By IANS,
Panaji : The history of steady migration of Goans to other regions of India needs to be documented, outgoing head of Goa governemnt’s Non Resident Indian (NRI) affairs Eduardo Faleiro said Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters, Faleiro said that over centuries thousands of Goans had migrated to neighbouring regions in Maharashtra and Karnataka to flee religious and cultural persecution in the 16th and 17th centuries, and for livelihood purposes to places like Karachi and Africa.
“The history of out migration from Goa has to be documented. In the 16th and 17th centuries a number of Goans, both Christians and Hindus, had left Goa to avoid religious and cultural persecution and settled in north Karnataka and south Maharashtra,” said Faleiro, who demits office Thursday.
“They were being forced by the invading Portuguese to convert to Christianity and change their culture and tradition, forcing them to flee Goa,” he said.
He added that subsequent migrations took place to Karachi, then in British India, and Portuguese- and British-held Africa for better prospects.
“Goa has a rich out-migration pattern. We have already documented out-migration from Goa to the rest of the world, now we need to commission a similar study on the Goan community which has migrated to places within India,” Faleiro said.
The ‘Goa Migration Survey 2008’ released by the NRI affairs commission of the Goa government four years back had patterned migration trends like pointing out that a whopping 56 percent of all out-migrations from Goa were headed for the Middle East region.
The survey, conducted by the Kerala based Centre for Development Studies, also showed that 74 percent of Goans migration across the shores were Christians.