ADEUS MARY JOSEPHINE D’SA.
It is with deep sorrow I wish you Mary adeus not only to Kuwait forever but also to this world. Tuesday 26th August your mortal remains will be flown to Goa via direct flight from Kuwait to Dabolim. To start this direct flight facility for Kuwait Goans your devoted and faithful husband has also spent his time, energy and resources. To get this direct flight materialised you too patronized our activities done to raise funds for this cause. Along with your husband you always supported and patronized Konkani which is the soul of Goa and Goans. You were an avid reader of my writings in Konkani. In the beginning when I came to Kuwait I was Konkani writer writing regularly in Goa’s famed Weekly “Goycho Mog”. In order to read my column you and your husband subscribed to Goycho Mog direct from Goa. This shows your love for the soul of Goa, Konkani.
Whenever we organized Konkani functions you always associated with us and patronized our activities along with your husband. When Kuwait Konknni Kendr first time organized a Konkani function in a 5 Star Hotel, in Kuwait at Meridien, KKK was proud to have you both as guests. It was about 25 years back and that was the most memorable and most important Konkani function ever held in Kuwait though it was only for especial invitees and you were KKK’s especial invitees along with others in the hall packed audience. You were always bold enough to converse with me in Konkani and you always gave due respect to Konkani. By this attitude of yours you made us Konkani promoters and Konkani lovers proud because rarely in Kuwait ladies like you exhibited their love for Konkani as you have done. In your death Konkani lost one of its strong lovers and supporters.
You come from Arpora Bardez which produced the first English High School of Goa for boys where your beloved and faithful husband completed his education. As a young school going boy, I saw you in Arpora as one of the most immaculate girls of your time. You were during those days a beautiful girl in your locality, so also decent and disciplined with superlative character. This was your family tradition since you inherited all round discipline from your home. Your younger and late brother Assumption D’Costa was my colleague at Arpora where we spent many years together not only studying but also in sports fields.
Yesterday for the Mass in the Church while preaching his homily, Fr. Domnick Santamaria praised your husband very appropriately by saying that as a devoted and faithful husband he has fulfilled his marriage vows to stand by you in good time and bad time, in sickness and otherwise and openly congratulated him for fulfilling his marriage vows. Such attitude is rarity nowadays but in your husband it was a reality. I too admire him in this respect. Your devoted and faithful husband Raymond D’Sa took so much of care of you almost during the last 2 years when you were bed ridden, till your death, of course patiently and most importantly, LOVINGLY. Yours was the perfect match and perfect pair always elegant, morally upright, dignified, disciplined and pious. I observed you that in a pure Goan tradition you always revered your devoted and faithful husband.
In your death Raymond your devoted and faithful husband lost his equally devoted and faithful wife; your all 3 lovely children lost their equally lovely and caring mother. And Konkani lost a supporter among females in Kuwait.
May Your Soul Rest In Peace and may Heavenly God give courage to Raymond and your children to bear this colossal loss.
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Kuwait.
August 24, 2008
PAKISTAN & MUSHARRAF'S RESIGNATION.
PAKISTAN & MUSHARRAF'S RESIGNATION.
“Power comes thru the barrel of the gun”, said Mao Tse Tung and thru this power he got Communist China for him and his people. But in the recent political development in Pakistan I came to know that power can also come thru the ballot that brought peaceful transition of power into the hands of the democratically elected people. I salute Gen. Pervez Musharraf in peacefully resigning like Richard Nixon in USA and handing over political power to the duly elected people. By resigning voluntarily, surely Gen. Musharraf has avoided bloodbath in Pakistan. He was accused of lot of malpractices including gaining of power in 1999 thru the coup thereby overthrowing Nawaz Sharif. In fact, according to his biography "In The Line Of Fire" the coup that was organized was done in the absence of Gen. Musharraf and he was not the real maker of that coup because during the process of the coup he was neither in Pakistan nor in Sri Lanka from where he was returning but in the air when his aircraft was prevented to land in Pakistan by Nawaz Sharif who in fact in reality plotted the coup against Gen. Musharraf by sacking him while his plane was still in the air and even appointing a replacement for Gen. Musharraf in Jr. staff. The actual coup was masterminded by the military stalwarts in Pakistan without any notice of Gen. Musharraf who himself was surprised when he was appraised of this while he was still airborne with few minutes of fuel remaining in the petrol tank of his aircraft.
By reading his autobiography “In the Line of Fire”, I found him sincere in many respects and not a power crazy like many of such people even though he did things unconstitutionally which was not right. Coming from medium family background with high family character and discipline, he always showed his sympathy towards the weaker segments of the people. In this direction he tried to bring about so many changes in Pakistan including emancipation of women, improvement in educational system especially in IT sector, building of new seaport in Baluchistan, eradication of barbaric corporal punishment in tribal format for the wrong doers etc. And above all he tried to give a very good image of Islam to the world in general and to the West in particular where it is having a much distorted image. For this mishap, he accused his own Muslim people who followed the path of radicalism and extremism. Coming from Christian educational institutions background he always praised his Alma Mater St. Patrick School in Karachi, Foreman Christian College, Lahore and his Christian missionary teachers who moulded him to become a great man. His love for his parents was ingrained in his heart very deeply especially his loving mother who being a teacher used to walk few kilometers to save money for her children needs. It was great on Gen. Musharraf's part to shower on his parents such deserving praises in appreciation of their hardships to raise their children.
