Add to it: that the Indian Administrative Service (some from the ICS were still serving in the 1960s) would be familiar with English. Besides, those who were fluent in English, from the Goan diaspora, and there were quite a few of them (in other parts of India, and a sprinkling in Burma, more in Karachi, East Africa... the last of whom of course were not yet returning till the 1970s). A book on Moira just out reminds us that the Opposition leader, Dr Jack de Sequeira, was Burma-born.
Though few notice it, English also went largely unscathed by the Goa OLA (Official Language Act, 1987), though Romi Konkani was sidelined (by defining Konkani as Devanagari Konkani). The anti-English politics in primary schools in the 1990s were something else, though. FN On Friday, 31 January 2025 at 02:52:43 UTC+5:30 Joao Paulo Cota wrote: > The French government signed the Treaty of Cession in 1956 with India, > which guaranteed French to be included as part of Pondicherry's future, > post 1954 referendum. > The Portuguese government was treated as a war enemy, unlike the French, > hence the Indian government preferred Portuguese to go away and Goa to > embrace what India had to offer - English and Hindi. > The Portuguese also did not encourage Konkani being openly spoken on the > streets, as per my older family member / older friend chats. Usage of > Konkani was suppressed. > Hence, it could had been a tit for tat game... to get rid of the > Portuguese and traces of their language. > > ------------------------------ > *From:* [email protected] <[email protected]> on > behalf of John de Figueiredo <[email protected]> > *Sent:* 30 January 2025 09:45 > *To:* [email protected] <[email protected]> > *Cc:* [email protected] <[email protected]> > *Subject:* Re: [GRN] Priest and Cook squaring the circle in Goan society > > Why was Portuguese dropped as language of instruction? It could not be > because it was a “colonial language” because English is definitely a > colonial language. Historically, English was never a language spoken by > Goans in Goa. > John > Sent from my iPhone > > On Jan 29, 2025, at 1:56 PM, Eric Pinto <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Admission to Rachol was restricted to Charda and the Brahmin groups. They > were conversant with > the Portuguese language and belonged to the civil services. The new era > dates to the early 70's when > the language of instruction also changed to English and Konkanni. > > On Wed, Jan 29, 2025 at 6:15 AM 'Carvalho' via Goa-Research-Net < > [email protected]> wrote: > > Dear members, > > I need your opinion on this. Researching one family of nineteenth century > Velsao, Goa, I discovered through archival documents in Lisbon, that one > brother from Velsao travelled to Zanzibar and was likely a table waiter and > cook, and most likely illiterate, but later hugely successful. Although > there was some reason to treat this information taken from a 1890 source > with some scepticism, it did have details for the employer etc. and in the > main not really discreditable. > > I have now discovered through the assistance of the brilliant geneologist > Richard Souza, that another brother born in 1829 was ordained as a priest. > > Was not the priesthood in Goa driven by caste and largely restricted to > upper-castes? > > How do I square this information? > > Your help would be most appreciated. > Selma > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Goa-Research-Net" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/333597835.3097542.1738107269550%40mail.yahoo.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/333597835.3097542.1738107269550%40mail.yahoo.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Goa-Research-Net" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/CAJCL8L4Z7SrAkLB2-RwR3_n314YD1KXLjox1wm6NbTNn1jhO0Q%40mail.gmail.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/CAJCL8L4Z7SrAkLB2-RwR3_n314YD1KXLjox1wm6NbTNn1jhO0Q%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Goa-Research-Net" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/7DFA0C79-0688-47A8-974A-53377E687F36%40sbcglobal.net > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/7DFA0C79-0688-47A8-974A-53377E687F36%40sbcglobal.net?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Goa-Research-Net" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/4575348e-eb8f-4de5-9034-1c976fba2fean%40googlegroups.com.
