Book review: Facts after facts, Valmiki Faleiro's new book aims at a complete story of Goa's liberation

Portuguese prisoners of war, captured during the invasion of Goa by Indian military forces, are lined up at military barracks in Panaji on 28 December 1961. (Photo: AP)

Reading 408 pages of Valmiki Faleiro’s latest book Goa 1961: The Complete Story of Nationalism and Integration can addle your brain. Names clutter the pages. Quotes are scattered everywhere. Dates peep from the margins. Incidents and opinions raise their heads often. The story of Goa’s liberation from Portuguese rule on December 19, 1961 jumps from forgotten facts to not-often-spoken-beginnings to stories that common history has conveniently dropped by the sidewalk. And, of course, there’s the tale of the 36-hour military intervention in Goa that has been oft told and retold. Amid an overplay of facts, the book turns into a maze, you forget where you began and do not know where the end is.

'Goa 1961: The Complete Story of Nationalism and Integration' by Valmiki Faleiro, Penguin Random House India/Vintage Books, 408 pages, Rs 699.

For the latest book, Faleiro — who's written Patriotism in Action: Goans in India's Defence Services and Soaring Spirit: 450 Years of Margao's Espírito Santo Church 1565-2015 previously — has rummaged through 150 sources, pored over reams for months to put together a book that talks not only of Goa before and in 1961 but also brings in a plethora of emotions, diverse narratives and events. All with the insightfulness of a researcher and an occasional daub of wry humour.

Look, for instance, at a few fascinating facts that dot the book:

·         The Nizam of Hyderabad was keen on buying Goa from the Portuguese to have a seaport of his own and join Pakistan as the third wing of that country.

·         A Goa-based civilian airline, Transportes Aéreos da India Portuguesa (TAIP), began operations in 1955 with two de Havilland quad-engine Herons, each carrying 14 passengers. TAIP was the first civilian airline from India whose airhostesses wore the sari as uniform. Every time a flight landed in Lisbon, its airport staff would say, Já chegaram as pombinhas brancas de India (‘The white doves of India have arrived', referring to the white saris that the Goan airhostesses wore in summer).

·         As early as 1750s, an armed insurrection against the Portuguese was masterminded by the first native Bishop Mateus Castro Mahale.

·         There were several instances of looting and atrocities by the Indian army before/after the December 16 military operation. Such was the menace that Goan mothers changed ‘bogey man’ to ‘Sikh man’ to frighten kids into obedience. (In earlier times, it was ‘Albuquerque’ and his long beard!)

·         President JF Kennedy is said to have told the Indian ambassador to the USA, B.K. Nehru (about use of military to liberate Goa): You spend the last fifteen years preaching morality to us, and then you go ahead and act the way any normal country would behave ... people are saying, the preacher has been caught coming out of the brothel.

·         On December 22, 1961, Los Angeles Tidings said: Overnight, Pandit Nehru had become Bandit Nehru.

·   A British newspaper ran the headline: Nehru, Sanctimonious Bully.

On December 19, 1961, India announced to the world that Goa had been 'liberated' from Portugal. But even after 60 years, the Goans are divided about the syntax of that fateful day. Was Goa liberated? Was it invaded by India? Having lived in Goa for nearly 7 years, I have heard both sides of the story.

On August 9, 1965, the Supreme Court of India held that Goa was 'acquired by conquest’ but Faleiro says “it was both a conquest and a liberation” buttressing his stance with historical facts. In the book, he vehemently refutes the Christian/Hindu leaning as a definite pro/anti-Portuguese. The nationalist fervour and the desire to break the shackles of foreign rule was not divided along religious lines, his strongest argument being that the first cry for freedom was raised as early as 1750s by Bishop Mateus Castro Mahale, a Catholic.

In this book, Faleiro refutes a few long-held stereotypes and brings back people who have sadly been relegated into oblivion. Like Prakash Rao Jesus, a major of the 50 Para Brigade that participated in the military operation. During the build-up, Major Jesus sent a Christmas card to Vassalo e Silva, the last Governor General of Portuguese Goa. Scribbled on the card was “See you on my birthday — Jesus”. The card was intercepted by military intelligence and Major Jesus was reprimanded. But the Director General of Military Intelligence (DGMI) chuckled at Jesus’ cheekiness and invited him for evening drinks. The card is still displayed in the office of DGMI.

Faleiro’s book is a heavy academic read. If you love an overdose of facts, this is your book. I, however, prefer reading anything, everything that’s lyrical in tonality, even if the tale is of a conquest or military intervention. Death certainly seems less harsh in a rhapsody.

In these 408 pages, I did get lost amid Faleiro’s facts. However, next time, I am scrounging for authentic information about Goa’s history, Goa 1961: The Complete Story of Nationalism and Integration will be my handy ready-reckoner. I am ready to swear by the Faleiro facts.