Global Goan Convention in Oman

Global Goan Convention in Oman



The 4th Global Goan Convention opened with flair and finesse, the location was well set within the Indian Embassy in Oman , within close proximity of the British and the American Embassies, for once I felt proud to note that the Indian Embassy had a much bigger area than the rest.


The convention started with the welcome song and lighting of the lamp by the elite dignitaries and the main office bearers of the Organizing Committee. The atmosphere and the ambience was very good. The welcome address by the President of the Organizing Committee, Mr. Flynn De Lima said a lot about his personality and his ability in organizing events of such scale. Dr Mario De Souza was his diplomatic self but stressed as he pointed out deficiencies that needed to be rectified by the NRI Commission.



The address by the NRI Commissioner His Excellency Mr. Eduardo Faleiro, was well presented if one may say so, his usual flair and theatrics combined had people smiling and laughing and promised to do whatever he can for the NRG’s, there was not a single “no” I cannot do it attitude, in his talk but one will have to wait to see, if things discussed will infact be put into prospective.



The simplicity and the charm of His Excellency, The Indian Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman, Mr. Anil Wadhwa was very much obvious as he mixed freely with the participants and the organizers, we had heard a lot about him, his good work and his simplicity, which did not take long for us to affirm. In his address he poured out platitudes of the Goan Community in Oman, said that Goans in Oman were well respected and law abiding, he also said that he never came across, situations wherein he had to intervene with the Local Government for the sake of Goans. He also said Goans in Oman , greatly contributed to the unity and progress of the Indian community in Oman . It was indeed a proud moment, for all of us Goans who were present, to be Goans,



Dr. Satish Nambiar, the President of the Indian Social Centre too amply praised the loyalty and the unity along with the good civility shown by the Goan community in Oman , the contributions made to the Indian Community too were expressed.



Dr. Oscar Rebelo, the orator he is, spoke well and made sure that we all understood that in 1961, it was the united Goa that fought and won, but in 1966 it was a divided Goa, which means, it was Goan v/s Goan that fought with each other during the Opinion Poll, then again 20 years later, in 1986 again it was it was Goan v/s Goan fighting for Konkanni, yet again 20 years later in 2006 it was Goan v/s Goan fighting against the Regional Plan and asked for how many more years would we be fighting each other ? He further gave us four points that are to be looked at if we need any semblance of a chance to come out of the muck we are in. 1st that we should be a totally secular Goan Community no matter what. 2nd that we protect our environment at all cost. 3rd We maintain steady growth along with environmental ambiance. 4th Law and order with equal measures for all without any distinction in class or creed. A very sound theory and a perfect recipe for Goa .

As I reflected on the speech, it was very much true, it just struck me that post 1961, our esteemed corrupt politicians were responsible for all the major upheavals in Goa , which were a direst result of their greed for money and power, playing Goans against Goans for their own selfish benefits, and we Goans kept falling for it.

Agnelo Fernandes MLA from Calangute and the Chairman of EDC
spoke well about the schemes brought forth by his department, he also spoke of the tourism activities in his constituency..

Simon D’Silva, the President of Goan Welfare Association, Doha , Qatar , spoke of the present scenario and asked that employment and investment opportunities be created for NRG’s

Prajal Sakhardande was just outstanding as he portrayed pre liberation, post liberation and the present day Goa with vivid slides, his knowledge of the history of Goa is unmatched. Fantastic presentation.
Rajendra Kerkar was at his humorous best as he picked on the Goan politicians while explaining the importance of preserving our ecology and environment and explained the deadly affect on Goa if the water of river Mandovi was diverted.

He also explained the connection of numerous folk songs and religious songs with mother nature and asked us to fight tooth and nail to preserve our ecology and our environment, and stop the destruction of our natural heritage.

Arwin Mesquita from Abu Dhabi, place before us the reality, that at the way things are going on in Goa, our Goan Identity and our culture is at stake and emphasized the need to protect our Goan Identity and our culture, and explained the means and ways to do it.

Freddy Fernandes from Dubai, humbly yours explained in details the ills of mega housing and mining and asked the people to help put an end to the atrocities against mother nature and asked the people to elect clean and incorruptible people if they want, Goa to be there tomorrow, along with a good future for Goa, themselves and for their future generations.

