be noted that Goa did not ask or beg or demand that India come in and take over Goa; India has taken over Goa against her will, as an act of daylight robbery.
Therefore it is hypocritical of Indians and their supporters to allege that Goa is not economically viable. That is neither true not is it their concern.
India, as a matter of fact, attempted to blackmail Goa and Goans into abject submission, before the invasion of 1961, by means of a brutally enforced economic blockade during 1954 to 1961. The Goan people quickly learnt to become self-reliant, and the Goan economy actually took off during the blockade, and Goa went from being a largely agricultural economy to be also a mining and ores supplying economy, earning huge amounts of foreign exchange in the process.
At the moment of the 1961 occupation, Goa had a huge budget surplus.
Today, it is an established fact that India has gained a huge sum of money by hawking off Occupied Goa's natural resources - its iron ore and bauxite, principally, to Japan and other countries. This was so even while the Indian Union pretended that Goa did not have the resources to be a self-administrating, autonomous territory under the Occupation! The brazen hypocrisy!
The Quislingist Manohar Parrikar claimed in 2003 at the launch of an organization of quislingists in Bombay, Aami Goencar, that Goa had successfully increased its revenue collections. (The Bombay Journal, 13th October 2003, Bombay, page 1)
Parrikar had claimed that "the revenues had increased from Rs. 800 crores in 1999 to Rs. 1600 crores in 2003, and is expected to go upto Rs. 3200 crores in the next three years."
I ask: What contribution to this growth has the Indian Occupation made?
On the contrary, India have utilised the stolen money to develop the Paradip port in Orissa province!
As a matter of fact, the GDP, Per Capita Income and Standard of Living of Goa has markedly detiorated since the Occupation. Even the Goan Escudo was more appreciated in the markets than the Indian rupee, standing at some Rs. 50 INR for a Goan Escudo INPES at the time of the invasion.
Today, Goa's infrastructure has been progressively cannibalized. Economically, Goa was much better off before the Occupation!
But to come back to viability: How does Cabo Verde, Sao Tome e Principe, Rio Muni, figure out as to viability? Seychelles? Mauritius? How do they compare, as to natural resources, to Goa?
Bhutan, despite its small size, is a viable country. Sikkim, despite its smaller size, was a viable Independent country, until India invaded and occupied it.
It is common sense that any inhabitable land, however small and insignificant in size, is economically viable as an Independent country. To allege otherwise is to make nonsense of both the Law of Nations and of humanity!
Japan, Korea and Belgium are countries with practically no natural resources of their own. Yet they have become highly developed countries purely because of the abilities of their peoples.
At one time, Goa too was a highly developed entrepot. Goans need to recover the spirit of those times. That is neither difficult nor impossible.
Ceylon and the Maldives are other countries with practically no resources of their own. Yet both not only survive, they actually thrive, thanks to the ingenuity of their peoples.
And yet, compared to Goa, they have practically no natural resources!
Therefore this bogey of an alleged economical non-viability is nothing but a load of mendacious humbug!

2 comments:

Trevor said...

We must fight for independence.......we need to be free. If we don't, we are going to be finished as Goan people. The influx of indians into Goa will never stop. Our own people will be tempted by greed to sell off OUR Goa. It is happpening now. We had Babush Monster Rat, the traitor of Goa, that was punished by God for having a son who is a rapist. This shameful family sold us out. They will continue to selll Goa with the rest of the 40 chors as it is India's plan to take over our homeland. We Goans should be ashamed of what we have done. We are digging the graves to our culture, our identity, and to our beloved Goa.

Salvador Seraulim said...

Give Goa its Independence and we will prove to the world we can be self sufficient without aid from mainland India. European countries give India large amounts in Aid how much of it does Goa receive? "FREEDOM FIGHTERS CAN YOU ANSWER THIS QUESTION"? Or are you spineless pigs just fit to condemn the hand that feeds you.

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