On 15th December 2005 at 6.00 p.m. during "History Hour" at Xavier Centre
of Historical Research Mr. Tomazinho Cardozo delivered the following
lecture.
SOCIO - ECONOMIC GROWTH
OF THE GOAN COMMUNITY
THROUGH THE KONKANI LANGUAGE
By Tomazinho Cardozo
I am neither a historian nor a linguist. I am only a social activist and
that compelled me to participate in almost all the issues, movements, etc.,
which affected the Goan society. Konkani language was one such issue which
dominated the Goa scene for more than 25 years after the liberation of Goa
in 1961. Being a part and parcel of the Goan society and being a strong
believer of the Goan Identity through Konkani language, I did not only
participate in the agitation to make Konkani Language the Official Language
of the state of Goa but also contributed to its development through
literature, culture and education. I have experienced the impact of Konkani
language on the Goan society before the Liberation of Goa, after Liberation
and before the enactment of Goa Official Language Act and after Konkani in
Devanagari script became the Official Language of Goa. I am going to place
before you my experiences about the Konkani language and its scripts
vis-à-vis the socio-economic growth of the Goan Society.
During the Portuguese regime in Goa, Konkani language was not given any
importance. The elite of Goan society used it only to converse with their
servants. They felt ashamed to make use of it in public. They sent their
children to get a Portuguese education. Hindus preferred Marathi education
while majority of the children coming from poor catholic families studied
Konkani in Roman script in church schools. The church schools, besides
Portuguese and Konkani in Roman script used to teach music. I was one of
the few students in my village who started learning through Konkani in Roman
script. Educationally Konkani language did not have any value during the
Portuguese rule.
Economically too, Konkani language was not at all advantageous to the people
as job opportunities were open only to those who studied in Portuguese. As
such the weaker sections of the society suffered. They could not earn their
daily bread. This had an adverse effect on the economic growth of the Goan
society. Culturally also it was the same trend. Hindus, as they promoted
Marathi education without the help of the Government, continued to promote
their culture too without any patronage from the Government. The elite of
the Christian community, who used to speak in Portuguese in their daily
life, did not favour Konkani culture except for the promotion of Mando &
Dulpods which came to be identified with their status while the
entertainment for the poor masses was tiatr. Due to these factors the
economic growth, educational development and cultural unity of Goans
suffered.
Goa was liberated on 19th December 1961. After almost 450 years of
Portuguese rule, Goa achieved freedom and became a part and parcel of our
motherland, India. Elections were conducted and Maharaxttravadi Gomantak
Party (MGP) formed the first democratically elected Government in free Goa.
Unfortunately, people of Goa elected MGP to power a party which was a strong
protagonist of Marathi language. In fact they fought the election on two
important issues i.e. (1) Marathi to be the Official language of Goa and (2)
Merger of Goa with Maharashtra. On the other hand United Goans Party (UGP)
which contested the elections on twin issues such as (1) Konkani as the
Official language of Goa and (2) Separate Statehood for Goa was defeated.
Statistics proved that the people of Goa exercised their franchise on
communal lines. MGP won the seats where a majority of the electorate
included people from Hindu community while UGP won the seats in areas that
were dominated by Christians. MGP ruled for 17 long years. Promotion of
Konkani language, Konkani culture and Konkani education was not the agenda
of MGP. They promoted Marathi education and Marathi language. As they could
not neglect the presence of Konkani language and culture, they started
promoting Tiatrs through Kala Akademi. Literary awards were also given to
Konkani books in Roman as well as in Devanagari scripts. Economically too,
Konkani community of Goa, Christians in particular, was at a disadvantage as
far as Government jobs were concerned because of the lack of the knowledge
of Marathi. They had to depend only on their expertise in English. The
Hindus on the other hand, including the supporters of Konkani, were better
off because they were well versed in Marathi besides English. 17 years rule
of MGP in Goa, although it brought a lot of development to Goa, it could not
deliver the goods to all sections of the society and hence failed to give
social, economic, cultural and educational justice to Goans as one
community.
Subsequently UGP merged with Congress Party and in the 1979 elections MGP
was defeated and the first Congress Government took over the reins in Goa.
By this time a lot of Marathi blood had entered into the Congress body.