As promised to bring about democracy back to Pakistan, he did the right thing in fulfilling the given promise though he believed, in his own words, that "if democracy is to be functional and sustaianble, it has to be tailored to local conditions". Then he furthers stressed saying "democracy in illiterate, feudal, tribal and parochial societies has serious downside. People are not elected on pure merit. They rise in the political hierarchy because of family connections and financial resources". Inspite of this he even went one step further and brought back his worst opponent Nawaz Sharif and gave political foothold to his rival and once convicted Zardari in Pakistani politics. Though he was born in Delhi, India, yet his love for his new country Pakistan was supreme. Though he sided with separatists elements in Kashmir yet he sympathized with Kashmiri Hindu pundits who were uprooted from their ancestral habitats due to Islamic uprising there.
Strong Indians support strong Pakistan and during his tenure he tried his best to create a good rapport with India. His admiration for Vajpayee was excellent and even when the Agra Summit failed at the last minute, though he was disappointed yet he told Vajpayee bluntly that "there seemed to be someone above the two of us who had the power to overule us" and sincerely concluded saying that "today both of us had been humiliated". Though he was accused as an architect of Kargil war fiasco by Nawaz Sharif yet he refuted it saying that Sharif as premier was consulted and was a party to it though at the last minute from the pressure of US President Clinton, Sharif did what he was forced to do by Clinton.
History may judge Musharraf differently but his contribution for the eradication of extremism from Pakistan implanted by external and internal forces should be given top credit. In the fight against Al Qaeda and Taleban it was he who faced the brunt of the US and West and to clear the misconception created against Pakistan because of sheltering Al Qaeda elements, he and his country suffered a lot. No country in the world has done as much as Pakistan has done under Gen. Musharraf for the eradication of Al Qaeda elements and in the bargain Pakistan suffered a lot. This valiant sacrifice of Pakistan under Gen. Musharraf leadership should be appreciated otherwise as threatened, USA would “bomb Pakistan to stone age” and Americans would do that because to protect their interest they will do anything. The dropping of Atom Bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki gives ample evidence of Americans intent when they are hell-bent to fulfill their purpose.
It is a few days now since he resigned but still there is no clear sign of replacement for him. I don’t think Sharif and Zardari will come to terms to rule the country as per the wishes of the Pakistani people who are hungry for good governance and development of their country. I am sure both these politicians will fight forcing Gen. Kyani to take over the reins of the country. If this happens, then the very people who came on to the streets with slogan like “Go Musharraf Go”, they will return to the same streets with more ferocity and greater number with another slogan saying “Come back Musharraf come back”.
Like Sonia Gandhi in India, Zardari in Pakistan is grooming his son Belawal who is a kid as far as state administration and politics are concerned. Rahul Gandhi in India and Belawal in Pakistan are foisted on the people by their parents to promote their family dynasty. These political kids know nothing of politics in their respective countries. Their only qualificiation is that they are the sons of their political fathers and mothers. No country will come up when its administrative rudder is given into the hands of immature and political novices. Will these kids be able to deliver the goods? If not why people in their respective countries accept them? Running of state administration is not like running a cricket or hockey team. America developed because it was always ruled by the stalwarts and not by the kids because of their family background. Gen. Musharraf rightly said in his autobiography about the fallacy of giving the reins of the nation into the hands of persos whose parents once ruled their countries.
When Musharraf came to power, people welcomed him with superlative praises saying he was the saviour of Pakistan. But gradually they started to oppose him as if he was a liability. In the words of Lebanese poet-philosopher Khalil Gibran, let me conclude "Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpetings, and farewells him with hootings, only to welcome another with trumpetings again".
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Kuwait.
“Power comes thru the barrel of the gun”, said Mao Tse Tung and thru this power he got Communist China for him and his people. But in the recent political development in Pakistan I came to know that power can also come thru the ballot that brought peaceful transition of power into the hands of the democratically elected people. I salute Gen. Pervez Musharraf in peacefully resigning like Richard Nixon in USA and handing over political power to the duly elected people. By resigning voluntarily, surely Gen. Musharraf has avoided bloodbath in Pakistan. He was accused of lot of malpractices including gaining of power in 1999 thru the coup thereby overthrowing Nawaz Sharif. In fact, according to his biography "In The Line Of Fire" the coup that was organized was done in the absence of Gen. Musharraf and he was not the real maker of that coup because during the process of the coup he was neither in Pakistan nor in Sri Lanka from where he was returning but in the air when his aircraft was prevented to land in Pakistan by Nawaz Sharif who in fact in reality plotted the coup against Gen. Musharraf by sacking him while his plane was still in the air and even appointing a replacement for Gen. Musharraf in Jr. staff. The actual coup was masterminded by the military stalwarts in Pakistan without any notice of Gen. Musharraf who himself was surprised when he was appraised of this while he was still airborne with few minutes of fuel remaining in the petrol tank of his aircraft.
