‘Open Fire!’

In the commotion that followed, Roque Correia Afonso went to the house of Salvador Felipe Alvares that was located to the right of the church square and instigated the public to sign a protest letter in the presence of the public notary Silva Coelho26 that would be drafted and forwarded to Portugal for necessary action. Others assembled to the north of the church to pose for a photograph when a section of the army led by Raimundo Assa positioned itself on the road leading to the church. When the people who had gathered in Alvares’ house saw this, they began to get agitated but were pacified on the pretext that the army was proceeding to Raia. But, as soon as the soldiers reached the church square, they started dispersing the “harmless” crowd with bayonets and kicks.

The leaders of the Partido Indiano popularly known as the Septemberists27 requested the people not to resist the attacks. Some of the soldiers entered the church in pursuit of the people who had taken refuge there. Claudio Mendes who represented the committe for public works turned towards the residence of Alvares and threatened the caudillos when someone flung a stone at him while another official named Felippe Torres fired two rounds on the people who had assembled in the balcony. Two of these people succumbed to the injuries they received from Torres’

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gun. A policeman named Azavedo who shot several voters was stopped by a sergeant Sabaio on the grounds that the army “did not have orders to open fire”. When the administrator of Salcette heard this, he shouted “open fire”.28 The army shifted its base nearer to the cross at the centre of the church square and fired at the people there, in the direction of the church, and Alvares’ house as most of the people had assembled in these places. Since the bullets from the rifle magazines had been removed earlier, some shots were without a live wire and the number of those who died or were injured was less than the number of bullets that were fired.

Almost immediately, a telegram was dispatched by the Partido Indiano to the Goans in and outside Goa at 10.56 am wherein it was stated that the administrator had provoked the people with his whip and denied them access to the municipal hall following which the agitated voters stoned the building and took refuge at the side of the church while the military and police were near the municipal building. The Portuguese retaliated with only five to six soldiers, of whom two or three were armed.29 The official telegram that was sent by Afonso at 2.08 pm referred to the protest by the “drunken voters” and focused on the entry of the people into the church and the attack on the municipality.30

This seemed to be untrue considering that as per the Akbari regulations that were in force alcohol was not easily available to the populace. The newspaper Correia da India narrated a detailed account of the event while the O Ultramar provided an official version wherein the event was narrated as a continuous episode that started with the scuffle in the municipal hall and ended with the firing on the people in the church square. Surprisingly, neither the report nor the governor in his telegram dated 22 September mentioned the use of dynamite or firearms by the Goan voters31 though the telegram of the chief secretary and the soldiers interviewed make a mention of this. The Partido Indiano contended that this was impossible as the Goans were not permitted to import or use firearms and if they did there were no marks on the buildings or killings or confiscations of the arms32 to show for it.

The report of the military secretary Joao de Mello Sampaio contradicted the information that was provided by the chief secretary, the governor and president which stated that the killings were a consequence of the conflict between the two political parties and that the government did not take any interest in the elections. It went on to say that only the members of the Partido Indiano were killed because they assaulted the administrator on his way to the municipality and attacked the building following which the soldiers rushed out of their barracks. The shots were not only fired at Alvares’ house but also at the altar of the church where a priest was serving mass and those who had gathered there were shot. The supporters of the Partido Indiano argued that the government machinery was responsible for the injuries and deaths33 “...if the Administrator was assaulted by a mob how did he get off without a scratch”.34 The Portuguese soldiers seemed to have fired at point blank range on the voters who had assembled in the square.35

The 21 September Revolt lasted for a mere 20 minutes but 12 persons died on the spot. There was blood in the balcony of Alvares’

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Accusing the Partido Indiano of provoking violence in Salcette, Vasco Guedes ordered the grenades to arrest Loyola and the caudillos. The next day, a platoon of 500 soldiers cordoned off Loyola’s house. But before they could arrest anyone, some villagers of Orlim rang the church bells and the soldiers found themselves encircled by the residents of Orlim and the surrounding villages. Loyola and some of his caudillos like his brother Avertano de Loyola, Roque Correia Afonso and his brother Jacinto, Salisinho F Alvares, Joaquim Felipe Soares, Quntiano Mascarenhas, J V Baretto Miranda, took advantage of the confusion, and escaped to Fatrade a village on the outskirts of Carmona from where they proceeded to Betul, boarded a country craft and sailed to Karwar. From there, they proceeded to Belgaum and escaped to Bombay through Poona. They lived in exile in British India from where they later proceeded to Bhopal and further to Baroda at the invitation of Pherozeshah Mehta. The fact that they represented the Partido Indiano and had close links with the leaders of the Indian National Congress leads us to assum e that the caudillos were associated with the struggle for civil liberties that was gradually developing in the Bombay Presidency.

