possible duplication.
Goemkars - May 30th is the second of the three days of special significance this year to our Konkani language, not because it is election day in Goa but because it is the 15th anniversary of Goa Statehood (which statehood would not have been possible without the territory having first its own approved language). The other two special dates are: February 4, 15th anniversary of the Language Act which made Konkani Goa's sole official language, and August 20, 10th anniversary of the Parliamentary law which incorporated Konkani in the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution. Jorge de Abreau Noronha who lives in Portugal has written a small article which I am posting here today on his behalf. rene GOA DAY - 2002 Thanks to the timely initiative of Rene Barreto in 1999, the yearly celebrations of a Goa Day became a reality as from 2000, wherever there are Goans or descendants of Goans, be it in various cities, towns and villages of Goa be it in the diaspora. And I suppose everybody recollects why August 20 was selected as the ideal date for those celebrations: to honour the day when our language "came of age" (if I may say so) by being included in the 8th schedule of the Indian constitution and by being in this way recognised as one of the national languages of the country. The 2001 celebrations were held under the banner of Solidarity, and August 19 of that year, being a Sunday, saw for the first time the GOA DAY being celebrated in Lisbon. In this year 2002 let us dedicate the celebrations in a very special way to our avoi-bhas, to our mother tongue Konkani. It is true that many of us in the diaspora, and particularly those of the second and third generations - born far from the tiny state of Goa and many of them with difficulties in maintaining contact with their roots -, do not know to write or sometimes even to speak the language and, of those who do write it, most do so in the Roman script while unfortunately this script is being discarded in Goa thus affecting adversely, for instance, the tiatrs which have been traditionally written in "Romi Konknni" by Christian tiatrists. But, irrespective of whether we know or not the language of our state, it is undeniable that amchi bhas is the basis of our "Goanness" and, if only for this reason, we are dutybound to honour it. And why do I say that the 2002 Goa Day should give special relevance to our language? At least for three strong reasons: February 4th of this year was the fifteenth anniversary of the Language Act by which Konkani was approved as the official language of Goa by Goa's Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly) today, May 30th, marks the fifteenth anniversary of Goa's statehood which would not have been possible if the territory didn't have its own official language; and August 20th will see the 10th anniversary of the unanimous approval, by the two houses of the Indian Parliament, of the law which included Konkani in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution. In Portugal there is an additional reason: it was in May 1987 that an association of Goans, Damanese, Diuese, Dadraites and Nagar-Haveliites was informally instituted, under the designation of "Casa de Goa", which was later legalised through a notarial deed on July 15 of the same year. It is thus the year of its fifteenth anniversary. The Goa Day - 2002 will therefore be recorded in Portugal, in August this year, as "Dia de Goa, Damco e Diu" (Goa, Daman and Diu Day), the organsing committee being busy in the planning of the multifarious celebrations along the period of 17th to 20th August. (Note: As in terms of the Portuguese "Estado da India" Dadra and Nagar Haveli were part of the district of Daman, for those residing in Portugal "Daman" includes those two enclaves which were annexed by India and turned into a Union Territory on August 11, 1961). Coming back to the language. Many Goans, especially the Christians, and particularly those in the diaspora, resent the fact that, when Konkani gained the status of a national language of India, it was approved that only Devnagri would be its true and legal script. A year ago I advocated that, our mother-tongue being the only one that is written in five or six different scripts (which is one of its richest facets), we should struggle to have this richness officially recognised. I remember having then been strongly opposed by some quarters. Recently however I was glad to learn that the Government of Karnataka had decreed that in that state the official script for the Konkani language would be Kannada and none else. Why then can t we have the Romi Konknni legalised in Goa? Let's face the facts squarely: in Karnataka (Mangalore, Karwar, etc.) Konkani is written in Kannada script, in some other region of the same state in Tulu, in Kochi in Malayali script, in Gujarat in Gujarati and Urdu scripts; so why not in Devnagri and Romi in Goa? Let's be proud not only of being Goans but of being Konkanis, and let's honour our bhas, whatever be the script in which we write it. And - please don't forget - let's all make an effort to learn (those who don't know) or to improve (those of us who know) the Konkani language. Vaman Ragunath Shennoy Varde Valaulikar, better known by his pen name of Shennoy Goembab, who dedicated the last twenty years of his life to research the language, literature and history of the Konkanis, was able to prove that Konkani is not a dialect of Marathi but an independent language (in fact with far longer existence than Marathi). So, let's cherish our language as one of our most prized treasures. May 30, 2002 Jorge de Abreau Noronha [EMAIL PROTECTED] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet =================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
