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[*]{*}[*]{*}[*]{*}[*]{*}[*]{*}[*]{*}[*]{*}[*]{*}[*]{*}[*]{*}[*]{*}[*]{*} Of Forked Tongues and the Mother Tongue: Language in Goan Politics Frederick Noronha This is a look at 'issues behind the issues' of the official language and medium of instruction agitations which rocked Goa in the late 'eighties and the early 'nineties. It was presented at the Seminar on Understanding Goan Culture in late October 1994 under the title 'Politics of Tongues: Language Controversies in Goa' and also published in 'The Transforming of Goa' (Norman Dantas, ed, OIP).. Language controversies have played an important role in shaping Goa's reality, particularly in the 'eighties and the 'nineties. Two prominent mass-based language protests eclipsed most other public issues during this period. One was the 1985-87 Konkani versus Marathi 'official language' controversy; the other, the discord which raged over regional languages versus English as a medium of instruction in 1990-91. Historians looking back at the Goa of the 'eighties and the 'nineties will perhaps find paradoxical the publicly recorded attitude of the average Goan towards the language issue. A volatile subject by any standards, there is however a void of vital significance in that record. Undeniably, there have been sincere supporters of this or the other language in Goa. But leaving aside those and their motivations, it is inexplicably why the behind-the-scenes scripts of the language controversies in the State are seldom discussed and analysed, even in academic circles which should be willing to take up such critical contemporary issues. Given half-a-dozen years since the 'language controversy' ended, it is perhaps time to look more closely at the underpinnings. What is perhaps needed is to look beyond supporting one side or the other, and instead take a more dispassionate look at the issues behind the 'issues'. This paper attempts to draw attention to some facts which hint at the politics behind the language stirs. When it came to language loyalties in Goa, ironies abounded on all sides. Marathi backers (calling themselves dual-language backers) pointed out that large sections of the 'Konkani camp' used English as the preferred means of communication, both spoken and written. If this charge was not untrue, so was the counter-charge: most Marathi supporters in Goa actually spoke Konkani. But that is not the end of the story. During the 1990-91 medium of instruction protests, those demanding the right to study in government-subsidised English medium primary schools marched down the main thoroughfares of Panjim and on to the Bishop's Palace, carrying placards and shouting slogans in Konkani. Top politicians who have campaigned for regional languages in a vociferous manner have been publicly accused of sending their own children to premier English-medium schools, even to distinct places outside Goa. As Jyotsna Kamal points out [Economic & Political Weekly, Vol XXI, No 14, April 5, 1986, p 569]: "The language controversy in Goa has a long history and reflects several paradoxes and aberrations. Why, for instance, did the Portuguese encourage for the initial 150 years, but throttle it later? Why did the Portuguese tolerate the 'mustifund' schools started privately by collecting fistfuls of grain from each household? The Portuguese even sponsored Marathi schools in the 19th century. How come the historic verdict of the Opinion Poll not to merge with Maharashtra was followed immediately by the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) ruling over Goa (for nearly a decade and half)?" As the Madras-based journal The Hindu (December 28, 1986) wrote: "Another peculiar feature is that though 90 percent of the people of the territory speak Konkani, more than 60 percent of the Hindus have enrolled their children in Marathi medium schools. Konkani protagonists have no compunctions about sending their children to English-medium schools. There are no takers for Konkani-medium schools." Despite the controversy and the conflict, the row over what is Goa's official language is one which still smoulders... ministers holding the portfolio have been ambivalent; and this reflects in their uncertainty over whether to designate themselves the Minister for Official Language or Languages. At the end of the day, politicians are still fighting over what exactly is Goa's official language (or, alternatively, languages). Scenes over this could be witnessed in the Goa Assembly even months ago. Recently, some evidence tumbled out to show the important role played by MGP leaders in drafting the Official Language Act of 1987, in the version it was finally passed. But this law -- intending to please all, but in reality satisfying none -- is more ambiguous