Mumbai (AsiaNews) – Goa's Struggle for Freedom, a documentary film produced and released by the Goa Directorate of Education, is causing uproar in the former Portuguese colony.

Its story begins with the arrival of the Portuguese in the 16th century and goes on to show scenes of 'forced conversions' by the colonisers and relates tales of atrocities they purportedly perpetrated against the indigenous population.

Produced in 2002 it was screened in local schools on December 19, the 43rd anniversary of Goa's liberation.

The local Catholic Church has come out against the public-funded documentary because it seemingly lacks historical credibility.

Speaking to AsiaNews, Fr Tony Salema, secretary of the Archdiocesan Board of Education, said that the documentary "will divide students". The Church, he said, runs "120 educational institutions and many primary schools as well as five colleges. Why should we show student what is patently false and an incitement to hatred and violence."

Currently, the state is run by a Bharatiya Janata Party administration which is closely linked to Hindu fundamentalism. State officials have stated that the documentary is an accurate representation of the territory's 'political liberation'.

For Father Salema, it is instead pure propaganda for a 'liberation movement from conversions'. 

He deplores the fact that someone decided to screen the documentary whilst Catholics are celebrating the exposition of the relics of St Francis Xavier, wondering whether the government is intentionally inciting people to hatred.

"If the Directorate wanted to teach students something," Father Salema asks, "why was it shot in Hindi and not in Konkani, the local language?"

"Why," he asked again, "was there not even one representative of the Catholic Church on the Censor Committee responsible for its pre-screening? Not to mention anyone from the Xavier Historical Research Centre, a Jesuit–run institution that is recognised by the University of Goa." In the end, he said, the picture won't be shown in Goa's Catholic schools.

Manohar Parrikar, Goa's Chief Minister, said instead that "there's no problem with the documentary, it should be viewed in schools."

For its part, the opposition Congress Party has dubbed the documentary 'communalist' and called for its immediate withdrawal because it "portrays Catholic in bad light and gives a lopsided account of the freedom struggle".

Meantime, the Archdiocese has called on the Directorate of Education to stop it from being shown in other educational facilities.