From: Gilbert Lawrence <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> on Tuesday, July 01, 2003 12:53 PM
> > You have a point Pat. Historically speaking the birthday of Goa is May > 30- which as you well know is designated as Goa Day. < If I may say so, Gilbert, May 30 is the birth day of Goa as a state, and therefore it is called "Goa Statehood Day" and not - as far as I know - "Goa Day". < < To me, World Goa > Day is a celebration of the Goan culture. Of Goan culture and heritage. And, as our culture, heritage and identity as a people is based principally on our language and literature (even when we are not much conversant with these), August 20 was chosen in 1999 to be the "World Goa Day" because it was on that date in 1992 that Konkani was recognised as one of India's "national" languages and included in the 8th schedule of the Constitution. We could, in case there is a consensus around the matter, change WGD to April 9, the day which, marking the anniversary of Shennoy Goembab's death in 1946, is celebrated in Goa as "Konkani Day". August 20 has already been contested by some netters, so I hereby invite Rene Barreto (the "father" of WGD) to think about the convenience - or otherwise - of adopting April 9 instead of August 20 as WGD. Another appropriate date would be January 16, to honour the day in 1967 when by a majority vote Goans decided against the merger of the territory with Maharastra and so upheld the distinct identity of Goa. After all, the main purpose of the WGD, as I see it, is to uphold, nurture and foster our identity. Jorge ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
