Response to "Humble Salazar" by Teotonio R. de Souza from Portugal.
Dear Veronica,
Firstly, I am glad to see my response to your earlier posting online in KRANTI. But in today's "Humble Salazar" you seem to go overboard in your appreciation of Salazar despite repeated charges against him as "dictator". At the very start of your posting you claim that just because you lived under the Portuguese colonial regime you had to accept Salazar. I would beg to differ: If we had to accept a regime however it behaves, nothing would change. India could still continue under British colonial rule, and the Germans could continue under Hitler, etc.
In the closing paragraphs you berate the Goans who have retained or reclaimed Portuguese citizenship as ungrateful, just because they may not like Salazar. There are thousands of native Portuguese who hate Salazar and the memory of his regime. They should be ungrateful too? Besides, Portugal is not to be equated with Salazar, just as any of us cannot be equated with our passing nightmares! There are many other political forces that make Portugal tick!
I did not for once consider the idea of moving to Portugal (Brasil was also on cards) before 1986, that is, before Portugal was admitted to EU. It has made all the difference to a politically unstable that Portugal was and could continue to be without this development.
This are my honest reflections and feelings with all due respect to yours.
Sincerely,
Teotonio R. de Souza.
On 18/07/07, A. Veronica Fernandes <http://by104fd.bay104.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/compose?mailto=1&msg=187FF996-D568-4B9E-8262-CA32B0C7856F&start=0&len=22704&src=&type=x&to=averonicaf806@hotmail.com&cc=&bcc=&subject=&body=&curmbox=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&a=c623804d5bb41e4822be483c731d58bf4a3e8f50dca2a26f7f9c154d073bf9fc> wrote in:
K R A N T I
HUMBLE SALAZAR.
HUMBLE SALAZAR. Dr. Antonio Oliveira Salazar was not my uncle. He was the ruler of Portugal and since Goa was under Portuguese regime till December 1961, I had to accept him as my ruler too. Though he was a dictator and since I don't like dictators yet I had to accept his dictatorship as the ruler of Portugal. Dictators are always bad. Soon after the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein, Margaret Thatcher the then Premier of UK was in USA visiting President Bush Sr. When she got the news of the invasion of Kuwait, she made a scathing attack on Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein saying "dictators are dictators. There should be no appeasement for dictators anytime and anywhere". No doubt Salazar was a dictator but he was not a brute dictator like Saddam Hussein. Salazar did not wage his wars against others as Saddam Hussein did. Saddam Hussein was bad in all angles while Salazar inspite of being a dictator and harsh in certain angles, had lot of good qualities and lot of humility though to some naked eyes it may look he was a good dramatist. May be Salazar was during his lifetime in politics was a political "Tiatrist" but for that matter we all human beings are also Tiatrists, to quote William Shakesphere in his last Drama "As You Like It". I think Salazar played all the 7 roles of one's lifetime as indicated by Shakesphere including the last role of "Sans Teeth, Sans Eyes, Sans Ears, Sans Limbs". Was it a blessing for him to accomplish his mission on this planet as a Tiatrist to complete all the 7 roles? Great indeed!! ..........