Since the prime accused could not be arrested, the army encircled the houses of some leaders while others like Antonio Mergulhao, Esmeraldo Diniz and Teofilo Fernandes were arrested. The next day, a curfew was declared in the church square. The Goans felt that “there is no justice or administration. There is anarchy and insecurity of life and property”. The Portuguese police hired the services of the “roughs” from the “new conquests” but no one was killed or imprisoned. Though the official version stated that law and order was restored, the reporter of the Times of India stated that even after the event, a reinforcement of 60 soldiers with three cases of cartridges were sent to Margao the following week in the course of which the military was scouting the villages and arrests continued to be made. By the 27th, four arrests were made and more contingents continued to be dispatched. A manddo narrates the story of the commonfolk:

Aplo kornum retrataro (after retreating)

Protest korunn assinaro (they signed the protest)

The happenings on the second day were recorded in a similar folksong thus:

Eleisanvanch dusrea disa (On the second day of the elections)

Cercu galo re goranko (the house was encircled)

Carneiro guneaum nivarunko (Carneiro to get his sins forgiven)

Dorum bounta popularanko (is roaming to catch the people)

Saxttich pova bienaka (Oh! People of Salcette don’t be afraid)

Vegim sornvonddar itelo tuka38 (the Saviour will come soon for you)

Other manddos also narrate the reaction of the caudillos after the curfew was imposed in Salcette thus

Baelean far zatai (outside there is shooting)

Dotor-bab kuznam gussolo (the Doctor pushed himself in the kitchen)

Igrahe kuzner xeutto toddy (inside the cook was frying the mullet)

Theghe xeutto korpolo (his mullet was burnt)

Molbar chondrim udeta (as the moon rises on the horizon)

Render kateo pajita (the toddy tapper sharpens his chopper)

Doriam paghi paghel gata (in the sea, the Pagis cast their nets)

Dotor baghelam lipola (the doctor is hiding in the garden)

The manddo Rogtacho Baptism (Baptism by blood) specifically narrates

the escape of Dr Loyola to the outro bando (adjoining ter ritory) thus

Sipeanim Igorjek vello gatlo (the soldiers surrounded the Church)

Dotor Loyol kuznantulean sorlo (Dr Loyola went through the kitchen)

Police Sargeant Orlle legun ailo (the police sergeant came up to Orlim),

Punn dotor, poder zaun Karwar pavllo (but, the doctor reached Karwar

disguised as a baker).

The governor formally declared the rebellion in Salcette to be an open revolt and sought the help of the home government. The overseas government however instructed them to control the

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situation with the means at their disposal. In the meanwhile, the associates of the Partido Indiano like Pestaninho da Viega, João Francisco de Menezes, Manuel Ventura Pimenta, Adv Roque Correia Afonso and his brother Jacinto Francisco, João Gomes, Salvador Felipe Alvares, Joaquim Felipe Soares, J V Baretto Miranda, José Luis da Cunha Alvares, Quintiano Mascarenhas, Francisco Assis Fernandes and Bernardino Machado went underground and yet others were arrested and exiled to British India.39 The church of Holy Spirit was placed under an interdict by patriarch of Goa, Dom Antonio Sebastião Valente because blood was shed within the sacred precincts of the church.

Not Even for the King of Portugal

This brutal massacre resulted in a public outcry in the Velhas Conquistas. A protest meeting was held in Divar. The government authorities both in Goa and Portugal received telegrams and letters on the odious behaviour of the authorities in Goa under Vasco Guedes who was accused of “inhuman repression against the Goans and leaders” and of the Partido Indiano. The press categorically blamed the Portuguese for the violence that was perpetuated in the name of controlling law and order. The Bombay Gazette surmised from the conflicting statements on the event, that the Portuguese were guilty of a gross blunder if not a crime40 and the official version was projected as being grossly improbable.41

In Bombay, mass meetings were held by the Goans in retaliation against the killings. The popular newspaper, Anglo Lusitano called upon the governor general and his adherents to ensure that the anti-Portuguese sentiments expressed at the protest meetings that were held in Bombay, Poona, Zanzibar and Karachi were kept in check. While the newspapers like the Bombay Gazette reported on the meetings, the venue and date of these meetings as well as the names of the participants were “studiously kept in the dark”. Some of the prominent citizens who were involved in the massacre did not go for the public meeting that was held on 24 September, for they had been warned against it. Others, like M V C Marques, were not allowed to enter the hall. The public response accused the Portuguese of being responsible for the events that took place on 21 September and appealed that the matter should be referred to the Tribunal of Public Opinion.

