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August 20 - WORLD GOA DAY
Celebrating the inclusion of Konkani in the 8th schedule of the
Indian Constitution on August 20, 1992
For a list of World Goa Day events see:
http://worldgoaday2009.blogspot.com
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Letter to the editor
Celebrating the inclusion of Konkani in the 8th schedule of the Indian
Constitution
on August 20, 1992
As Goan Catholics we have absoultely nothing to celebrate about. It is 17 years
since we were badly betrayed after the agitation, by those with the "Devnagri
Konkani only" agenda and those who support them. Ironically I think the only
individual who lost life in the agaitation was a Catholic. Since then, constant
attempts both covert and overt are being made to destroy this aspect of our
culture
and so many other aspects as well. It is time we all st
ood up and asserted our right to our own language and our culture. Roman
Concanim is
our mother tongue and like every other language; has evolved over the centuries
. It
has the right to be given the same status as its sister language Devnagri
Konkani.
Since 1992 an alien language and script is being forced on our children in
school
and this has to stop immediately. The Hindus can have it for their children if
they
want to and we have no objections to that; but it cannot be forced on our
children
and us. Like so many other causes and struggles, an enemy also lies within the
Catholic co
mmmunity: the Catholic clergy (and a significant number of other individuals
who for
reasons best known to them take no pride in our culture or heritage) who it
seems
have worked overtime to ingratiate themselves(at least subconsciously) with the
ruling Hindu political elite and thoroughly "Sanskritised" ; the original Roman
Concanim in our religious services and other areas as well. They would like us
to
use words and phrases that we never used or use and do not understand. As
someone
said: neither God nor St. Francis Xavier would understand the Concanim that our
Catholic priests would like us to
speak. We also have to safeguard our culture against what is the growing
problem of
individuals within at the two extreme ends: one set who think they are more
Hindu
than the Hindus and the other who think and behave that they are more Western
than
the Westerners.
It is high time all this is brought to an end and we get the right to our
mother
tongue. How long are we going to be deprived of this by the majority? I may not
be
politically correct but it is time to recognise this: what makes Goa truly
different
from all other states and a unique tourist destination is her unique Goan
Catholic
heritage and culture that celebrates life. Without this the Goa we know of
today,
would never exist and probably even Devnagri Konkani would never exist..she
would
long have been swallowed up and merged imperceptibly into Maharashtra
state..the
Devnagri Konkani speakers would suffer the same state as the Goan Catholics do.
Dr Neil de Jesus Rangel.
Saoe Estevao, Ilhas, Goa.
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