John Desa from Qatar , stressed on the need to protect our land for the future and not to sell it to outsiders, so that what happened to the East Indians (Koli’s) in Bombay should not happen to Goans. He also stressed on the importance of 80% jobs for Goans to be implemented and said all this could be possible only through special status for Goa .
Benedict Lobo from Dubai , spoke about his creation “Radio Goa” wherein one can experience nostalgic Goa at the click of a mouse, and his wish to protect the essence of Goan music. Radio Goa also provides an opportunity to Goans to interact with each other online or in person by participating in a number of get-togethers organized by him in the UAE.

Ramnata Mavlingcar from Abu Dhabi , spoke of the investment opportunities that can be created in Goa that would help both Goans in Goa as well as NRG’s and emphasized on the need to simplify the procedures for investors and proposed a single window process to avoid delays and corruption.

Ulhas Kamat and Nitin Kunkolienkar, members of the NRI Commissioner’s entourage, were at their best, presenting statistics and policies on how good Goa’s economy is and they pictured a very rosy present and an equally bright future, to put in Mr. Kamat’s own words, “statistics are like bikinis, what they revel is seductive but what they hide is indeed vital” very much true but what was hidden was the number of poor people specially from the below poverty line that have benefited from these schemes or the number of applications that are gathering dust due to lack of “vasta” or the money to wet palms.
At the open house for domestic and industrial workers there were a number of issues that were brought up, one being, pension fund or employment opportunities on return, as these workers have to spend all their hard earned money on the survival of the families back home and once retired they have nothing to look back to, here the NRI Commissioner promised them that they will be provided employment opportunities as per their qualification and nature of work done abroad, he also assured them payment that will be equal to what they earned abroad if not more.

Another issue that came up for discussion was the holding of passports of workers by employers, which is against international laws, and the NRI Commissioner along with the High Commissioner assured that they will do everything in their hands to talk to the authorities and solve this matter.

Yet another issue was of a domestic worker, who did not have a contract, she have been refused leave even after four years, she is yearning to get back home to see her family, the High Commissioner himself assured and promised to look in to the matter.

At this point I had to leave but over all it was a very well organized and very well coordinated Convention, the hospitality was outstanding.. The Organizing Committee should be credited for their total professionalism, events of this magnitude are indeed very difficult to handle but The Oman Goan Community did it with ease and aplomb.

The dine and dance too was a success, the music was good, the ambience was nostalgic Goan, people and the delegates meeting each other, exchanging views and ideas, there was certainly no distinction and the floor was never empty, even the High Commissioner and the NRI Commissioner mingled freely in the crowd.
It was indeed a success.

It was good to see a small portion of the diverse Goan Diaspora under one roof, I would like to make a special mention of the young man from Loutolim, who came all the way from Malawi Mr. Vivek Araujo and sang a couple of Konkani songs at the dance. It was good to know, Konkani was still alive and kicking in him

Though it was a success, there were a couple of negatives that were picked up, I was very much hurt and disappointed that English was used as the medium of communication, the coordinators as well as most of the delegates spoke in English, which looked really odd as we had a Goan Convention and Konkani being our Mother Tongue should have been the medium of communication, it looked like most of the delegates left Mother Konkani behind when they boarded the plane for Oman and the Coordinators, in their hurry locked Mother Konkani at their homes before proceeding to the Convention Centre. I just cannot understand why, it is only we Goans that treat our Mother Tongue so disgracefully?

The second being, the initiator of this Convention, the NRI Commissioner Mr. Eduardo Faleiro, was conspicuously and conveniently absent when environmentalists and social activists delivered their speeches, it did look odd, as the initiator of this convention, he should have been present to hear all the speakers, most probably he thought that their speeches were anti Government, but let me assure that none of them were anti Government, what they highlighted were the unhealthy environmental and the mega housing policies of his Government, which are anti Goa and anti Goan, which need to be changed on a priority basis.

The Calangute MLA Mr. Agnelo too seemed to have disappeared into thin air, soon after the first session, I only assume that he could have gone around Oman, to look for equipment to pull the "PRINCESS" ashore or could have been meeting the local civil services, looking for ideas to fight the drug menace in Calangute. A very busy schedule indeed.
Congratulations and well done Oman Goans



Freddy Agnelo Fernandes