“July 4,1930 was the 96th anniversary of the Goan Declaration of Self-Determination.”
The termDeclaration of Self-Determination seems like a latter idea transplanted on thedevelopments of 1930. Well, it wasa Declaration and it clearly stated that the people of Goa were not giving uptheir right to self-determination. Therefore, it makes sense to call it the “Declarationof Self-Determination.” “TheDeclaration was approved by the Council by unanimity.” That is true.But it should not be taken to suggest that all Goans unanimously (or in largenumbers) supported it. At best, it represents the vote of that institution, andnot a referendum of the population as a whole. They weredemocratically elected representatives of the people of Goa and speaking on behalfof the people of Goa. Therefore, the Declaration represented the will of thepeople. It was not the vote of an “institution.” It was the opinion of thepeople of Goa expressed through its democratically elected Representatives. “GovernorCraveiro Lopes continued to condemn the Acto Colonial and defend Goanself-determination after returning to Portugal, risking his career.” Are thereany references that support this claim or suggestion? Here is whatthe AI told me: “Despite his high-ranking administrative role, Craveiro Lopesmade headlines later in his life when he famously defied the press censorshipof the Estado Novo regime. During a public conference, he condemned the veryActo Colonial he had once managed, siding with fundamental human rights andpointing out that Goans would not give up their autonomy to a caduciouscentralizing system.” I am still researching this topic. “They didnot seek transfer of sovereignty to the Indian Union because it did not yetexist as a nation.” True. Butthe Indian independence movement already existed, and some Goan nationalistswere already linked to it. Saying it was impossible to seek transfer to Indiabecause India did not exist as a nation is anachronistic; political movementscan anticipate future states and political trajectories. The 1946 movement (afew months before 1947) could be seen as a good example of this. Thishappened in 1930. If I remember correctly, that was the year when Gandhilaunched the Civil Disobedience movement. You are correct that some Goannationalists were linked to it. Still, India did not exist as a nation. Infact, for several years after India became independent on August 15, 1947, theGovernment of India recognized the sovereignty of Portugal over Goa bymaintaining a Consulate of India in Goa. The intent of the Declaration of Self-Determinationwas not to demand a transfer in sovereignty to India or any other nation but toassert that the people of Goa were not giving up their right toself-determination, i.e., to choose their own destiny. “MenezesBragança believed Goa had a distinct individuality and psychology.” True.Menezes Bragança did emphasize Goan distinctiveness. But his views alsoevolved, And he combined Goan identity with Portuguese cultural affiliation attimes. Possibly the jury is still out among the historians on how to interprethis views. Sounds likewe agree on this one. As far as I was able to determine, Menezes Bragança neverstated, not even once, not even by mistake, that Goa should transfer itssovereignty to India or any other nation. He and his co-signatories simplydemanded that the right of the Goans to determine their future should berespected. “MenezesBragança was always loyal to Portugal.” He hassometimes been described as a Portuguese constitutionalist and a Goanautonomist. He criticized colonial domination, demanded rights, and opposedSalazar's colonial system. So he's more complex than being "loyal toPortugal" By “loyal toPortugal” I mean “loyal to the Portuguese nation or the Portuguese people.” Inparticular, he believed that the departure from the principles ofdecentralization stated in the Constitution of 1911 was a mistake. Criticizinga Government is not the same as criticizing the people governed by thatGovernment. Menezes Bragança’s admirationfor Portugal as a nation is best expressed in the opening paragraph and severalparagraphs of his essay, “A Educação e oEnsino na India Portuguesa.” So, to conclude, viva Menezes Bragança and hisco-signatories for producing a permanent record that we, Goans, were not givingup our right to self-determination. I think that Declaration should be framedand placed at a prominent place in the house of every Goan all over the worldas a reminder that we, Goans, never exercised this right and will neverexercise that right. It is a well-established fact the Portuguese rule in Goadid not end because of the travails of Tristão de Bragança Cunha, AluísioSoares, Francisco Correia Afonso and other Goans who wanted that rule to end.It ended largely because (a) Nehru was caught in a dilemma caused by thepressure from African nations whose experiences with the Europeans were differentthan ours and his personal belief in peaceful coexistence; and (b) becauseKrishna Menon broke that dilemma by lying to Nehru as he himself describes inhis autobiography. He lied because he wanted to win the election, and he wonthat election, not for love for Goa. There was no plebiscite, and therefore wedo not know what the majority of Goans have wanted and we will never know John M. de Figueiredo On Saturday, July 