Minutes Of The Conference

Report On The Conference Of The People of Goa, Damao and Dio held at the Palais d'Orsay, Paris, on 3rd - 5th December, 1963.

© 2003, A.D., P.J. Mascarenhas, Goa Livre Organisation
The elected delegates of the people of Goa, Damao and Dio met at the Palais d'Orsay from the 3rd. to the 5th. inclusive, at a conference which was convened by the Goan Association of Kenya.

Delegates from Germany, Brazil, Ethiopia, Ceylon, Mocambique, Angola, Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika, Iraq, the Far East, Pakistan, Macau, Timor, the United Kingdom, Goa, Bombay and Portugal attended the same. Delegates from the United States, Aden and the Persian Gulf region sent telegrams wishing the conference success and regretting their inability to attend.

In the morning of the 3rd. December 1963, all the delegates attended a Mass in honour of Saint Francis Xavier, the Patron of Goa, Damao and Dio and the Apostle of the East Indies, specfically offered by the convenors of the conference. The delegates prayed for the success of the conference and for the early liberation of Goa, Damao and Dio from its present captivity at the hands of the Indian Union.

Dom Mirabeau da Gama e Rosario, President of the Goan Association of Kenya, requested Dom Antonio Fiqueiredo Albuquerque, one of the Secretaries of the Movimento Pro Goa, Damao e Dio of Portugal, and Dom Romeo J. da Silva, Secretary of the Goan Association of Kenya, to take their seats by his side.

Dom Mirabeau explained to all the delegates the reasons why the conference had been convened and paid his tribute to all the delegates for having made it possible to attend this historic event, and asked the assembly to stand up and observe a minute of silence for all those who gloriously laid down their lives at the altar of their beloved country in her sacred defence.

He then asked the assembly to elect a Chairman, Vice-Chairman and a Secretary to the conference. Dom Antonio da Fonseca, the Joint Secretary of the Moviment pro Goa, Damao e Dio in the Portuguese Commonwealth proposed that Dom Mirabeau da Gama e Rosario continue in the chair and paid an eloquent tribute to the sterling qualities of Dom Mirabeau as a Goan and as the President of the Goan Association of Kenya. Dom Filomeno Fernandes, the delegate from Brazil seconded the proposal and the assembly unanimously acclaimed Dom Mirabeau's election to the Chair. Dom Romeo da Silva, the Secretary of the Goan Association of Kenya proposed Dom Sergio Sirvoicar, the delegate from Mocambique to be the Vice-Chairman. This was seconded by Dom Faustino Dias, the delegate from Bombay and unanimously acclaimed by the assembly. Dom Carlos Oliveira Pegado, the delegate from Goa proposed Dom Antonio da Fonseca, delegate from the Portuguese Commonwealth, to be the Secretary and was seconded by Dom Nelson de Sousa, the delegate from the United Kingdom of Great Britain, and the proposal was acclaimed by the assembly. Dom Antonio da Fonseca requested the Chairman to permit Dom Romeo da Silva, delegate from Kenya, to continue as his assistant, which also met with the approval of the General Body.

The Chairman, Vice-Chairman and the Secretary, together with his assistant, having taken their respective seats, the Chairman called upon the Secretary, Dom Antonio, to read out the Agenda which was adopted.

Accordingly the Chairman proceeded with the election of the Credentials Committee. Since the delegates where elected by the Goan communities it was essential to check the credentials of each and report on it. Dom Mirabeau of Kenya proposed and Dom Hermano Mascarenhas, Pakistan, seconded that Dom Romeo da Silva and Dom Antonio da Fonseca be elected to form the Credentials Committee. This was accepted by acclamation by the assembly.

The Chairman then proceeded with the election of the Committees for Drafting the Statute and the Resolutions. After a heated discussion Dom Antonio da Fonseca suggested that, instead of two, a single Committee should be formed to do both the jobs, i.e., draft the Statute as well as the resolutions. Dr. Jose Fernandes, the delegate from Germany then proposed and was seconded by Dom Antonio Figueiredo Albuquerque of Angola, the delegate from the Portuguese Commonwealth. The following Committee and the proposal was adopted by acclamation:
  1. Dom Mirabeau da Gama e Rosario, Bar-at-law, Kenya
  2. Dom Sergio L. Sirvoicar, Bar-at-law, Mocambique, Portuguese Commonwealth
  3. Dom Faustino Dias, MA, LLB, Bombay, Indian Union
  4. Dom Wolfgang Doss de Sousa, B.Com., A.C.A., United Kingdom of Great Britain
  5. Prof. Leo Antonio de Sousa, M.Sc., Pakistan
  6. Dom Romeo J. da Silva, Accountant, Kenya
  7. Dom Nelson de Sousa, United Kingdom of Great Britain
  8. Dom Francisco Noronha, Macao and Timor, Portuguese Commonwealth
  9. Dom Antonio da Fonseca, Portugal, Portuguese Commonwealth
Dom Mirabeau then delivered his presidential speech and was followed by the Vice-President, Dom Sergio Sirvoicar, the Secretary, Dom Antonio da Fonseca, Dom Romeo da Silva and others.

