Diu - Notes

Like Goa and Daman across the Gulf of Khambat, the little island of Diu was a Portugese colony until 1961 when it was 'liberated' by Indian troops. Given that the island is only 11km long from east to west and about 3km north to south, this hardly represented a major expansion in the republic's land-mass or population though it was of course played up by the government of the day as being a great step in ridding the world of the curse of colonialism.
Physically, the island is pretty flat with salt-marsh (and some small industrial scale salt making industries) on the northern (landward) side and lovely sandy beaches to the south. Compared to other Indian beach resorts, Diu is still virtually untouched - a few small bars and cheap hotels are all there is so far - though sadly one can imagine it becoming another Goa in a few years time. Meanwhile the mainstay of the local economy is not so much the fishing or the foreign tourists but the 'liquor-tourism'. Neighbouring Gujerat, just half a mile away over a road causeway, is a dry state. So every weekend, Gujerat's drinkers descend on Diu en-masse to blow their hard earned rupees on Kingfisher beer and IMFL (Indian Made Foreign Liquor - the generic name for myriad bad imitations of scotch whiskey).
Since 'liberation', nothing much seems to have happened to Diu except a gradual erosion of its catholic roots as more and more of the old families move to Goa, where the catholic community feels more at home. Nowadays only one (St John's) of the half-dozen churches still holds regular services - of the others, one (St. Thomas')is now a museum, St Francis' is part of a hospital and the others are in varying states of decay. Although there hadn't been any trouble there yet when I visited Diu, in nearby areas of Gujerat the ultra-right Hindhu nationalist parties had been stiring up popular hatred against the catholics and various churches had been burned down so it seems likely that the current estimate of 200 remaining catholic families on Diu will soon diminish further.
There aren't many great architectural attractions on Diu, except the great Portugese fort at the eastern end of the island but it's a good place to kick back for a few days, walk on the beach, drink some cold beer and just generally reflect on life in a town that time seems to have forgotten about.