11, 2026 at 04:39:42 AM EDT, Frederick Noronha <[email protected]> wrote: “July 4, 1930 was the 96th anniversary of the Goan Declaration of Self-Determination.” The term Declaration of Self-Determination seems like a latter idea transplanted on the developments of 1930. “The democratically elected representatives of the people of Goa to the Government Council issued the Declaration.” This could be contested, in the sense that it was not a democratic legislature in the modern sense of the term. Suffrage was highly restricted. Representation was limited by colonial rules, literacy, property ownership and such qualifications. The majority of Goans then did not participate politically. “The Declaration was a protest against the Acto Colonial that had condemned the Goans to perpetual servitude.” It is true that the Acto Colonial (i) defined Portugal as having a civilising mission over its overseas territories (ii) classified colonies as part of the Portuguese Colonial Empire (iii) strengthened its imperial control. The Goan declaration objected to this framework. However "condemned Goans to perpetual servitude" is an interpretation; are we suggesting that this was part of the language of the document? The declaration also did not demand independence (maybe understandably so, as the discourse was at a different point then). “The Declaration was approved by the Council by unanimity.” That is true. But it should not be taken to suggest that all Goans unanimously (or in large numbers) supported it. At best, it represents the vote of that institution, and not a referendum of the population as a whole. “Governor Craveiro Lopes continued to condemn the Acto Colonial and defend Goan self-determination after returning to Portugal, risking his career.” Are there any references that support this claim or suggestion? “They did not seek transfer of sovereignty to the Indian Union because it did not yet exist as a nation.” True. But the Indian independence movement already existed, and some Goan nationalists were already linked to it. Saying it was impossible to seek transfer to India because India did not exist as a nation is anachronistic; political movements can anticipate future states and political trajectories. The 1946 movement (a few months before 1947) could be seen as a good example of this. “Menezes Bragança believed Goa had a distinct individuality and psychology.” True. Menezes Bragança did emphasise Goan distinctiveness. But his views also evolved, and he combined Goan identity with Portuguese cultural affiliation at times. Possibly the jury is still out among the historians on how to interpret his views. “Menezes Bragança was always loyal to Portugal.” He has sometimes been described as a Portuguese constitutionalist and a Goan autonomist. He criticised colonial domination, demanded rights, and opposed Salazar's colonial system. So he's more complex than being "loyal to Portugal". Just a few points by way of discussion. FN _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ _/ Frederick Noronha फ्रेडरिक नोरोन्या * فريدريك نورونيا _/ AUDIO https://archive.org/details/@fredericknoronha _/ http://goa1556.in +91-9822122436 784 Saligao Goa_/ Goanet :: 30 years of discussions. [email protected] _/ http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ On Sun, 5 Jul 2026 at 10:01, JOHN DE FIGUEIREDO <[email protected]> wrote: Today (July 4, 2026) the people of the United States commemorate the 250th anniversary of the birth of their Nation. Today is also a day of reflection to all Goans because it is the 96th anniversary of the Goan Declaration of Self-Determination. By issuing this Declaration, the democratically elected representatives of the people of Goa to the Government Council made sure that we, Goans, would never again be told that we never asked for that right and that for future reference we should always ask. The Declaration was a protest against the Acto Colonial that had condemned the Goans to perpetual servitude. The Declaration was approved by the Council by unanimity. The Council was chaired by Governor Joao Carlos Craveiro Lopes (father of Francisco Higinio Craveiro Lopes, future President of the Portuguese Republic). Governor Craveiro Lopes continued to condemn the Acto Colonial and defend the right of the Goans to self-determination after he returned to Portugal, thereby risking his career. Two anniversaries of legitimate protest leading to two drastically different fates. The United States became the most powerful democracy on earth. The Goans never exercised their right to self-determination and were destined to never exercise that right. Below is an article I wrote to commemorate these memorable anniversaries: This article is protected by Copyright. No part of itshould be reproduced without the author’s written permission. This article waspublished in “Revista da Casa de Goa” and it is reproduced here with theEditor’s permission. The opinions expressed by the author in this article areexclusively his own. A DAY OF JOY FORGOANS John M.de Figueiredo, MD, ScD On July 4, 1776, acourageous group of English citizens established in North America declaredtheir desire to separate from England to form a new nation, the United Statesof America. More than a century and a half later, on July 4, 1930, in a remotecorner of the