With mixed signals from India, Vasco da Gama's celebrations begin in Portugal

While Portugal commemorates the quincentennial of Vasco da Gama's arrival in India with a year-long celebration, India remains immune to the event.

Amidst hostility in India -- especially in Kerala and Goa about Gama being a forerunner of colonialism -- a joint celebration between Portugal and India has run into rough weather. India, however, sent an ambassador's representative to attend the inauguration of the Gama fete in Lisbon.

Almeida Santos, president of the Portuguese parliament, presided over the event. With the exception of a few ministers, neither Portuguese President Mario Soares nor the prime minister were present at the function.

The commemoration began with a quiet ceremony at the Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa. Sanjay Subrahmanyam, author of the much acclaimed Career and legend of Vasco da Gama, was the was the guest speaker.

Professor Subrahmanyam countered allegations by the late Indian historian Sardar Panikkar that Gama's arrival had heralded western dominance. The Ottoman, the Safavid and the Mughal empires, he said, were already gaining ground on the Kerala coast at the time of Gama's arrival at the Kappad coast.

Some sections of Portuguese opinion, however, are divided over Professor Subrahmanyam's assessment of Gama. Refraining from any political viewpoint, he confined himself to describing the Portuguese contribution to the daily life of Indians, pointing how cuisine in the home country had been influenced by crops brought in by the Portuguese, such as tobacco, potatoes, tomatoes or chillies.

Publico, a Lisbon daily, provided extensive coverage of the Indian historian's views. But the Diario de Noticias and the weekly Expresso voiced reservations over the publicity given to the negative assessment of Gama by the Indian historian. It also questioned the reason for inviting the Indian historian.

While the Portuguese National Commission has not yet received any proposals from the Indian government, it intends to go ahead with its plans in association with some Indian institutions.

Professor A Hespanha, the commission's chairman, said he hoped to set up a chair of Indo-Portuguese studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. He also spoke about sending Portuguese professors to conduct seminars at Goa University.

Interestingly, the Portuguese government has received an invitation from the Indian government for a revision of the cultural agreement, which may be held in Lisbon on September 10 and 11. This has raised hopes about Indian involvement in the Gama commemoration.

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