Dear fellow Goans, I wonder on whose strength does Pundalik Naik claim that he will not allow any amendment to Goa's Officlal Language Act. There is no doubt that the present threat to the Act is nothing but some politicians trying to get a back-door entry for Marathi as the official language of Goa in the name of recognition to roman script. But this vulnerable situation has been brought about by people like Pundalik and his jolly boys of the devanagiri konkani circuit with their rajdhani of 'mad gaon'. I wonder from where Pundalik is going to get his numbers to challenge the government over Konknni after his naked act of exclusion of the Roman script Konkani writing community and his continued opposition to granting their just demand. The community was betrayed once and I hope it has now grown wiser. As for the mischief by politicians to demand that Marathi be given equal status with konkani is ridiculous; mere official recognition given to a language script does not justify giving official language status for another language. Just like the minorities are constantly being frightehened into voting for the communally secular Congress, in the same way the threat of Marathi is being used to blackmail the roman script konknni writers into forceful submission to devnagiri script konknni. The roman script konknni writing community is constantly blackmailed into having no choice of choosing other political parties and no choice as regards choosing its script for its mother tongue. How long will these sections of Goans continue to be blackmailed by this exploitative coterie of marathi Konknni converts who connive with the marathi lobby to exclude roman script fom geting its due place?
-Soter D'Souza