western coast of India, while the Americans were celebratingtheir Independence Day, four Goans presented in Goa a declaration to theGovernment Council of Portuguese India. The declaration responded to therequest of Dr. Oliveira Salazar, then Minister of the Colonies, for an opinionfrom Portuguese India through its Government Council on his project of theColonial Act. That Act stated in Article 2: “It is of the organic essence ofthe Portuguese Nation to perform the historical function of owning andcolonizing overseas domains and to civilize the indigenous populations that arecomprised in them, also exercising the moral influence assigned to it by the‘Padroado do Oriente’ " And in Article 3: “The overseas domains ofPortugal are called colonies and constitute the Portuguese Colonial Empire.”The four Goans made up the elected part of the Government Council: Luiz deMenezes Bragança, author of the Declaration, António Xavier Gomes Pereira,Naraina Bandorcar, and Cipriano da Cunha Gomes, co-signatories. The declarationwas adopted by the Government Council by unanimous vote. This statement,transcribed from the Minutes of the Government Council, ran as follows: “1st Portuguese India does not renounce the right ofpeoples to reach the fullness of their individuality, until they become unitscapable of directing their destinies, since it is an original right, of itsorganic essence; 2nd Recommends that, maintaining the organization of thePortuguese State established in the Political Constitution of the Republic: a) There is no discrimination between the Metropolis andthe Overseas Provinces of individual rights and guarantees expressed in Art. 3and its Constitution numbers and the representation of India in the Congress ofthe Republic is maintained b) The regime of administrative decentralization andfinancial autonomy of the Overseas Provinces is reestablished in the termsdefined in Articles 67 B and 67 F of the Constitution as a starting point forrepresentative institutions of broader action. c) The principle of majority elected in the highestdeliberative body in the country is reestablished in India, the intervention ofthat majority being recognized, through its representatives, in the specialfunction of the “examination and visa”, of ordering the expenses and accountsof management" Unlike thefounders of the United States, Menezes Bragança, Gomes Pereira, NarainaBandorcar, and Cipriano da Cunha Gomes did not ask for political independencefor Goa. Nor was their desire to transfer sovereignty to the Indian Union,which, at the time, did not yet exist as a nation. Known as the “Greatest ofAll”, Menezes Bragança thought that the people of Goa had an individuality andpsychology fundamentally different from the peoples of the rest of India, theresult of Portugal's assimilationist policy, and it was always of the opinionthat Portuguese India was part and portion of the spiritual unity of thePortuguese Nation. Despite his vehement opposition to the Colonial Act, hesimply asked for the people of his homeland democratic representation andmaximum administrative and financial autonomy under Portuguese sovereignty. To say thatMenezes Bragança was the “Tilak of Goa” shows ignorance of what he wanted forhis homeland. Lokmanya Tilak wanted, for his India, complete and immediateindependence (‘Swaraj”) from the British colonial rule. Menezes Bragançawas always loyal to Portugal and during the First Republic he was praised byDr. Jaime de Morais, Governor of Portuguese India, for his loyalty to Portugaland his honesty. Unfortunately, the little he asked for, he did not obtain, andthe Colonial Act was promulgated and incorporated into the 1933 Constitution.Menezes Bragança's reaction was to state that “the 1933 Constitution betrayedthe spirit of the 1911 Constitution”. His newspaper “Luz - Pracasha”was closed by order of the Government, forever silencing his voice. In this mannerwas born the historical fatality of the people of Portuguese India. As theViceroy of Portuguese India Count of S. Vicente said so well, “Portuguese Indiais only seen from far away and only heard too late”. The voice of PortugueseIndia echoed in the desert and died. Goa's fate was decided by others, not bythe Goans themselves. The human right of self-determination, an “originalright, of its organic essence” was neverexercised by the Goans through a plebiscite, and will never be exercised, butthe protest of the Goans against the Colonial Act and the expression of theirnatural desire to “reach the fullness of their individuality” were recordedforever in the annals of history. The Declarationof Self-Determination is the most important document in the modern history ofPortuguese India. July 4th is not a day of joy and pride for the Americansonly; it is also for the Goans. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Goa-Research-Net" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/979926520.966876.1783225706084%40mail.yahoo.com. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Goa-Research-Net" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/CA%2Bmqab-9N6WXMKSJR4nQ%3DRV%3Dd9Re95LSnj5FBHDLQDvEc8ytoQ%40mail.gmail.com. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Goa-Research-Net" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/861708934.337760.1783811018632%40mail.yahoo.com.