than clear about what the position is. The law actually passed on February 4, 1987, was very much different from the pro-Konkani law sought to be pushed through months earlier, as the Goa, Daman and Diu Official Languages Bill, 1986. The law, as passed, says that the Konkani language (in the Devanagari script) shall be the official language for "any or all" of the official purposes of the Union Territory (as it then was), and that "different dates may be appointed for different official purposes". But this shall take effect only such date as the (then Union territory) Administrator, by notification, appoint...." Though Konkani is called the "official language", Marathi "shall also be used for all or any of the official purposes" following similar notifications by Administrator. By its non-committal stance, this is a law under which it is virtually impossible to implement either Konkani or Marathi, or both, as the official language(s) of Goa. Given the ground reality, it is unlikely that either one of the two contending camps would be keen to press for official language status in a manner in which the "other" language would be given the same. Precisely because language is seen as a zero-sum game: where one party has to lose for the other to gain. Former editor of the Marathi daily 'Gomantak' N G Athavale, a key figure in defining part of the agenda for the 1985-87 language war said rather cryptically, recently, when speaking from the Shiv Sena platform in mid-October at Mapusa: "Marathi lost the battle but Konkani did not win either. It was the [Congress(I) party] observers from Karnataka who won." HIDDEN ISSUES IN THE LANGUAGE WAR But then, what were some of the less obvious issues in the language agitation, which can be termed the first all-Goa protests since the Opinion Poll days of the 'sixties, involving people across the State. Row Kavi gives a good idea [See Row Kavi Ashok, 'Settling Old Scores', 'Orphaned Language' and 'Yearning Of People' in The Week, Cochin, January 18-24, 1987, p 11] of the caste and communal conflict stoking the bitterness over language, as well as some of the other political and other interests in his journalistic essay. He sees the language battle as a mildly-camouflaged caste war, with "the Goa Congress supported mainly by the Catholics and Konkani Porjecho Awaz (KPA), claiming to represent all Konkani interests including the Gowda Saraswats as well as Christians ... (having) decided to harass the Maratha-dominated Congress(I)." Row Kavi (ibid, 15) describes the situation thus: "Some local Christians converted by the Portuguese did not like Cunha Rivara's idea (of using the regional languages for education). They chose to educate their children in Portuguese. The Hindus, who had by then retreated to the hinterland, brought in Karada, Deshasth and Konkanasth Brahmins from Maharashtra to teach their children in Marathi... Only two institutions kept the fact in mind that Konkani was indeed a living language. One was the Catholic Church which knew that the Gospel could be spread only through the local language. The other was the Gowda Saraswat Brahmin community which considered it the 'divyabhasha' (divine language). They controlled the temples in the hinterland and hired Maratha Brahmins to manage them while they adjusted to the situation by learning enough Portuguese and becoming bureaucrats, all the while talking Konkani at home. "So quick was their rise that they invited the wrath of both the Church and the Maratha brahmins. Some of the Maratha Brahmins even took the Gowda Saraswat Brahmins to the Madras High Court, accusing them of unbrahmanical practices -- eating fish and of hobnobbing with the 'mlecha'. The Maharashtrian Brahmins lost the case. The animosity between the two Brahmin sects grew. The Gowda Saraswats continued to prosper. The Marathas intended to keep the temple rituals in Marathi and the Gowda Saraswats minded their money in Konkani written in the Devanagari script. Saraswats... used the Catholics against the usurpers from Maharashtra... and they would continue to hold the strings of the economy." One other report noted with bluntness: "It would appear even after 25 years of self-government, there is a latent fear in the Hindu bahujan samaj (non-Saraswat Brahmin castes) that they may be dominated by the Christian-Hindu Brahmin combination which had ruled the roost in the last 15 years of erstwhile Portuguese colonial rule." John Ribeiro, writing in the Sunday Observer (January 1, 1987) argues that the Konkani used by the literati is, in essence, different from colloquial Konkani because the Konkani litterati came typically from the Saraswat Brahmin caste. He quotes another Gomantak ex-editor B D Satoskar as saying, "What is being written today is Saraswat Konkani. The move to