Citizenship Experiences of the Goan Catholics

School of Social Sciences and Humanities Citizenship Experiences of the Goan Catholics Jason Keith Fernandes A Thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor in Anthropology Supervisor: Professor Rosa Maria de Figueiredo Perez, Professora Associada com Agregação, ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon June 2013 School of Social Sciences and Humanities Citizenship Experiences of the Goan Catholics Jason Keith Fernandes A Thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor in Anthropology Jury Doutora Maria Paula Gutierres Meneses Investigadora do Centro de Estudos Sociais da Universidade de Coimbra Doutora Pamila Gupta Senior Researcher the University of Witwatersrand Doutor Everton Vasconcelos Machado Investigador de Pós-Doutoramento do Centro de Estudos Comparatistas da Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa Doutor Miguel de Matos Castanheira do Vale de Almeida, Professor Associado com Agregação do Departamento de Antropologia da ECSHumanas do ISCTE-IUL Doutora Rosa Maria Figueiredo Perez Professora Associada com Agregação do Departamento de Antropologia da ECSHumanas do ISCTE-IUL (Supervisor) Research project supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia June 2013 Abstract This thesis argues that the nature of the citizenship experience of the Catholics in the Indian state of Goa is the experience of those located between civil society and political society. This argument commences from the postulate that the recognition of Konkani in the Devanagari script as the official language of Goa, determined the boundaries of the state’s civil society.Through an ethnographic study of the contestations around the demand that the Roman script also be officially recognised, the thesis demonstrates how by deliberately excluding the Roman script for the language, the largely lower-caste and lower-class Catholic users of the script were denoted as less than authentic members of the legitimate civil society of the state. As a result, rather than enjoy the experience of permanent rights, the hall mark of civil society, their experience of citizenship is in the nature of a location in political society, where those who use the Roman script have to often justify their location in the cultural community of the State, and are awarded temporary concessions the continued existence of which depend on whether the status quo established by the dominant groups within the Goan polity is threatened or not. The argument I forward adds nuance to the larger discussion on the nature of secularism in Indian republic by introducing a focus on a region outside of British-India, as well as invoking caste, and religion; and looking outside of the binaries that often determine the study of citizenship experiences of minority groups. Key words: citizenship, secularism, civil society, political society, India, Goa, Portuguese India, Catholicism, caste, religion, emotions, Hindu nationalism, post-colonialism, subalternity. v Resumo Esta tese tenta demonstrar que a experiência da cidadania católica, no estado indiano de Goa, corresponde a quem se encontra entre a sociedade civil e a sociedade política. Parte- se do postulado de que o reconhecimento do concani no alfabeto devanágari como língua oficial de Goa determina os limites da sociedade civil. Através de um estudo etnográfico das contestações produzidas em torno da reivindicação do reconhecimento do alfabeto romano, a tese evidencia como, pela exclusão deliberada do alfabeto romano da língua concani, grande parte dos católicos de castas e de classes de baixo estatuto são considerados inferiores aos “autênticos” membros da sociedade civil. Como consequência, em lugar do usufruto de direitos permanentes, que simbolizam a sociedade civil, a sua experiência de cidadania decorre do lugar que ocupam na sociedade política. Efetivamente, aqueles que usam o alfabeto romano têm frequentemente de justificar o seu posicionamento na comunidade cultural do Estado, sendo-lhes atribuídas concessões temporárias, cuja continuidade depende de que não seja ameaçado o status quo, estabelecido pelos grupos dominantes no sistema governamental goês. O argumento que proponho contribui para a discussão mais alargada da natureza do secularismo na república indiana, ao focar-se num contexto não pertencente à Índia britânica e, ancorando-se no conceito de casta e de religião, afastar-se das perspectivas binárias que frequentemente caracterizam o estudo das experiências de cidadania de grupos minoritários. Palavras-chave: cidadania, secularismo, sociedade civil, sociedade política, Índia, Goa, Índia portuguesa, catolicismo, casta, religião, emoções, nacionalismo hindu, pós- colonialismo, subalternidade. vii Acknowledgements At various times in the course of the doctoral research that has resulted in this thesis, I was assured that once I received the doctoral degree, my world would open up, and things would change. In the hope that those assurances were true, and my world will change, I will treat this moment of completion of this thesis not merely as the culmination of four