Before matters could get worse, the Goa authorities requested the acting governor and others to censor the publication of this news though they knew that this was impossible in British India.42 It must be noted that the telegraph offices in Goa were under the British and though the Goa court pressurised the British Telegraph authorities to hand over the working of the affairs in Goa to the Portuguese, this request was rejected. It was reported that the governor general of Goa attempted to bribe the telegraph master during the last municipal elections in Salcette.43 On 21 September, clear attempts were made by the Portuguese governor to interfere with the British Telegraph Service by sending the head of the police force to request the telegraph master in Panjim to send all the private incoming telegraphs from Salcette to him. But he refused and pledged to keep to his decision even if the king of Portugal came and requested him to do so in person.44

In the proceedings that followed, some of the secret allies of the Portuguese like Agapito Dias and E Messias were not arrested and

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others like Bernardino Machado and four others were set free after eight days. Even the vicar of Mormugao was taken into custody for attending the electoral assembly and attempting to identify electors from among his parishioners.45 The Canadian and American press condemned the brutality and carried news on the “Goa Revolution”. The Goans who had settled in British India appealed for an intervention by England while the Correio da India opened a subscription for a relief fund for the affected families. Vasco Guedes and his associates tried to control the correspondence from reaching the home government and denied that protest meetings were held following which they were questioned by Lisbon. For instance, when a protest meeting presided over by J Accacio da Gama, the president of the vigilance commission, was held in Bombay on 24 September, he received a telegraph from Lisbon to report as per the facts.46

As per the legal proceedings of the Margao judiciary, bailable and non-bailable charges were levelled against Loyola and four caudillos, namely, Roque Correia Afonso, Salvador Felipe Alvares, Jacinto Correia Afonso and J V Baretto Miranda. In the Bombay Court, the Government of Goa charged Loyola and his allies with homicide and sedition. At the request of the Government of Goa, the British governor of Bombay, lord Harris ordered an inquiry in the Court of the Chief Presidencies Magistrate where the exiled leaders were charged with “attempted homicide” that was in contravention of the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty. The Anglo Lusitano reported that it was necessary to take the barristers from other parts of Goa like Prudente Mascarenhas of Ilhas and Pascoal Joao Gomes and Raymundo Fernandes of Bardez to monitor the proceedings of the court on behalf of the Goans to rule out any case of extraterritoriality.

The lengthy proceedings were finally resolved on 18 September when the Bombay High Court annulled the proceedings for “want of evidence”. For instance, it was denied that the tradesmen of Margao telegraphed the governor of Bombay asking for protection as their business was suspended47 while a telegram to the Deccan Herald reported that the shops were not closed and nor were the people terrorised. It was even denied that the constitutional guarantees were suspended and that there was no decree in that regard. Subsequently, the accused were exonerated as the court “could not find even a shadow of the crime”. The Portuguese government in Goa was unable to prove that the alleged crimes were non-political in nature. Taking note of this, lord Harris eventually dropped that enquiry and this decison was approved by the viceroy lord Landsdowne and the British secretary of state. After almost a year of persecutions and trials, the High Court of Panjim released the accused. Even the cases of treason that were filed against them in the high court in Portugal failed as the Portuguese did not make a single arrest immediately after the incident.

In Goa, the Portuguese ordered general elections wherein Christovão Pinto was elected as a member of the Portuguese Parliament. He was closely assisted by Jose Luciano de Castro, a leader of the Partido Progressista of Portugal. Interestingly, both of them approached the queen of Portugal and appealed on behalf of Loyola probably because the latter advocated the principles of their party. Accordingly, the queen deputed the chief

For Representation and Identity

It is interesting to note that the Partido Indiano championed the political aspirations of a section of the Goans in the Old Conquests against the colonial interventions and manipulations. In Portugal, there were a series of revolts ranging from whimpers of dissent to open military coups that had resulted in the establishment of the constitutional regime. In Goa, there were promises of constitutionalism and assurances of “limited” adult suffrage and free and fair elections. The Goans who were fighting for the cause of civil liberties found an appropriate representation in the Partido Indiano. But, the unprecedented success of the Partido Indiano prompted the colonial authorities in Goa to propose their own candidates to represent the democratic fora. The revolt was not an attempt to challenge or replace colonialism but a means by which the Goan political aspirants forced the colonial regime to devise ways of reorienting itself to permit the local Goans to assert their political rights within the context of constitutionalism – declared in Portugal but denied in the colonies. This revolt was merely a reaction against the unprincipled practice of the Portuguese government of fielding “official candidates” for the municipal and parliamentary elections.