standardise it will create a reaction from the Hindu Bahujan Samaj, or the non-Saraswats... (like the revolt against Marathi in Maharashtra). A large number of the Bahujan Samaj are hostile to Konkani and favour the dual language formula because of the hostility to Saraswat Konkani." Was this really the case? What other explanation can there be for the involvement of Catholics, virtually en masse, on the Konkani side of the 1985-87 language agitation? The more obvious factor was the role of the Catholic Church in taking a pro-Konkani stand. Apart from this, there is the less-noticed reality of the 'alienation factor', if one could call it that. Konkani was used as a tool by a section of the Catholic middle-class to combat the feeling of alienation brought on among a fast-Westernising section of the society. In the post-colonial situation, when the demands of identity-formation have rapidly changed, quite a few among this section seem eager to at least have a language link to 'genuine' Indianness, their claim to which is otherwise questioned. Besides, the campaigning of Hindutva communal groupings seem to have also aggravated such sentiments, with the Catholic sometimes finding himself questioned for his religious affiliation, level of Westernisation and even patriotism. Whether one accepts this view or not, it would be difficult to argue against or refute the contention that some form or the other of casteism, communalism and chauvinism played a key role in the language protests. Of course, there were exceptions to this trend. Caste-based divides were a little more difficult to perceive, camouflaged as they were under a thick sheath of other elements. But communalism, as always, is a rather blatant phenomenon. The Sunday Observer, then a lively and well-read journal, focussed on it in a three-word, inch-tall -- even if simplistic -- headline, "Goans Turn Communal" (The Sunday Observer, December 28, 1986). But there was perhaps good reason to substantiate this belief. One of the Konkani agitation leaders came out with a volume of translations of editorials published in a prominent local journal, in an attempt to show that such campaigning through the media exacerbated the communal divide. [Naik, Datta, 'Laying The Grounds For Communal Riots', published by the author, 1987.] But the editor facing the charge, Narayan Athavale of the Gomantak argued that Naik had undertaken an "outright perverted translation... aimed at defaming me as well as all the Marathi-speaking Goans". Athavale, then incidentally also a member of the Press Council of India, contended that the translations of his editorial had taken "advantage of a sentence without proper reference and (placing it in) the context not in which it was used, to present a distorted meaning." Students belonging to the then-active Progressive Students Union still recall frenetic efforts to stall the communal demon which suddenly arose in areas like Benaulim, Mapusa and Vasco. Communalisation of the protests was also visible from the pattern of deaths following group clashes in Dongrim. (This incident was not directly related to the language agitation, but it could take place due to the consequent breakdown of law and order in the State. Besides, the hatred with which these killings were committed also points to the bitter communal polarisation which preceded this incident.) One of the few citizens' rights groups then active in Goa also reported incidents from Shiroda, Vasco and Marcela and in "other areas of Goa" stating however that these were "relatively minor" in nature. [See, 'Language Agitation In Goa: Police Firing at Gogol, Margao, CCLDR Report, Citizens for Civil Liberties and Democratic Rights, Goa, March 1987.] Shadowy groups like one calling itself 'Konkniche Suicide Squad' also sprouted, to issue anonymous threats to a number of clubs organising Christmas dances -- in Taleigao, Betalbatim, Cansa-Tivim, Parra, Mapusa and Panjim. [Handwritten note titled 'Warning', signed by the 'Konkniche Suicide Squad', undated.] Another report by the CCLDR ['Language Stir in Goa -- A Report', unpublished] also notes the questionable response of the State. It found "a disturbing fact that there appeared to be a tendency to make selective arrests from the minority Christian community". Pamphlets too were silently doing the rounds at this time, only adding to the already critical communal polarisation. One example of this is the printed pamphlet titled 'KPA-cho Ullo No 1' [KPA's First Call; undated, publisher not mentioned]. Incidentally, the KPA here stands not for the Konkani Porjecho Avaz, as the wider-used acronym of the period more commonly known, but for the 'Kristi Porjecho Avaz', and issues raised included allegations of denial of government jobs to Christians, the attitude to laugh