Portugal should apologise to Goa for exploitation: Goa minister

Panaji, Jan 15: Portugal should apologise to Goa for exploiting it as a colony, the Public Works Department Minister Sudin Dhavalikar said on Friday.

Dhavalikar was speaking during a discussion on a motion of congratulations for newly elected Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, who is of Goan-origin.

"Goans cannot forget the past. What has happened in Goa before 1961, everybody knows the history. Now if Goans have to appreciate Portuguese, I feel they should first apologise to us," Dhavalikar said.

Costa, who took over as Prime Minister of Portugal last November, is the son of Orlando Costa, a Goan poet and a leftist activist.

Stating it would be wrong to say that the Portuguese conquered Goa, the minister said: "Portugal was gifted parts of Goa by the then Adil Shah regime."

Goa, one of the earliest colonies of Portugal, remained under its yoke for 451 years, until it was liberated by the Indian armed forces in 1961.

IANS