When the Catholic Clergy in Portuguese Goa donned the Swadesh garb

AUGUST 'KRANTI': PRIESTS AGAINST PORTUGUESE PIGMENTOCRACY

By Dr. Pratima P. Kamat

The months of August and January hold special significance to us, Indians, on account of their association with the Quit India Movement, the Independence of our country and the setting up of the Indian Republic. Interestingly, the history of Goa’s resistance to colonial hegemony has thrown up red-letter dates in these very same months. On January 26, 1852, Dipu Rane unfurled the banner of revolt against the Portuguese; the Adilshahi invasion of Goa on August 12, 1654 was influenced by Bishop Matheus de Castro, who aimed at overthrowing the racist alien rule present in his homeland; a revolt was planned for August 10, 1787 which, it is said, aspired to replace the Portuguese rule with a republican government; and in August 1895, Padre Alvares was branded ‘seditious’ for pursuing his ‘swadeshi’ ideology.

Read this riveting account of how the clergy rose in revolt against the colonial regime in Pre-Liberation Goa in
The Navhind Times's Panorama magazine: Protesting Priests of Goa