OPINION Pg8

HERALD
www.oheraldo.in

o= HERALD o=Vol No CIX No: 17

Dying and killing for forged identities
Saturday 17 January, 2009 Language, regional, national or religious identities are just social constructs, says Teotonio R de Souza. But can we do without them?

Darker shade I
t is increasingly clear from current studies that there to our pre-historic roots in Africa.
is no such a thing as a single or unchanging identity, The SNP markers are often referred to as ‘time and
either individual or collective. Mutations belong to date stamps’ because each marker can be traced back

of coal?
the essence of any living being, and they affect the to a particular time and place in history. My confirmed
building blocks of our living cells, as well as the vari- paternal haplogroup is J, which passed through three
ous external physical and cultural components. earlier phases since the past 100,000 years of the phy-

I
n a country that is suffering a crippling shortage of power, Goa
is relatively better off. Residents of both our neighbouring
states have to live with long hours of power outages every day.
While Karnataka has a 15 per cent shortfall of power, it is
Maharashtra, the industrially most developed state in the country,
that is reeling under power shortages. Each and every city, town
and village in the state, with the sole exception of Mumbai city
(not Thane or Navi Mumbai), has a power shutdown each day of
not less than two hours. Villages in the interior can be without
power for as much as 14 hours each day; the usual minimum power
cut in rural areas of the state is at least eight hours.
Goa, in comparison, has a 40 MW shortfall. Thanks to some
enlightened politicians and bureaucrats in the Power Department,
this is not allowed to badly affect the daily life of ordinary citizens,
and it is industries that suffer the power cuts in Goa. The 40 MW
of power generated by the Reliance Infrastructure plant at
Sancoale is naphtha-based, and far more expensive than the
power supplied to Goa by the National Thermal Power Corporation
(NTPC), as it fluctuates depending on the price of crude oil. At the
peak oil price, it was selling power at Rs13 per kilowatt hour (unit).
Today, the price is down to Rs5.60. Therefore, the only solution
for Goa to have adequate power for its citizens and to bring
industries to the state is to generate its own power.
This was made possible by the central government, which
has awarded a coal block in Chhatisgarh to Goa, whose reserves
are estimated to be adequate to support a 1,800 MW super
thermal power plant. It is to be hoped that a public-private
partnership (PPP) venture to put up a power plant will bring much-
needed relief to Goa. However, the way the Goa government has
gone about dealing with this venture is definitely not in the realm
of good operating practices.
Instead of giving the Power Ministry the charge of this project,
the government has given it to the Goa Industrial Development
Corporation (IDC). The IDC’s job is to acquire and develop land for
industries in the state. It has expertise in neither coal nor power
generation. The IDC has drawn up a memorandum of
undestanding (MoU) with K S K Energy Ventures Pvt Ltd, by which
the Chhatisgarh government has the first right of refusal for 37.5
per cent of the power, while Goa has first right of refusal for 15
per cent, aggregating to 240 MW, and would have a further first
right of refusal for another 10 per cent, or 180 MW. But there is no
firm formula on the pricing of this power, or a draft Power Purchase
Agreement (PPA) anywhere in sight, though it has been
mentioned that the state could avail of this power at the rate
prescribed by the central regulatory authority.
Identities on the basis of language, caste, region,
nation, religion, etc, are no more than social constructs
along the history of mankind for the purpose of dom-
ination or survival. They are not very different from
family feuds on a larger scale, resulting generally in
mutual diabolisation.
We are told by the geneticists that all people living
today descended from one of 18 ancient Y-DNA haplo-
groups on their paternal line and 26 ancient mtDNA
haplogroups from their maternal line. Despite sizable
costs, I decided to join the Vancouver-based Gene-
base DNA Ancestry Project for social networking. Its
website announces 923,210 active members! Proba-
bly not all very enthusiastic about regular fresh sug-
gestions for new paid tests, each costing around $99
on average!