Historical narratives clearly specify that class, caste and personal animosities and rivalries were responsible for political obliterations. In this case, the political space in the municipal elections in Salcette was dominated by the high landowning charddos. The alternative and popular histories and lived memories like folk songs constituted the conscious contours of resistance that reflected the anti-colonial tensions in the fertile coastal tracts of south Goa. The perceptions of the locals were reflected in political aspirations and a search for identities and representations. Such memorialisations that is a collective memory of an oral tradition has a public character and capitulate upon a historical moment to

produce metaphors for public life50 and this keeps it deeply ingrained in the collective psyche even at the grass-roots level.

Niti nam fori Gorantum (there is no justice at home)

...Justis nam saiba (there is no justice, Oh Lord!)

Saxttintum innocenticha rogtanum (at the cost of the blood of the

innocent people of Salcette).

This revolt changed the course of the functioning of the constitutional regime by challenging colonialism and devising ways of reorienting its administrative set-up to face a political future that was otherwise shrouded with uncertainties. This was considered to be a precedent that had to be borne in mind by the powers when they attempted to confront and suppress the voice and aspirations of the people.51 The supporters of the Partido Indiano in Salcette rose en masse and fought with a spirit of defiance and militancy to put a stop to the despotic interventions of the Portuguese into the democratic realm of suffrage.52 The succeeding governor general had no alternative but to provide a public space for the local political aspirants within a predominantly thalassocratic structure.

The dynamics that were rapidly evolving in the course of this political movement and the very outbreak of the revolt threatened the established hierarchies both in the colonial set-up as well as in the indigenous polity. The caudillos intended to carve out a separate political space for themselves within the colonial power structure. Despite strong links with the people, the leaders possessed a distinct identity that kept them away from the other social rungs. At the structural level, the revolt seemed to be a struggle betwen the feudal groups that were afraid of losing their privileges as a result of the gradual changes in the nature of the colonial administration and the newly introduced mercantile capitalism that sought to achieve political supremacy over the landed gentry. These feudal groups were trying to use the administrative changes, brought about in the wake of the constitutional regime, to empower themselves and assert their hold over politics by acquiring the status of a new elite.

An analysis of the gender involvement in the revolt indicates that the active participants were men. There was a reference to one woman being hit while she was leaving the church and another was struck when she was coming out of the drug store.53 There were inscribed inventions like killing and violence that furthered the political hysteria that emanated from the event. Though the revolt took place within the church square and predominantly involved Catholics, the direct involvement of the church authorities was restricted to administrating the last rites by Lucas the parish priest of the Holy Spirit Church.

The narrative of the revolt is not a simple political rhetoric. It was embedded in an inclusive space of a political party that was gradually extending and incorporating its spatial hold beyond Margao into Salcette as well as its social influence thereby transcending the localised and marginalised nature of the revolt. The main factor that exaggerated the popular sentiments was the unnecessarily brutal measures that were adopted by the government that went to the extent of ordering the military to fire when bayonets would have sufficed.54 The voters did not yield to the pressures and were determined that their decision was important if the administration of the country was to be carried out in accordance with the constitutional principles “the

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1 R J Evans, In Defense of History, London, 1997.

2 Maria Aurora Couto, Goa: A Daughter’s Story

Dr Jose Ignacio de Loyola”, India Portuguesa, 1896. plastered.

16 Alvaro de Loyola Furtado, “The Salcette Munici-36 Dulpods (chorus of the manddo). The verses from(Nova Goa: Tipographia Braganza), 1920, p 7.

pality”, Goa Today, June 1979, p 6. 8-10 were compiled by F X D’Mello.

4 This may be one of the many reasons as to why

17 T R de Souza, “A Scholar’s Discovery of Goa”, 37 Correio da India, 22 September.

the bamons, charddos and Hindus supported him.

Alvaro de Loyola Furtado: A Tribute from His Fellow 38 Maria Aurora Couto, op cit, p 296.

Roberto Bruto da Costa, p 12.

Citizens, Margäo, 1982, p 53.

39 Centennial Celebrations of Goa’s Historic Battle for

5 This constitutional monarchy continued till 1910

18 Bailon de Sa, op cit, Herald, 19 May 2002. Civil Liberties, 21-09-1890 to 21-09-1990, p 42;

when a secular republic was proclaimed in

19 Anglo Lusitano, 9 October 1890, p 5, in the Correia World, Vol XV, No 9, 1937.

Portugal. Till then, there were revolts led by da India, the special correspondent of the Times of 40 Bombay Gazette, 29 September condemned theindividuals like Padre F X Alvares, Fr Pedro India, Hughes remarked that the Governor was authorities in severe terms.