Although pro Konkani officers in the Government were given promotions, which
were denied to them during the MGP rule, the policy about Konkani language
did not change. Hence the Goans, lovers of Konkani had to resort to
agitation. Goa witnessed the biggest ever agitation to make Konkani language
the Official language of Goa. Seven people sacrificed their lives in this
agitation. Supporters of Konkani fought the battle to make Konkani language
the official language of Goa. Hundreds of meetings were organized throughout
Goa. The leaders of Konkani movement stressed the need of making Konkani
language the Official Language of Goa. At no point of time the script for
the language was discussed. The agitation culminated in making not Konkani
Language the Official Language of Goa but in making Konkani in Devanagari
script the official language of Goa. This was the greatest fraud of the 20th
century committed on the Goan Konkani community, the majority of which
favoured Roman script for Konkani language.
Another betrayal was the fact that Marathi language was also given almost
the same status by making the following provision in the Act, 'Marathi shall
also be used for all official purposes.' The Official Language Act of Goa
provided safeguards to the small percentage of Konkani people who supported
Devanagari script for Konkani. It also protected the interest of supporters
of Marathi. The Act was totally unjust to the big majority of the Konkani
people who supported Roman script for Konkani as no safeguards were provided
for them although the agitation of Konkani language became successful
largely due to the participation of lovers of Roman script for Konkani.
When I reflect deeply upon the Goa Official Language Act, sometimes I feel
that the inclusion of the sentence 'Konkani Language means Konkani in
Devanagari script' is disastrous to the people of Goa who read and write
Konkani in Roman script. The Official Language Act should be a tool for the
development of each and every citizen of the state. But in Goa's case the
Official Language Act promotes the interest of very few people while it
works against the interest of majority of Konkani people.
The architects of this fraud very well knew that the followers of Konkani in
Roman script will never be able to match them in literary activities in
Devanagari script. The writers of Konkani in Roman script will be
handicapped and that they will suffer from inferiority complex. These
circumstances will help them to avail of all the benefits of the Official
Language Act. They also knew that the majority of the Hindu community will
not accept Konkani language due to their traditional bond with Marathi and
that they would reign supreme over the affairs of Konkani language. This is
exactly what has happened today in Goa and all the benefits of the Official
Language Act are enjoyed by a small minority of supporters of Konkani in
Devanagari script. This has adversely effected the economic, cultural,
literary, social and psychological growth of the majority of the Goan
Konkani people particularly the followers of Konkani in Roman script.
When Konkani was recognized by the Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi it recognized
Konkani Language without mentioning any script. When Konkani was included in
the 8th schedule of the Constitution of India, it also mentions Konkani
language and not any script in particular. The Constitution of Goa Konkani
Akademi also refers to the development of Konkani language without
specifying any script for Konkani. It is only the Goa Official Language Act
which states Konkani language means Konkani in Devanagari script. Why is
this so?
I am tempted to call such acts as 'manipulations'. Analyze the numerous
committees constituted by various authorities for the development of Konkani
language at the state level as well as at the national level. Observe the
Advisory Boards of Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi or the Governing Councils of
Goa Konkani Akademi or the Committees of All India Sahitya Parishad since
1939. You will find that they consisted of 80% of the supporters of
Devanagari script while the remaining 20% were from other scripts such as
Roman or Kannada. Under these circumstances how could these committees
decide anything which goes against the interest of Devanagari script? In
doing so, they have only destroyed the unity of the Goan Konkani community.
After the passing of the Official Language Act, the woes of lovers of
Konkani in Roman script increased. Government established Goa Konkani
Akademi (GKA) for the promotion of Konkani language. GKA promoted Konkani
literature in Devanagari script only while the literature in Roman script
was neglected. Kala Akademi, which was giving literary awards to Konkani
books in Roman script, which were given during MGP rule, stopped considering
them for literary awards. The writers of Konkani in Roman scripts were
frustrated and production of Konkani books in Roman script decreased year
after year. The lovers of Konkani in Roman script were sidelined in all
respects. This attitude of the leaders of Konkani created a divide among the
Konkani people.
During this time very important changes took place in the educational field
of Goa particularly in the Primary education. Konkani in Devanagari script
was introduced as the medium of instruction in the Primary schools in Goa.