An individual’s Y-DNA is the same as his father’s Y-
DNA and it is also the same as the Y-DNA of all paternal
ancestors along the paternal line. The mtDNA stands
for ‘mitochondrial’ DNA. All of us, both males and fe-
males, carry mtDNA, which is unique because while
most of the DNA in our body is found in the nucleus of
our cells, the mtDNA is found in small structures called
mitochondria, found in the cytoplasm of our cells, not
in the nucleus. This is important when we discuss how
mtDNA is inherited.
Our mtDNA comes from our mother, and our moth-
er got her mtDNA from her mother, and so on. The
reason for the maternal inheritance pattern of mtDNA
is due to its localisation in the cytoplasm. When an egg
is fertilised, the cells of the resulting embryo contain
the mtDNA and cytoplasm of the egg, not the sperm.
As the embryo continues to develop into a full-
grown human, all of the cells in the resulting human
contain the cytoplasm and mtDNA of the mother. It is
passed down along the maternal line from a mother to
all of her children. Males will carry the mtDNA of their
mother, but when they have children, their children
will carry the mtDNA of their own mother, not their
father. In this way, only daughters pass the mtDNA on
to future generations.
The maternal inheritance pattern of the mtDNA has
important significance for ancestral studies. While
most of the other types of DNA in our body are mixed
as they are passed down from generation to genera-
Tongue-in-cheek
DNA IDENTITY
tion, the mtDNA remains unmixed because it has a strict
line of descent from mother to child.
This means that our mtDNA is the same as our
mother’s and our mother’s mother’s mtDNA, from hun-
dreds, even thousands of generations ago. By testing
our own mtDNA, we are in fact able to indirectly read
the mtDNA genetic code of our own maternal ances-
tors from thousands of generations ago.
The D-Loop, or the non-lethal / non-vital part of
mtDNA contains two regions, namely the HVR1 and
HVR2. Only mutations in these regions are passed down
to ancestors. My confirmed maternal haplogroup, M,
arose from two key detectable genetic events, pass-
ing through L3 to the present form over the past
140,000 years.
Geographically, the maternal ancestors moved out
from Sudan to Libya, Egypt, Iran, Afghanistan and Ben-
gal, with some branches moving towards Mongolia and
Australia respectively. Does this confirm the Kosambi
Sum of all security
version of Goan Gaud Saraswats coming from Bengal?
Or explain Frederick Noronha’s doubts about why “For
some (inconsistent and unexplained) reason, I still eat
fish… Maybe it has to do with the dietary habits of a
Goan, where nearly 95 per cent of the population eats
fish”? (Goanet, 12 Jan 2009)
STR (short tandem repeat) markers are short
stretches of DNA in the Y-Chromosome. The number
of repeats varies from one family lineage to another,
and is unique to a family line. The mutation rate of STR
markers is quite rapid, with one mutation occurring on
average every few generations.
The rapid mutation rate of the STR markers allows
genealogists to estimate how long ago two male indi-
viduals shared a common ancestor. The SNP markers
mutate slowly, at a rate of one mutation every few thou-
sand years. The slow mutation rate of SNPs allows such
markers to provide information for deep ancestry, and
allows us to trace our ancestors back thousands of years
logenic tree, namely BT, CF, F, before arriving at the
present one of J (M304+) 15,000 years ago.
Geographically it moved out of the Ethiopia-Sudan
border and passed through Egypt and Iraq. Further test-
ing could narrow down the search to one of the 33 var-
iant subclades of haplogroup J. That may perhaps point
out to my paternal ancestry’s entry point into India.
It is only this kind of DNA-based deep ancestry trac-
ing that could save us from depending solely upon oral
traditions and documentary evidence that is very prone
to political manipulation. The tradition of the Goan van-
godd (village clans) may assist some dominant castes
in Goan villages to assert their Goan identity during the
past few centuries, but came the Portuguese to bap-
tise Goans belonging to the same vangodd with differ-
ent family surnames, reducing thereby the reliability of
the earlier identity configuration based on castes and
deities.