away the Konkani speech used by the community, and the lack of benefits received despite wholehearted participation in the Opinion Poll 1967. Another anonymous, photocopied two-page letter, signed by the 'Catholic Youth Forces -- Miramar, Panjim, Santa Cruz and Merces' wrote to entertainment organisers and demanded that they "transfer" their advertisements from one newspaper to another, on communal considerations. Chauvinism, particularly of the regional kind, was also perceptible to someone following the course of the protests. For the Konkani side, the main argument around which support by the language was built up was, often, the claim that absence of Konkani as the sole official language would lead to Goa being swamped by "outsiders". The promise also put out was that "locals" would get job preferences if Konkani was made the sole official language, a promise which did not materialise. "Goa has to face continuous onslaughts on its identity for the last twenty-five years," said a KPA memorandum, "and the onslaughts are being continued even today, with the result that a complete change in Goa is (being) brought about and Goans are becoming aliens in their own homeland." [See, KPA English translation of the original Konkani memorandum submitted to the chief minister on December 10, 1976, unpublished mss.] The umbrella organisations heading the Konkani side of the language protest also argued at the height of the agitation that the ethnic population of Goa had diminished because of the government's failure to encourage and promote Konkani. [See Munshi, Debashish, 'Pro-Konkani rally turns violent', report in The Times of India, December 19, 1986.] Pillai (The Sunday Observer, December 28, 1986) also notes the "obvious" chauvinism in the Marathi camp. He says the Gomantak editor Narayan Athavale took a "holier-than-thou" attitude, and quotes Athavale saying: "Konkani has little literature of its own. In all, there are 300 books published in Konkani, whereas Marathi has a rich literary history. It (Konkani) is spoken by everyone, but the written language is Marathi. That is why I have been telling these people, go develop your language for about 20 years and then agitate." One other publicly-circulated pamphlet, strongly urging a boycott of festival celebrations and appealing for a 'Black Christmas' in the winter of 1986, puts it thus: "If your (elected) leaders ... attempt to sell you in slavery, for the greed of paltry copper coins, in the hands of pot-bellied, pan-potti spit cultured, poverty ridden, stink smeared, corruption imbued Maha-brutes (sic), would there still be a place for celebrations?" [An appeal for (a) Black Christmas, Anonymous, December 1986, unpublished mss.] THE MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION ISSUE Some three years after the "end" of the official language agitation, another language-related controversy began to take over the domain of public discussion. This was relating to the medium of instruction at the primary level. Leaving aside finer details involved, what needs to be noted here is that the controversy basically revolved around whether English should be allowed to have a role at the primary level of education or not. Oddly, this controversy began when someone noticed a petition in the courts, brought forward by primary school teachers of minority-run schools who were seeking an improvement of their poor pay conditions, equal to those of the government school teachers in the State. Teachers in non-government primaries were putting in some amount of work, and were being paid basic salaries of just between Rs 165 and Rs 400 per month, as against the government teachers' corresponding scale of Rs 1,200. But there was a catch here: private primary schools in Goa were not being given government grants for some strange reason. And, in its School Education Act, the Goa government had laid down that nothing in Chapter IV (dealing with the terms and conditions of service of employees of recognised private schools) would apply to "an unaided minority school". Church-affiliated schools, and those run by the Jesuits and two other religious societies of nuns -- which were also affected by the ruling -- argued in court and sought refuge under the cultural and education rights of minorities contained in Article 29 and 30 of the Constitution. Actually, the issue was simply economic: if the government was not giving any grants to private schools, it could hardly expect that the schools pay staff at governmental scales. But instead of the emphasis being laid on the fact that the schools were "unaided", it was on their "minority" character. This resulted in the Goa High Court Bench ruling that allowing the private primary schools to pay lower salaries to their staff (merely because they were