Greater Goa not at the cost of Goan Identity By Nisser Dias nisserdias at gmail.com SMS to 9422437029
For the past few weeks the issue of greater Goa has resurfaced, it has not only ruffled some feathers but has also roused some emotions in the hearts of Goans all over the world. The very thought of merger of some districts of Maharashtra and Karnataka with Goa has provoked Goans to reject the proposal outright. That apart it has also rekindled the fear of loss of identity which Goans proudly carry on their shoulders like medals.
The issue of Greater Goa is nothing new, decades back some thinkers on either side of the borders had mooted the idea of ‘Vishal Gomantak’ which literally means Greater Goa. The areas that were sought to be added to Goa then were Sawantwadi from Maharashtra, Ratnagiri, Belgaum and Uttar Karnataka. However at that time these thinkers had different perspective of the issue. While the interest of Goan thinkers was to bring together Konkani speaking areas for growth and better exposure of the language, for Maharashtrians it was to create a state with Marathi majority to give them leverage in Goa. Karnataka was more interested in forming a Konkan state by merging all the areas along the coast.
But the demand being made now by politicians specially Churchill Alemao to merge Karwar and Joida seems to have an ulterior motive to it. He states Jnanpith awardee and writer late Ravindra Kelekar had mooted the idea and hence it has to be honoured. I have my doubts whether Alemao has studied in what context this Sanskrit poet and great Goan son had planted this seed for the merger. It surely could not be for larger land mass for Goa. It could be literary purpose. But Churchill Alemao’s overture for merger seems to come with a hidden agenda. He can be credited for leading the agitation for statehood and Konkani for being made the official language, but the matter ends there because we cannot except the PWD minister to give literary boost to Konkani.
That apart, the state government or Churchill himself must have not carried out any study of these areas in terms of their potential in agriculture, tourism or rather revenue generation for the state. What the politicians and those-in-waiting must be having knowledge that the land is quite cheap in Karwar and Joida. The apparent reason being backwardness as a direct result of the distant factor from its capital. Proximity of Goa with thriving tourism industry would naturally give a fillip to rapid development. As it is Karwar has some virgin beaches which will naturally be explored by stake holders in the tourism sector.
Mining deposits are also in abundance in these areas but are yet to be explored by the Karnataka government as it is almost inaccessible from their side of the state. But from Goa it is easily accessible and mining companies in Goa have their infrastructure in close vicinity.
If this issue was raised in some other quarters, one could ignore it as tavern talk, but when Churchill makes the statement he is putting the last remains of his credibility on the chopping board. But one thing is sure, the thoughts of merger of Karwar and Joida with Goa are not his own, it seems that it is fed into him by some elements close to late Ravindra Kelekar.
God forbids this prospect becomes a reality as Goan identity would be completely lost in a few decades with the incoming population with the merger even though it would ensure linguistic homogeneity. Even at this moment with the unrestricted influx of migrants it poses a danger and merger of Konkani speaking areas with Goa would only act as a catalyst towards destruction of Goa’s unique personality and distinctiveness.
On the other hand Belgaum, Karwar and Joida are agriculturally fertile and producing areas. If the areas are merged Goa could not only save substantial amount of money for the produces from these regions it could add to the revenue generation of the state.
This could be the only positive point for Goa in case of the merger, but the bigger question can we knowingly position ourselves in peril of losing our identity. Furthermore whether other states will allow this merger is another matter simply because both are bigger states and our government has been in litigation with both the states of diversion of waters. Keeping this aspect aside for a moment has those making this noise thought of the turmoil the process merger would create in Goa. It would be nothing short of a civil war and while Churchill was in the forefront during the statehood and Konkani agitation this time he will be on the backfoot as Goans would be looking down the barrel at him.
Instead of toying with such lofty, condescending ideas of merging areas of other states to Goa which will definitely obliterate Goan cultures, traditions, identity and ethos, the government or those in power should redirect their energies to attract Konkani writers with more incentives to pen more books provide them with good libraries to carry out research and acknowledge their works, government should organize seminars to promote Konkani. In a similar fashion farming should be made attractive with hassle free schemes and perk at the same time see to it that the farmer gets his due and not the middleman. Latest technology in farming and equipment should be made easily available to the farmers. Infrastructure in the state has to be revamped for better trade and commerce. If all these factors are put place we will not need areas of other states to boost our economy. But this will not happen as this means lots of dedication. Instead what our politicians would do the moment the process of mergers begin is start buying land cheap so that they sell it at much higher price when the value sky rockets.
Conclusively I feel that Goans are better off with our own landmass. (ENDS)
========================================================= First published in Gomantak Times, Goa - October 30, 2010