In my ‘ancestral’ Moirá, for instance, Souzas come
from the first, third and fifth vangodds. Some were
Kamats, and others…? Shantappa Kamat was writing to
King Philip I of Portugal in 1620 that he was baptised as
Diogo de Souza by the Franciscans, who brought him
up at their Reis Magos convent. He helped them to cat-
echise his co-villagers in Moirá, and was granted in com-
pensation some plots of land belonging to the old vil-
lage temple that had been pulled down.
That should suffice for illustrating changing religious
identities. In more recent times, several Souza families
moved out from Moirá to settle in Assonora, Morjim,
Sirsaim, Sao Matias and other localities in countries
worldwide.
What deities could our deep ancestors have brought
from Ethiopia or Sudan, passing through Egypt, Iraq and
Afghanistan from the pre-historic times? What deities
are they venerating today, if any?
The more we relativise identities, the safer and
healthier it could be for all concerned. It could certainly
promote greater social harmony and expose sectional
self-interests.
Can we really live without forged identities? If that
was the capacity which distinguished us as homo habi-
lis and sapiens sapiens, it was a tragic capacity indeed;
the fountainhead of natural selection and perfection of
the species.
By Adelmo Fernandes

Besides, at a press conference addressed by IDC Managing
Director A V Palekar, no mention whatsoever was made of any
competitive bids being floated to select the state’s strategic
partner for the operation of this coal block. If this is indeed the
case, and K S K Energy Ventures Pvt Ltd is a favoured allottee in a
direct deal, then this venture has all the potential of turning into
a scam. Even the centre’s 4,000 MW Ultra Mega Power Projects
(UMPPs), which require highly specialised companies to build
them, have only been awarded after transparent competitive
bidding.
It is not our contention that this is a fraud company; quite the
contrary, it actually generates and sells power. But it is certainly
not in the league of big players like Reliance Infrastructure or Tata
Power, for example, both of which could possibly have been
equally interested in bidding for this coal block, which would have
given the state the opportunity to choose the best terms.
The IDC, which has already been exposed in its grossly
irregular allotment of land to the disgraced SEZs, seems now to
have added one more feather to its dubious cap.
A
fter the terrorist attack in Mumbai, security in Goa seems to have
gone into overdrive. The Police increased patrolling, they began
cracking the whip on migrants, a few of them were rounded up.
Patrolling was also increased along the coastal belt. Foreign and domestic
tourists and even foreign students were under the scanner. Surprise raids
were carried out at various places.
All this is of course expected after a terror attack when a red alert is
sounded across the country. Any government worth its salt has to provide
adequate security to the citizens. After all, a government will be securely
saddled in power only as long as the people feel secure under its rule.
But it is not just security of life and limb that concerns an individual. We
look forward to emotional security, financial security, social security, secu-
rity in relationships, etc. As a matter of fact, one is concerned about secu-
rity in almost every aspect of life.
We prefer to live in a secure environment. A foetus feels secure in the
womb of the mother. When the child comes into the world it looks to the
mother for security. The baby feels secure in no place other than the arms
of the mother.
Parents try to see that their children grow in a secure and safe environ-
ment. For a growing child, besides being physically secure, it needs to
grow in a home where there is emotional security. For any living being, the
safest place happens to be home. Even wild animals, no matter how fero-
cious, feel secure in their dens. Cows return home at dusk.
Unfortunately in today’s world, one is not safe even in one’s home.
House breaks, burglaries, thefts, rapes and murders take place with a dis-
turbing frequency. Home security comes with a price-tag; it has become a
multi-crore business venture.
Several security agencies are doing roaring business providing security
to homes and commercial establishments, especially banks. A security-
guard in uniform is a common sight outside a bungalow or an ATM. Their
job is to provide security 24x7.