Antonio Rebeiro, Estevao Jeremais Mascarenhas “a down right boulanger”.

and Antonio Francisco Xavier Alvares and others. 41 Pioneer, 29 September 1890.

20 The vestige of this is the old Municipal Square in

6 Some of these revolts find a reference to in 42 Anglo Lusitano, 9 October 1890, p 5.

the Margao that is located in the Avenida do Espirito

A A Bruto da Costa, As Revoluooes Politicas de 43 Times of India.

Santo in front of the Capela de Santas Almas in the

India Portuguesa do Seculo XIX (Margao: Typo- 44 Anglo Lusitano, 9 October 1890, p 5.

precinct of the old market in Margao.

graphia do Ultramar), 1896.

45 Ibid.

21 Anglo Lusitano (Supplement), 9 October 1890.

7 Bernardo Peres da Silva, Constantino Roque da 46 Ibid.

22 Times of India, 27 September.

Costa, Jeremais Mascarenhas and Francisco Luis

47 Times of India.

23 Anglo Lusitano (Supplement), 9 October 1890. 24 However, the authorities later admitted that the Gomes were elected to the Cortes.

48 George Moraes, Centennial Celebrations of Goa’s8 M V de Abreu, Relaoko das alteracoes politicas de Historic Battle for Civil Liberties, 21-09-1890 to

force was dispatched three days in advance.

Goa desde 16 de Setembro de 1821 até 18 de Otubro 21-09-1990.

de 1822 (Nova Goa: Impresa Nacional), 1862. 25 Anglo Lusitano, 9 October 1890.

49 T R de Souza, op cit.

26 The photographs were taken by Jose Pereira. 50 Paul Ricoeur, “The Uses of Artificial Memory: The 9 Antonio Jose de Lima Leitmo was among the first

of the three representatives of Goa. 27 Max de Loyola Furtado, “The Goan Septem-Feats of Memorisation” in Kathleen Blamey and

berists”, p 40; Zinto Martins, “Goa’s Historic Battle

10 Max de Loyola Furtado, “Dr Jose Inacio de Loyola

David Pellaur, Memory, History and Forgetting,

for Civil Liberties”, Centennial Celebrations of

Goa’s Historic Battle for Civil Liberties, 21-09-1890

Furtado”, Navhind Times, 19 May 2002. Others University of Chicago Press, 2004, pp 58-68.

have also written about these political upheavals

to 21-09-1990. 51 Olivinho Gomes, “Goa’s Continual Revolution”,

“Primordios da Imprensa e do Journalismo em Goa e resto da India” in Boletim Instituto Menezes 28 Anglo Lusitano (Supplement), 5 October 1890. Goa Today, August 2008, p 8. Braganza, No 129, 1989. 29 Ibid, 9 October 1890, p 6. 52 Max de Loyola Furtado, op cit, Navhind Times, 19 May 2002.

11 This was delimited to the islands of Goa, Bardez 30 O Ultramar, 22 September 1890. and Salcette that were acquired by the Portu-31 Nor did the interview with the Times of India,

53 Maria Aurora Couto, p 294. guese in concentric semi-circles till the first half refer to the use of weapons. 54 Anglo Lusitano (Supplement), 9 October 1890. of the 16th century. 32 Anglo Lusitano (Supplement), 9 October 1890. 55 Deccan Herald, 29 September 1890. The Statesman, 12 Bailon de Sa, “A Tribute in Memoriam of Jose 33 These questions were raised in the column writ-of Calcutta, 25 September and Deccan Times, of Inacio”, Herald, 19 May 2002. ten by Loyola in ibid. Hyderabad, 2 October also made similar comments.

13 This was since 15-16 September 1821, George 34 Interview of Loyola Furtado in Times of India, 56 Michael Fisher, Counterflows to Colonialism (New

Moraes, “The Historian in Dr Alavro” in Dr Alvaro Correia da India. Delhi: Permanent Black), 2006.

de Loyola Furtado, Timblo, 1982, p 33. 35 The hole caused by the shots of the bullets that were 57 Ranajit Guha, Elementary Aspects of Peasant 14

They had to defend themselves for which they star-They had to defend themselves for which they star-

fired figure on the walls of the house of Salvador Insurgency in Colonial India (New Delhi: Oxford

ted the Gazeta de Goa. Antonio Joao de Lima Leitao Felipe Alvares that is located on the northern side University Press), 1983.

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