On 10 April 2011 13:05, Eddie Fernandes <[email protected]> wrote: > > The phrase "tyranny of the masses" is often used in democracies to mean > decisions taken by the majority which undermine minority rights and trample > on individual freedoms.... > > No Catholic, South of the Zuari speaks or understands the Konkani taught in > Goan schools.
Just a couple of comments on the above... Q.U.O.T.E: The phrase tyranny of the majority (also: tyranny of the masses), used in discussing systems of democracy and majority rule, is a criticism of the scenario in which decisions made by a majority under that system would place that majority's interests so far above a dissenting individual's interest that the individual would be actively oppressed, just like the oppression by tyrants and despots. E.N.D.Q.U.O.T.E http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyranny_of_the_majority Firstly, this might suggest that only a minority of the parents in Goa would like a choice about whether to have their children instructed right from the primary level in the English medium (or shift over to English only at Standard V). This is not true. Regardless of language, religion and caste, English is widely seen as the language of opportunity here, as in many other parts of the globe. Secondly, it is not only "Catholics South of the Zuari" who do not "speak or understands the Konkani taught in Goan schools". The Antruzi variant in the Devanagari script is alien in varying degrees to Hindus and Catholics in much of Goa (not to speak of beyond), which one reason why Hindu Goans prefer Marathi for their literary language, Devanagari publications like Sunaparant have such a low circulation, and why the Romi script or tiatrs (though script is not involved here, dialect is) still have their audiences. FN Frederick Noronha :: +91-9822122436 :: +91-832-2409490