Probably, only two things occupy a politician’s mind. The first is to win
the next election. The second is concern for his personal security after
winning the election. No wonder they are surrounded by gun-toting secu-
rity personnel and black cat commandos, and rarely come in close contact
with the common man after elections.
You can tell how powerful a politician is by the number of security per-
sonnel that surround him. A small-time politician’s guards could be armed
with lathis but high profile politicians’ guards carry AK47s and AK56s. Crores
of rupees are spent to keep our politicians safe in a country where millions
of poor people go to bed on an empty stomach. That is the greatest irony.
We also look for emotional security. It comes primarily from the family
set-up. In a family where the parents fight frequently, the children grow
in an insecure environment. This can have an adverse psychological im-
pact as they enter adulthood.
As adults, we look for emotional security in a relationship sanctified by
marriage, built on a foundation of love. “A single man is an incomplete
animal. He resembles the odd half of a pair of scissors,” wrote Benjamin
Franklin. Some agree that before marriage a man is incomplete, but say
that after marriage, he is finished.
Social security is also important. Man is not an island. By nature, he is a
social animal. So he lives in the society of other people. A person needs to
be accepted by other people. Life can become hell when a person is iso-
lated. Then we have financial security to look into. We have to be financial-
ly secure in this world, so saving for a rainy day becomes all the more
important. Whenever a large payment is to be made at a later date, a se-
curity deposit is essential.
We look forward to a secure job. Interestingly, a government job is
considered to have more job security than private employment. In a pri-
vate company, you can be sacked at will – incidentally, it almost happened
to the employees of Jet Airways not too long ago. With security
(of every kind) being so essential for a happy existence, no wonder we
attach so much importance to it in life.

Letters to the Editor

Bandh, a welcome relief
Keny, by e-mail
Peaceful bandh of Goa was a welcome relief by
all and sundry. Anybody can forcefully shut a shop
but, this peaceful bandh showed real unity
among traditional Goan Hindu, Christian and
Muslim families that we are united to fight this
scourge. This bandh should drive a clear mes-
sage to leaders at helms to better act fast against
this scourge before it turns into Frankenstein.
Protect Goa
Errol D’souza, Porvorim
With progress over the years, there have
been increasing crime reports of drug peddlers,
murderers, rapes, robberies,
unplanned development, corruption and irreg-
ularities in Goa. Now we have desecration of the
places of religious worship and religious
idols resulting in communal division among the
100 Years Ago
PRIMEIRO DIARIO N AS C O L O N I AS P O RT U G E Z AS
17 January 1909
Defamation case
Yesterday commenced the trial of our Herald
colleague in a lawsuit instituted by Francisco
Mourao Garcez Palha, Administrator of the
Confrarias of Unas, for having defamed him
through the pages of the newspaper.
Matrix matters
It is reported that the illustrious Municipality
of Salcete contradicted itself during the Ses-
sion held on 22 December last, over the mat-
ters of matrixes.
Panama Canal
Mr Hopkins has introduced a Bill in the [US]
Senate empowering the issue of new shares
of half a million dollars towards the construc-
tion of the ‘Panama Canal’, whose length is 40
miles.
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Goan people. The need of the hour is
to have strict police and public vigilance, curb-
ing and controlling of all these illegal activities
including cyber-crimes. Goan youth should make
the right choices and decisions in life which can
protect our state from going down the drain.
Toothless water Act
S Silveira, Xettia-vaddo, Mapusa
Though the Government has passed the ground
water regulation Act, it is toothless, for, the
number of violations carried right under the
nose of the authorities is alarming; with the au-
thorities showing helpless as the act has no suf-
ficient provision to book the defaulters. Rubbing
salt to injury the electricity department is indi-
rectly helping them to run their business. It’s
like this; the water lobby takes electricity con-
nection for agriculture purpose as the depart-
ment does not demand NOC from the local body
for this category of connections. A valve is fitted
to fool the electricity officials so that the pur-
pose can be changed from watering the farm
and filling the tankers. This wise consumer then,
applies for change in tariff from agriculture to
commercial, as it is legally impossible to get NOC
for commercial purpose. Some, still worse, con-
tinue to use it for filling tankers (commercial
purpose) and the department only charges them
the agricultural tariff.