The meeting was declared adjourned by the President at 8 p.m. to re-assemble next morning, the 4th. December, 1963, at 9.30 a.m.

The Committee for Drafting the Statute and the Resolutions worked throughout the night and presented the draft Statute and the Resolutions to the General Body on the morning of 4th. December, 1963. The President, Dom Mirabeau, after having declared the meeting open, thanked the Committee for their remarkable effort, and asked the conference to proceed with the discussions and the draft statute clause by clause. The whole morning of the 4th. was devoted to the Statute which was adopted by General Body after having discussed every single article. The conference then proceeded with the draft resolutions. After discussions and the necessary amendments thereto SIX RESOLUTIONS WERE APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY.

The proposers and seconders of the respective Resolutions were as follows:

Resolution n.o I:

Proposed by:Prof. Leo de Sousa, Pakistan
Seconded by:Dom Nelson de Sousa, United Kingdom of Great Britain


Resolution n.o II:

Proposed by:Dom Wolfgang Doss de Sousa, United Kingdom of Great Britain
Seconded by:Dom Sebastiao Diniz, Uganda


Resolution n.o III:

Proposed by:Dom Minguel de Sousa, Kenya
Seconded by:Dom Camilo Martins, Uganda


Resolution n.o IV:

Proposed by:Dom Romeo da Silva, Kenya
Seconded by:Dom Filomeno Fernandes, Brazil


Resolution n.o V:

Proposed by:Dom Joao Fonseca, Iraq
Seconded by:Dr. Jose Fernandes, Germany


Resolution n.o VI:

Proposed by:Dom Alfredo Fernandes, Ceylon
Seconded by:Dom M.T. da Costa, Tanganyika


All the above Six Resolutions were passed by acclamation. The Conference also asked that the Supreme Council, to be yet elected, send telegrams to Kenya and Zanzibar congratulating these two countries on their achieving independence.

Having discussed and adopted the Statutes of the Goa Freedom Movement, the Chairman Dom Mirabeau explained to the Assembly that it was imperative that all Movements or Organizations existing and fighting for the same objective should now integrate with the GOA FREEDOM MOVEMENT thus bringing about ONE SINGLE ORGANIZATION representative of the People of Goa, Damao and Dio, ONE SINGLE LEADERSHIP that would speak and act on behalf of the People of Goa, Damao and Dio and ONE SINGLE POLICY representing the wishes of the People of Goa, Damao and Dio. Dom Romeo da Silva then proposed that the Assembly take this solemn decision which was seconded by Dom M.T. da Costa and accepted by the entire Assembly with cheers. The Chairman then declared: >>it is so decided<<.

Subsequently the Conference was informed by the President that it should proceed with the election of the Supreme Council and adjourned the meeting for an hour so that the delegates could submit the lists of their choice. He also explained that elections would be on list basis. The Supreme Council, in terms of the Statute, was to consist of seven elected members, two additional members to be chosen by the Supreme Council, both these being from among persons living in the occupied territories and the Indian Union and whose names, for security reasons, would be kept absolutely secret. There would also be three alternate members. Five lists were presented:

LIST N.O I:

Submitted by:Dom Carlos de Oliveira Pegado
 AND
 Dom Francisco Alfredo Meneses Fernandes
  
 NAMES:
 Dom Mirabeau da Gama Rosario
 Dom Sergio L. Sirvoicar
 Dom Filomeno Fernandes
 Dom Jose Maria Quadros e Costa
 Dom Camilo Martins
 Prof. Leo de Sousa
 Dom Wolfgang Doss de Sousa
  
 ALTERNATES:
 Dom Antonio Figueiredo de Albuquerque
 Dom Minguel de Sousa
 Dr. Jose Fernandes


LIST N.O II:

