Ahead of Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa's visit to Goa, the land with which he has ancestral links, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) today demanded his apology to the people here for the "damage" caused during colonial rule.
"Costa should apologise to the people of Goa for the destruction caused by his country's army to the temples and bridges in the state when the Portuguese left the coastal enclave in 1961," MGP Leader Sudin Dhavalikar told reporters.
Goa was liberated from around 450-year-long Portuguese rule on December 19, 1961.
"I understand that the Portuguese Prime Minister is arriving in Goa on January 11. I congratulate him on being elected as the Prime Minister. But, I request him that after reaching Goa he should apologise to the people," Dhavalikar, whose party recently pulled out of the BJP-led government in the state, said.
"People of Goa have not forgotten the way Portuguese destroyed Goa, their temples, their bridges, while going back to their country. This is why it would be highly appreciated if the PM apologises to the people of Goa," he said.
Dhavalikar, however, said MGP will not oppose Costa's visit to the state, as he is the son of this soil.
The 55-year-old Costa has his roots in Margao town. His father Orlando da Costa, a Goan-Portuguese, lived in Margoa with his mother Maria Antonio Palla, journalist and feminist activist, before they moved to Lisbon.
The Portuguese Prime Minister had visited the family house when he was a teenager along with his parents.
Currently, his first cousin Anna lives in this Margao house with her mother, husband and a daughter, while rest of the family is settled in Lisbon. Costa would be visiting his cousin there and have a meal with the family at the ancestral house.
Dhavalikar also demanded that the Portuguese consulate in Goa be shifted to New Delhi, in order to tackle the menace of dual citizenship.
"We have lost 1.20 lakh voters because of dual citizenship. I want that Portuguese Consulate be moved to New Delhi so that the people would be discouraged (on the dual citizenship front)," he said.
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MGP's alliance partner Goa Suraksha Manch has also
seconded the demand seeking apology from Portuguese Prime Minister during his Goa visit.
"We are fully in sync with the demand made by MGP. Portuguese PM should apologise on behalf of his country for alleged atrocities on Goans during the colonial rule," GSM President Anand Shirodkar told reporters today.
He said the generation of Goans who have faced oppression under Portuguese rule is still alive in the state.