minority institutions) would be ultra-vires of Article 14 of the Constitution. [Writ Petition No 302 of 1988, judgement dated November 7/8, 1989.] Three months after this judgement, the tenth session of the All India Konkani Writers' Conference put forward a demand that the Goa government "should impart pre-primary and primary education in Konkani only ... (and) that no grants nor assistance should be given to those private schools which harm the minds of the tender children by thrusting on them... pre-primary and primary education in alien languages, especially English". ['Resolutions Passed', Konkani Basha Mandal, no date.] Later, in another development, backers of both Marathi and Konkani joined forces to demand government grants for private primary schools, provided they did not use English as the medium of instruction. The MGP-dominated Progressive Democratic Front government acceded to this demand. Goa's Catholic Church, the schools of which were most affected by this issue, took a zig-zagged position. Ironically, it showed resistance and a determination to challenge the policy, and seek grants for its many English-medium primary schools. [See 'A Tricky Problem', Renewal, Pastoral Bulletin of the Archdiocese of Goa, March 15, 1990.] It should be noted that by this time, government grants had become essential, as the teachers had to be paid at government scales, as laid down by the court judgement. Later, the Church changed its stance and readied to implement a policy of switching over the primary schools to the regional language, i.e. Konkani. With the change, the Church was itself pitted against pro-English-medium parents, some of whom took out vociferous protest marches. Incidentally, politicians -- particularly those of the Congress(I), when they were out of power in 1990 -- took a strong interest in backing protests over this issue. But when the same party got back into power, the issue was, apparently cynically, forgotten. In this case, the laudable aim of teaching children in regional languages was turned into another contentious issue, obviously because of the deep divide which exists among various sections of Goan society. A salary dispute was conveniently used to enforce Konkani and Marathi primary education, despite the fact that nearly forty percent of the primary students were, at the time, studying in the English medium. No efforts were made to see why parents -- including some from the most deprived sections of society -- were so keen to have their children educated through English. Neither was any effort made at least to acknowledge -- if not to tackle -- the divisions within Goan society. WHO DISTORTS THE ISSUE? Who do even genuine issues in Goa have to get twisted and distorted, in a way that is hardly helpful to all but a tiny handful? The discerning writer on Goa (and anthropologist) Robert S Newman gives this understanding of the situation, through in a different context: "First the society is divided by caste and class, with two major religious groups and one minor one (Muslim). Second, there is a long history of oppression, including the Inquisition, and discrimination by Catholics (both Portuguese and Goan) against the others. Third, upper class landlords and government officials during colonial times and landlords, industrialists and businessmen in recent times have exploited the lower or working classes -- tenants, miners, dock workers, toddy-tappers, servants, factory hands, waiters and drivers, for example ... some of the so-called freedom struggles of the past were really attempts by (the) powerful landlord class to exploit their erstwhile 'subjects' without Portuguese interference." Not incidentally, it was sections from these very groups who have played a determining role in language-related controversies, and some others too, in Goa. Therefore, that they went the way they did is not much of a surprise. "Whatever the outcome of the language controversy," Jyotsna Kamal writes perceptively in 1986, one could say with the benefit of hindsight, "the voice of the people no doubt will remain hushed." [Economic & Political Weekly, Vol XXI, No 14, April 6, 1986, p 569.] ----------------------------------------------------------------- Frederick Noronha is Goa's most visible journalist in cyberspace. GOANET-READER WELCOMES contributions from its readers, by way of essays, reviews, features and think-pieces. We share quality Goa-related writing among the 7000-strong readership of the Goanet/Goanet-news network of mailing lists. If you appreciated the thoughts expressed above, please send in your feedback to the writer. Our writers write -- or share what they have written -- pro bono, and deserve hearing back from those who appreciate their work. 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