Submitted by:Dom Joao Fonseca
  
 NAMES:
 Dom Mirabeau da Gama Rosario
 Dom Sergio L. Sirvoicar
 Prof. Leo de Sousa
 Dom Jose Maria Quadros e Costa
 Dom Wolfgang Doss de Sousa
 Dr. Olinto de Sousa
 Dom Filomeno Fernandes
  
 ALTERNATES:
 Dom Antonio Figueiredo de Albuquerque
 Dom Minguel de Sousa
 Dr. Jose Fernandes


LIST N.O III:

Submitted by:Dom Sebastiao Diniz
  
 NAMES:
 Dom Mirabeau da Gama Rosario
 Dom Antonio da Fonseca
 Dom Wolfgang Doss de Sousa
 Dom Hermano Mascarenhas
 Dom Sebastiao Diniz
 Dom Sergio Sirvoicar
 Dr. Olinto de Sousa
  
 ALTERNATES:
 Dom Antonio Figueiredo de Albuquerque
 Dom Minguel de Sousa


LIST N.O IV:

Submitted by:Dom Francisco Fernandes de Noronha
 AND
 Dr. Olinto de Sousa
  
 NAMES:
 Dom Mirabeau da Gama Rosario
 Dom Sergio L. Sirvoicar
 Dr. Olinto de Sousa
 Dom Jose Maria Quadros e Costa
 Dom Wolfgang Doss de Sousa
 Dom Hermano Mascarenhas
 Dom Filomeno Fernandes
  
 ALTERNATES:
 Dom Antonio Figueiredo de Albuquerque
 Dom Minguel de Sousa
 Dr. Jose Fernandes


LIST N.O V:

Submitted by:Dom Nelson de Sousa
 AND
 Dom Wolfgang Doss de Sousa
  
 NAMES:
 Dom Mirabeau da Gama Rosario
 Dom Sergio L. Sirvoicar
 Dr. Olinto de Sousa
 Dom Wolfgang Doss de Sousa
 Dom Filomeno Fernandes
 Dom Hermano Mascarenhas
 Dom Jose Maria Quadros e Costa
  
 ALTERNATES:
 Dom Minguel de Sousa
 Dom Francisco Noronha
 Dom Antonio Figueiredo de Albuquerque


The Chairman thereupon proceeded with the voting of each individual list and the results obtained were as follows:

LIST
FOR
AGAINST
LIST N.O I
5
13
LIST N.O II
14
4
LIST N.O III
1
17
LIST N.O IV
2
16
LIST N.O V
3
15


The President then declared the LIST NO. TWO adopted. The Conference greeted the election with a prolonged applause. The composition of the Supreme Council, as elected, appears elsewhere in this informative booklet. The members of the Supreme Council then each individually took the oath of office in the presence of the assembly.

The assembly was adjourned for half an hour and the Supreme Council met in private to elect the Secretary General. Half an hour later, the assembly having been reconvened, the President, Dom Mirabeau announced that the Supreme Council was pleased to inform the Conference that Dom Antonio da Fonseca was unanimously elected as the Secretary General of the Goa Freedom Movement. The assembly acclaimed the decision of the Supreme Council. The President then administered to Dom Antonio da Fonseca the oath of office.

The meeting adjourned at 8.30 p.m. to re-assemble the next morning at 10 a.m.

In the morning of the 5th. December, 1963, at 10 a.m. the final Communiqu� was drawn up and approved by the Conference.

At this stage the Chairman, Dom Mirabeau da Gama e Rosario proposed and Dom Antonio da Fonseca seconded that Dr. Jose Antonio Ismael Gracias, one of the illustrious sons of Goa and the Chief Justice of the Estado da India Portuguesa upto the Indian Union's invasion and occupation be requested to act as the Juridical Adviser to the Supreme Council and the Secretary General. The conference approved this proposal with acclamation.

At 4 p.m. the same evening the President of the Supreme Council, Dom Mirabeau gave a press conference at the Palais d'Orsay and issued the Final Communiqu�. This was followed by a cocktail party to the Press.

A number of delegates proceeded to the Castle of Xavier in Navarre, Spain, in order to light the torch in honour of Saint Francis Xavier, Patron of Goa, Damao and Dio.

I wish to place on record my thanks to the Government of France for having afforded us all the facilities to hold our conference in Paris.

Paris, 6th. December, 1963.

Antonio da Fonseca
Secretary,
Conference of the People of Goa, Damao e Dio
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