years of doctoral research at ISCTE-IUL, but as the conclusion of one segment of a lifetime’s journey. The list of acknowledgments therefore is long, and the persons to whom thanks are due are many. It is because of the number I need to thank is long, that at the very outset I would like to apologize for inadvertently missing the names of those who have despite the silence on these pages, contributed to the completion of this thesis. I would like to begin by expressing my deepest thanks to my family, especially my parents José Manuel and Philomena Lydia for providing the stimulating atmosphere of their home to grow up in. Subsequently in life, they have played the role of silently suffering, sometimes un-understanding, but always supportive parents to one who has seemed to relish in violating every code known to our people. To both my mother, and my uncle John Fernandes, my thanks for cajoling, haranguing, and persisting in their demand ever since I was a boy that I write. The fruits of your labours are today in evidence I think. I also owe a debt of gratitude to my no-less accepting brothers, Joel Albert and Joshua Amor, who in the course of my extended existence as a largely impoverished student have kept me supplied with creature comforts, and electronic gadgets, not least of which are the two laptops that Joel gifted me in the course of the doctoral work. Thank you, a million times over. In addition to my natal family, I have over the years benefitted immensely from the hospitality and warmth of numerous families who took me into their homes and hearts. I would especially like to thank the family of Gourang Kodical in Bangalore, the family of Aftab Alam in Patna, Seenu Iyengar in Bangalore, Ajai Singh in Delhi, and the Rajas in Bangalore; and of course Jnanesh Kodical, Shahrukh Alam, Sujata Saraf, Arkaja Singh, and Priya Rao whose friendship made these welcomes possible in the first place. When ix thinking of homes, I should also not forget to thank Alvaro Roquette whose home in Lisbon proved such a comfortable location from which to write and think. This thesis resulted from a certain turning towards Goa that was effected under the tutelage of Alito Siqueira of the Goa University. My gratitude for this nurturing knows no bounds, and I will remain ever grateful. I am grateful also the support of the members of the Reading and Writing Goa group that Alito and I organized jointly. In particular I would like to recollect the camaraderie of Sammit Khandeparkar, and Fernando Velho from those days. When thinking of times in Goa, I would also like to place on record the privilege it has been to work with Albertina Almeida in the field in Goa, and gain from her insights. Her consistent commitment to the cause of a more just Goa has been inspiring. I would simultaneously like to recall the comradeship of Geraldine Fernandes, Kim Miranda, and Paul Fernandes from the days when we worked together as a part of the Ganv Ghor Rakhon Manch (“Platform to Save Home and Village”). Referring more specifically to those I encountered in the course of fieldwork, I cannot forget my many interlocutors in the field, both members of the various groups I sought out, as well as independent activists. The time you shared with me, your trust, very often that peculiar Goan warmth with which you received me have touched me profoundly. I would especially like to thank Tomazinho Cardozo, Fr. Pratap Naik, and José Salvador Fernandes for their support through the entire project. For aiding the process in gradually turning me into an academic, I would like to thank V.S. Elizabeth, and Sitaramam K. from the National Law School (NLSIU), and Laura Beth Nielsen and Shalini Randeria from the International Institute for the Sociology of Law (IISL). In particular I would like to emphasise how deeply I cherish Sitaram’s presence for his quiet support, intellectual, and emotional through the years since law school, offering perhaps the longest collaboration of association ranging from teacher to colleague. Were it not for the many hours of conversation and spiritual fellowship in thinking through, and discussing the operation of secularism with Shahrukh Alam, Khalid Ansari and Ton Groeneweg of the Patna Collective, this thesis and my own thinking would have been so much poorer. I am in particular indebted to Khalid for opening my eyes to the world of caste politics. My thinking about caste also benefitted immensely from my x interactions with a number of individuals, not least of them being Anu Ramdas, Narender Bidide, Nate Roberts, and Huma Dar. There is an entire world of colleagues that I must also thank for a variety of support that they have provided over the course of these various years. To begin with, the community at Centre for the Study of Culture and Society (CSCS), Bangalore, where I began my doctoral work; especially Rochelle Pinto, Meera Moorkoth, Nitya Vasudevan, Arvind Lodaya, Zainab Bawa, and in particular Kaiwan Mehta who ensured that I would complete the course work at CSCS and move on to the research component of the PhD program there.

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