As per the water regulation Act, the amount
of water allowed to be pumped in a month, is
pumped in an hour, thereby causing the domes-
tic wells to go dry in the summer month.
The tankers are a nuisance to the public as
they not only cheat but also damage the roads
(causing big potholes) and cause traffic jam on
the internal roads. They also put the public to
great risk of accidents, especially when they are
parked on the turns and junctions.
People vs govt?
Franco Fernandes, Mapusa
The Goan public is singlehandedly fighting its
own elected government, which is bent on sell-
ing Goa to the highest bidder in the name of
development. Goan fields everywhere are be-
ing filled and constructions carried out overnight
without any care for the social, political, econom-
ic and environmental consequences.
Why go far? See the fields at every roadside;
ities will come after him asking for evidence. Just
Words of Wisdom
Letter of the Day let me say this. If I’m a police constable/officer
stopping someone disobeying the traffic rule,
Sikh philosophy
particularly a motor-cyclist speeding at over 100
Operating of casinos on
kms recklessly overtaking the other traffic via
the wrong lanes and even crossing the yellow Guru Granth Sahib
lines on bridges – most of them talking on mo-
condition
biles. If I fine them Rs 100/- pocket the cash and The holiest of the Sikh scriptures is the Guru
let the disobedient go, what are our chances of
Granth Sahib. It was called Adi Granth (first
By S Kamat, Bardez surviving from such illegalities in our Goa which
now has 70% most unwanted and unwelcome scripture) until Guru Gobind Singh conferred
on it the title of the Guru in 1708. The
We are back at doing things in complete contradiction of base realities as far as government so- called migrants from rest of India, (to sell
action is concerned. The casino issue, as far as Goa is concerned, primarily relates to dealing with their votes I guess) making Goans in their own Guru Granth Sahib is the only world scrip-
the definition of ‘off-shore’ and the aspect of gambling and its impact on local society. However, ture which was compiled during the lifetime
state only 30% or less? It is time for Goans to
as reported in the papers the current casino policy, which is being reviewed, is completely silent wake up fast, get united and defy the so-called of its compiler. All other world scriptures were
on the ‘off-shore’ issue. The problem of overcrowding in the river by the casino vessels and in democratic government. This government compiled many years after the death of the
some cases where some of the casino ships are constructing pylons to anchor themselves in the should be willing to act as servant of the people, prophet.
river in contravention of the CRZ policy, were urgent matters that required attention. It was for the people and by the people. It is the peo- The Guru Granth Sahib was compiled by
required that the ships anchor out at sea in line with the definition of ‘off-shore’ maybe 3KM or ple who have given the government the power Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Guru of the Sikhs.
5KM whatever the limit is thus relieving the river from the space occupied by the casino vessels and the government should use this power, not The work of compilation was started in 1601,
and related additional traffic. Instead of that, the government is concerned with protecting misuse it to help the people and not swindle with and finished in 1604. The Granth, called by
gamblers, who try their luck at the casinos and ensure that they are not taken for a bigger ride. bribery and corruption. The inactions of the gov- Guru Arjan as Pothi Sahib, was installed at the
Look at the humour in the situation. The gamblers go to exercise their vice and the government, ernment has brought our little and peaceful Goa Golden Temple (then called ‘Harimandir’ – the
in the larger interest, attempts to protect them from the casino owners and their machines, almost to an end – so help us God – Amen. house of God) with great celebrations.