All the Primary schools under the Archdiocesan Board of Education which is
headed by the Archbishop, introduced Konkani in Devanagari script as the
medium of instruction. In all there are 137 Primary Schools in Konkani
medium in Goa under Private Managements. Out of these schools, 126 are
managed by Christians, 6 schools by Hindus, 1 school by Muslims and 4
schools are under mixed managements. Why Hindu managed Konkani medium
Primary schools have not increased during the last 14 years? It is a fact
that, as of today, it is only the schools managed by Christians that promote
Primary education in Konkani. However I see a serious problem to these
schools in future because of the following reasons: -
(1) The parents send their children to Konkani medium schools out of
compulsion and not out of love for the education in Konkani.
(2) The Devanagari script and the dialect used in the text books create
major hurdles for the children as well as for the parents. This has resulted
in creating a hatred towards Konkani language.
(3) Elite from Christian community sends their children for English
education while the poor and the downtrodden are compelled to learn in
Konkani. This has created an educational divide in the Christian community.
(4) The present situation is such that even the so called poor people
prefer English education for their children. This has resulted in decreasing
the number of students in Konkani Primary schools. Is it not a conspiracy to
destabilize Christian education in Goa?
On the other hand, just look at the following facts. There are 958 Primary
schools run by the Government, out of which only 79 are in Konkani medium
while the remaining almost 900 are in Marathi medium. We proudly say that
the Official language of Goa is Konkani and in reality the Government is
promoting only Marathi. (Please note that I am not against Marathi language
at all. It is mentioned only for the sake of argument in order to prove a
point.) What compels the Government to run Marathi schools when the Official
language of the state is Konkani? I myself will answer this question. The
parents of Hindu students prefer education not in Konkani but in Marathi
medium for their children. Mind you that these people include over 90
percent of the Goan Hindu community.
From the above scenario in Non-Government and Government Primary schools it
can be concluded as follows:-
a) Konkani in Devanagari script and in a particular dialect is forcibly
imposed on Christian managed schools.
b) Vast majority of the Hindus have their Primary education in Marathi
and not in Konkani.
If this is the situation in the educational field of Goa, then where is the
so called unity allegedly achieved through Konkani language in Devanagari
script?
The Goan Catholic Church has all its religious scriptures translated into
Konkani in Roman script. The Catholics in Goa perform all their religious
ceremonies in Konkani which is written in Roman script. On the other hand,
all Hindus, including the supporters of Konkani in Devanagari, carry out
their religious rituals in Marathi. If the use of Marathi in religious
activities is considered as a sign of unity among Goan Hindus by the
supporters of Konkani in Devanagari script, why not Konkani in Devanagari
script and Konkani in Roman script be a sign of unity of Goan Konkani
community?
Secondly we have accepted the fact that Marathi language in Goa is used much
more than Konkani in Devanagari script. If the use of Marathi and Konkani in
Devanagari script is considered as an achievement of unity among the Goans
then why Konkani in Devanagari script and Konkani in Roman script cannot be
considered as a factor which unites Goans?
Let us be realistic in our approach to the development of Goa and Goans. The
first step for development is to achieve unity of all Goans, irrespective of
caste, creed and religion. Unity can lead to commitment and commitment to
success. When we talk of the socio-economic development of the Goan Society,
we are talking about Goans who love Marathi language, Goans who love Konkani
in Roman script and Goans who love Konkani in Devanagari script. We cannot
do away with the existence of Marathi language in Goan society. I have also
observed that supporters of Konkani in Devanagari script do not find any
difficulty with the existence of Marathi in their lives. They respect
Marathi language as well. Then what is their problem when it comes to
respecting Konkani in Roman script? We cannot do away with the existence of
Konkani in Roman script in the Goan Christian community. Hence unity of all
Goans cannot be achieved by imposing only one script of Konkani on all
Goans. The policy of "Ek bhas, ek lipi" is divisive in nature and hence
needs to be discarded.
Today our country, India, is standing tall on the world map due to the
concept of 'unity in diversity'. If 'unity in diversity' was not adhered to,
our country would have broken into pieces by now. 'Unity in diversity' has
proved to be the strongest bond for the progress of our country. Goa cannot
be an exception to this proven fact. Hence the development of Goan community
can be achieved only through 'unity in diversity of scripts and dialects.'
Let us respect both scripts of Konkani, Devanagari and Roman, let us work
for the development of Konkani in both scripts sincerely and let us treat
Konkani in both scripts equally. Unity among Goans will be strengthened,
commitment will be enriched and the Goan society will definitely prosper in
all aspects.
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