How ‘East Indians’ Got Their Name
The Portuguese arrived in India in 1498 and began evangelizing the local population. They converted the people of north Konkan—-Bombay, Bassein , Thane etc and called them : “Portuguese Christians”. Later, the East India Co came to India in 1600 as traders , mainly in spices. Spices were important since they were used as preservatives, especially for meat, as there were no refrigerators. In 1661 the Portuguese gave Bombay as dowry to the British after King Charles II of England married princess Catherine of Portugal. A little later, in 1668 Bombay was given to the East India Co for an annual rent of £10. By virtue of being Catholics, the local converts in Bombay who were known as Portuguese Christians, were given preference in jobs by the British. With the advent of the railways and steam ships, immigrants from Goa began coming to Bombay for jobs. They lived in clubs known as kudds. At one time there were around 450 kudds , one for each village in Goa. These kudds were situated mainly in Dhobi Talao, Mazagoan and Chira Bazaar. These immigrants from Goa were also called ‘Portuguese Christians’. They too got preferential treatment for jobs.
Robert Castellino, Calangute
Official Covid-19 Toll Much Higher
The official Covid-19 toll so far in India is around 4,00,000 lives. However, experts are of the opinion that this is not an accurate figure. It is assumed that over a million people may have lost their lives due to Covid-19. It is worrisome that Covid related data, whether it is deaths, number of infections or tests is not properly collected and maintained. Recording of accurate data related to Covid helps to understand the enormity of the disease and the steps to be taken to combat it. Further, demographic and geographical data will help to combat the third wave. As any kind of death is a great loss to the families concerned, the families of Covid victims too deserve to be fairly treated by the government. However, unlike railway accidents or industrial disasters, the families of Covid victims are not compensated. Just as the government holds the responsibility to compensate those rendered jobless or destitute, it has the responsibility to compensate the families of Covid victims. Realising the importance of collecting accurate data of covid deaths, many states have revised their death count. Courts prodded state governments into action and accordingly they have started revising data related to Covid deaths. As per the directions of courts, states such as Bihar, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and so on have recounted their death figures.
VENU G S, Kollam
Given that the Central government and some state governments have announced some relief measures such as financial assistance to orphan children of Covid victims, inaccurate reporting of Covid death data will deprive the families of Covid victims of their right to government benefits. Some state governments try to suppress accurate Covid death data to create an impression that they have succeeded in combating the pandemic. They assume that reporting a data that shows high rate of Covid deaths would adversely affect governance in the respective state and consequently affect the reputation of the government. Further, absence of systems to ascertain the real cause of deaths have proved to be an impediment to reporting of accurate Covid death data. All these factors have contributed to India’s underreporting of Covid death data. As a consequence, it has raised doubts about India’s real Covid related death toll. In fact, many countries have not reported accurate Covid death toll. Hence, India alone cannot be blamed for this. Each country has its own reasons for underreporting Covid death toll. Notwithstanding this, India has woken up to the reality and started acting to overcome this difficulty.
Yours etc,