which, in a sense, is encouraging the vice of gambling. Is the role of the Goa Government to Guru Arjan included the hymns of the fol-
foster and encourage vice? Beaches regaining lost lowing in the Granth: Guru Nanak, Guru An-
Further, the manner of policing that is being proposed of the casinos and their machines
seems to be clearly for the government and its officers to extract their pound of flesh from the gad, Guru Amardas, Guru Ramdas and himself
beauty! (Guru Arjan), as well as 15 renowned saints of
casino operators. This encourages another vice; corruption. What should be done is that, no on-
shore casinos should be permitted, and the off-shore casinos for the sake of the tourists should both the Guru period and the pre-Guru peri-
Merlyn Dias, Vasco
be thrust as far into the sea as is legally permissible. It is only under this condition that the od.
The Beach cleaning project started by Centre for
casinos should be allowed to operate in Goa.
Responsible Tourism and Department of Tour-
Farid and Bhikhen were Muslims and oth-
ers were Hindus. Hindu saints were from both
There are many people here like wolves in ism is taking a good shape and well appreciated higher and lower castes; Ravidas, Sain, Sadh-
uncultivated, garbage strewn, trees cut, concrete by the tourists for their daily cleaning activity.
structures coming up, sewage seeping into sheep’s clothing. Goans beware, don’t fall prey na and Namdev were from lower castes,
to sweet talk. Through this process it is not only the tourists whereas Parmanand, Surdas, Jaidev and Ram-
drinking water wells, etc. Is there really an au-
but also the locals also who would enjoy the anand were Brahmins.
thority or a government existing here? People
God, save us! beaches free of rubbish and without the fear of The Bhagats also represented different
are forced to fend for themselves. If they dare
treading on broken glass pieces. parts of India. Farid was a Punjabi, Dhanna was
to resist, their own elected government in Peter Noronha, Fatorda
league with real estate sharks, unleashes police The schools and the colleges need to be proac- a Rajasthani, Jaidev was a Bengali, Namdev,
force or files defamation cases for crores of ru- Appreciating the first two letters (16 Jan, Her- tively involved for the beach cleaning drive and Parmanand, Trilochan and Pipa were Mahar-
pees. ald) from Arwin Mesquita – Abu Dhabi re: Whith- create a mass movement to avoid littering and ashtrians, Sadhna was a Sindhi, Sain was from
These are intimidating and arm-twisting tac- er special status? And from: Vivek Salgaokar, dirtying our beaches. Our Government needs to Madhya Pradesh, and Kabir, Bhikhen, Beni, Ra-
tics, like dictatorial methods in use in dictator- Porvorim re: Stiff penalties needed I would com- recognise and appreciate each individual who is
manand, Ravidas and Surdas were from Uttar
ships. But we thought ours was a democracy, and ment as under: directly involved in the beach cleaning activity
Pradesh.
that too the largest in the world. 1) Thousands of Goans wholeheartedly sup- and provide proper waste bins on the beaches
The best brains are hired to silence and prop- port Arwin Mesquita. Perhaps he could be the that people can use to throw the garbage.
Guru Gobind Singh later (1706) added the
Obama of Goa. The people who dirty the beaches should hymns of Guru Tegh Bahadur in it and declared
agate vested interests. Here I would like to point
2) As to Mr Salgaonkar, he is more than 100% become more civilised and stop throwing rub- it to be the Guru of the Sikhs.
to Sujay Gupta. Until this day, I thought he was a The scribe of the first version (Guru Arjan’s
good samaritan to Goans. But as Vice President right in what he said about the disobedience in bish on the beaches and in the sea. It is good to
our traffic rules. My own such complaints through see our Goan beaches regaining their lost beau- compilation) was Bhai Gurdas and of the sec-
of Communications for the Fomento Group, he ond version (Guru Gobind Singh’s compila-
has filed a Rs500 crore defamation suit against the same Herald fell on deaf ears as well. If ty.
anybody speaks the truth, our wonderful author- Well done Guys! tion) was Bhai Mani Singh.
anti-mining activist Seby.