Detween the invaders and the Africans
who have been defeated but did not
lose hope.
COLONIALIST POLICE REGIME
It has already been mentioned in
the "Brief History of Mozambique " that
armed conflicts between the colonialists
and the people of Mozambique had ceased in 1917. Logically, that means the
beginning of a new era, an era of peace,
tranquillity, understanding and progress
between the defeated and the defeaters.
However, this did not happen, for the
general disarmament of the African population was followed by reprisals and
anihilation. Let us look in a few short
lines upon the facts which are being
witnessed by our generation.
Portugal's presence in Africa is claimed to be a "civilizing mission" to uplift the Africans and to convert them
into Portuguese citizens. The Portuguese
have argued that they do not practise
the system of "apartheid" and that there
are no colour barriers. Therefore one
would picture a Portugal of the present
time, matured by the wisdom of trial
and error, by the ages, enlightened,
progressive and following a policy based
on high and noble pnnciples. Yet the
expressions of interracial harmony are
hopelessly unfounded. Yet what is happening in Mozambique, where a campaign of extermination is being waged
by the Portuguese colonialists against
the African population provides a clear
and vivid example of the policies and
principles of the Portugese colonial
regime.
Portugal's policy of "apartheid" is
based on the doctrine that the mass of
Africans are culturally, morally and
educationally unprepared to exercise
Portuguese citizenship. Therefore the law
envisages two classes of inhabitants. The
nao-indigenas : whites, mulattos and assimilados, (assimilated Africans) who by
law enjoy full citizenship rights and are
governed by the Portuguese common law.
and the indigenas (natives) governed
by a complex of controls known as the
" regime de indigenato ".
Having established these classes,
the Portuguese have taken systematic
steps to keep down, exploit' and effectually close against the indigenous African every avenue improvement.
Here, Your Excellencies, we wish
to call your esteemed attention to the
fact that discrimination is largely practised in the form of prejudices by colour,
race and class which has been rightly
recognized as of social and psychological origin and an inhuman evil. Yet
the government of Portugal, practising
every form of inhuman justice against
humanity, remains a member, of thex
world organization with the full support
of professed christian and democratic
nations. Portugal has also practised by
force, miscegenation, race mixing, slavery, slave labour, forced or contract,
which have all been designed to deteriorate the African people in terms of
populDtion, life and death rate. The
system of establishing local government
control for the specific benefit of Portugal for the past four hundred years must
be ended for the cause of human justice,
peace and human dignity.
On the other hand even the assimilados do not enjoy the facilities of
Portuguese citizenship, for they do not
have the means to acquire them. The
process of assimilation implemented in
1917 requires the African to prove that
he can read and write Portuguese fluently   and   correcdy.   have   severed   all
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