By reading his autobiography “In the Line of Fire”, I found him sincere in many respects and not a power crazy like many of such people even though he did things unconstitutionally which was not right. Coming from medium family background with high family character and discipline, he always showed his sympathy towards the weaker segments of the people. In this direction he tried to bring about so many changes in Pakistan including emancipation of women, improvement in educational system especially in IT sector, building of new seaport in Baluchistan, eradication of barbaric corporal punishment in tribal format for the wrong doers etc. And above all he tried to give a very good image of Islam to the world in general and to the West in particular where it is having a much distorted image. For this mishap, he accused his own Muslim people who followed the path of radicalism and extremism. Coming from Christian educational institutions background he always praised his Alma Mater St. Patrick School in Karachi, Foreman Christian College, Lahore and his Christian missionary teachers who moulded him to become a great man. His love for his parents was ingrained in his heart very deeply especially his loving mother who being a teacher used to walk few kilometers to save money for her children needs. It was great on Gen. Musharraf's part to shower on his parents such deserving praises in appreciation of their hardships to raise their children.
As promised to bring about democracy back to Pakistan, he did the right thing in fulfilling the given promise though he believed, in his own words, that "if democracy is to be functional and sustaianble, it has to be tailored to local conditions". Then he furthers stressed saying "democracy in illiterate, feudal, tribal and parochial societies has serious downside. People are not elected on pure merit. They rise in the political hierarchy because of family connections and financial resources". Inspite of this he even went one step further and brought back his worst opponent Nawaz Sharif and gave political foothold to his rival and once convicted Zardari in Pakistani politics. Though he was born in Delhi, India, yet his love for his new country Pakistan was supreme. Though he sided with separatists elements in Kashmir yet he sympathized with Kashmiri Hindu pundits who were uprooted from their ancestral habitats due to Islamic uprising there.
Strong Indians support strong Pakistan and during his tenure he tried his best to create a good rapport with India. His admiration for Vajpayee was excellent and even when the Agra Summit failed at the last minute, though he was disappointed yet he told Vajpayee bluntly that "there seemed to be someone above the two of us who had the power to overule us" and sincerely concluded saying that "today both of us had been humiliated". Though he was accused as an architect of Kargil war fiasco by Nawaz Sharif yet he refuted it saying that Sharif as premier was consulted and was a party to it though at the last minute from the pressure of US President Clinton, Sharif did what he was forced to do by Clinton.
History may judge Musharraf differently but his contribution for the eradication of extremism from Pakistan implanted by external and internal forces should be given top credit. In the fight against Al Qaeda and Taleban it was he who faced the brunt of the US and West and to clear the misconception created against Pakistan because of sheltering Al Qaeda elements, he and his country suffered a lot. No country in the world has done as much as Pakistan has done under Gen. Musharraf for the eradication of Al Qaeda elements and in the bargain Pakistan suffered a lot. This valiant sacrifice of Pakistan under Gen. Musharraf leadership should be appreciated otherwise as threatened, USA would “bomb Pakistan to stone age” and Americans would do that because to protect their interest they will do anything. The dropping of Atom Bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki gives ample evidence of Americans intent when they are hell-bent to fulfill their purpose.
It is a few days now since he resigned but still there is no clear sign of replacement for him. I don’t think Sharif and Zardari will come to terms to rule the country as per the wishes of the Pakistani people who are hungry for good governance and development of their country. I am sure both these politicians will fight forcing Gen. Kyani to take over the reins of the country. If this happens, then the very people who came on to the streets with slogan like “Go Musharraf Go”, they will return to the same streets with more ferocity and greater number with another slogan saying “Come back Musharraf come back”.
Like Sonia Gandhi in India, Zardari in Pakistan is grooming his son Belawal who is a kid as far as state administration and politics are concerned. Rahul Gandhi in India and Belawal in Pakistan are foisted on the people by their parents to promote their family dynasty. These political kids know nothing of politics in their respective countries. Their only qualificiation is that they are the sons of their political fathers and mothers. No country will come up when its administrative rudder is given into the hands of immature and political novices. Will these kids be able to deliver the goods? If not why people in their respective countries accept them? Running of state administration is not like running a cricket or hockey team. America developed because it was always ruled by the stalwarts and not by the kids because of their family background. Gen. Musharraf rightly said in his autobiography about the fallacy of giving the reins of the nation into the hands of persos whose parents once ruled their countries.
When Musharraf came to power, people welcomed him with superlative praises saying he was the saviour of Pakistan. But gradually they started to oppose him as if he was a liability. In the words of Lebanese poet-philosopher Khalil Gibran, let me conclude "Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpetings, and farewells him with hootings, only to welcome another with trumpetings again".
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Kuwait.
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