Have these guys lost it. This seems to be an outpouring of frustration and
anger, tapping into the so called anti Bammon feeling. This article works very
hard to create a divide in the Catholic community. Certain sections know the
stalwarts and pillars of Konkani are in the south, what better way to crack
this Konkani Bastion.
To begin with there are no Hindu Bammons, they are Brahmin. Bammon is the term
used for Catholic converts. The Brahmins do not consider Bammons as true
Brahmins but accept them as less or lesser equal. This being a typical goan
phenomenon.
Mahalsa Pai and Timoja Nayak wanted a hindu ruled state or a state aligned
with a hindu King. Nowhere does it state that they or anybody else wished to
turn Goa into a 'Bammon' state.
"During the Portuguese rule from 1510 to 1961, Bamonns of Goa learnt the
Portuguese language and benefited from the Portuguese rule for education,jobs
and other areas of life. " the term Bammon again being a reference to
Catholics. Such statements have always been spouted by those who are violently
anti Catholic. This shows the mindset of the MRA.
"Romi Konknni and Marathi, were the two Indian languages which were popular
in Goa as written languages and used for all spheres of life such as religious,
spiritual, cultural, literature, educational, etc. " this is outright bull.
Konknni has always been the language of Goa. Prior to the arrival of the
portuguese the script used was Modi and Halekannada, this is possible as for
most of its recorded history Goa was ruled by kings based in present day
Karnataka, prior to this the Modi script was prevalent across Large parts of
India. It was only because of the suppression of Konknni by the Portuguese that
the script disappeared. There are ample proofs that the Portuguese torched
stacks of Written knowledge these Tomes were written in Modi and Halekannada
and no mention is made of Marathi. Only after this Konknni Holocaust, that
Marathi was used in religious matters in Goa. If I am not mistaken the Modi
script was far more widely used then Devnagiri.
"The first Marathi inscription written in 1236 is found on a copper plate at
Kasarpal of Bicholim Taluka." Does this imply that the whole of Goa spoke
Marathi? A cross was found in Sancoale which has been dated as Pre Portuguese,
does this mean that the whole of Goa was Christian before the arrival of the
Portuguese?
"Portuguese missionaries were the first one to start the written tradition to
Konknni in 1556. They used the Roman script to write and print Konknni. Since
then, Romi Konknni developed as a written language. Till then Konknni was only
a spoken language and it had no written tradition." On the one hand they
destroy the written records then have so much love for Konknni that they start
a whole new script? What was the need? The only reason being their plan of
conquest. Change the very culture of the converts to pro Portuguese, they did
this by
1) forcing all converts to change their surnames and live separately not in
joint families.
2) forcing the converts to change their attire to a European fashion
3) banning hindu festivals so that catholic converts would not participate in
the same
4) ensuring a different form of worship and different design of homes and
churches
Last but not the least change their script to a European one. Obviously Konknni
was a robust language and the Portuguese realised that to gain complete
supremacy they had to Destroy the language. Why burn the books if they were not
a threat. Konknni being a main uniting force between Hindu and Catholic was
destroyed so as to further separate the people. Without doubt Konknni had its
own script or scripts and was a dynamic and uniting Language.
"All the known scholars and linguists have said that the inscription is in
Marathi. In Tanjavore temple in Tamil Nadu there are plenty of Marathi
inscriptions in the Devanagari script." This only proves that there was a lot
of trade during those days. Land measures till date in Goa are of sumerian
origin. Does this mean that we were ruled by Sumer, or that the sumerian
language was spoken widely in Goa? The Phoenicians, Arabs, Romans traded
extensively in with Goa based merchants and there will be various inscriptions
if one searches, but were their languages widely spoken.
"In 1987 a Konknni dialect (Devanagari Konknni) of approximately 2% of
Goans, namely the Bamonn community, was declared as the Official Language of
Goa through their manipulative methods! " this again is misleading. The 2%
refers to Hindu Saraswat Brahmins. As I mentioned earlier "Bammons" are not
counted as brahmin and therefore counted as Cathloic not Brahmin. I am
in absolute awe, 2% manipulating 98%? These guys should be governing India.
With such brilliance they will soon conquer the world. How did Mahalsa Pai and
Timoja who belonged to the Saraswat community not see through Alphonse de
Albuquerque?
"The Bamonn Community promoted the Devanagari Konknni to have an upper hand
over the Catholic Community and Hindu Bahujan Samaj, which identified with
Marathi" if the Hindu Bahujan Samaj had not supported Konknni, Marathi would
have been the state language and the Goan Catholics would have been eating
grass.
"Though the Bamonn Community widely uses Marathi still, they promoted
Devanagari Konknni and not Marathi because the Marathi used by them and the
Bahujan Samaj is identical and it is influenced by the standard Marathi. The
Bamonn Community knew very well that Marathi will not give them the greater
advantage over the Bahujan Samaj. To suppress, oppress and subdue the Bahujan
Samaj and the Catholic Community, the Devanagari Konknni was created and
vociferously promoted. It was a Machiavellian or Chanakya's conspiracy hatched
by asection of the Bamonn Community to impose their dialect under the garb of
the Devanagari script as the standard language over the rest of the Goans!"
This is convoluted hog wash. What sense does it make? Why go through this
Machiavellian or Chankya Charade. If my community uses Marathi widely, i will
use all my guile to promote Marathi and we would anyway control the whole of
Goa through control of the Language. What sense does it make to create a new
script, promote it and make sure it is the state language to gain control when
I can do the same thing without raising a sweat. Today can any group suppress,
oppress and subdue anybody. Only the politicians and police who do not know
which caste, class or nationality they belong to.
To close
Konknni is the language of unity. The Marathi Rajbhasha Andolan (MRA) has from
day one pushed Marathi with only one aim. Keep Goa divided on Religious lines.
This will benefit them in two ways. One a quite merger with Maharashtra once
Marathi becomes a state language, and two have a hindu vote bank. They have no
love for Goa and most are those who migrated and held on to their language and
seem to be suffering from some insecurity issues.
Politics makes strange bedfellows, but in this case it is a marriage blessed in
Bedlam. The Romi Konknni Andolon (RKA), seem to have lost their sense of
direction. To have teamed up with a group that is opposed to a united Goa, has
been anti Catholic from the start, is a completely political body masquerading
as an Andolan, and hell bent on destroying Goa is nothing short of stunning.
This new strategy of the MRA has been planned and put into effect by non other
then Brahmins, thats why they have never mentioned the word as it would be
insulting. This plan is to divide the people of South Goa along Caste lines and
divide the Catholic community. It is now upto the people of Goa to tread
cautiously, be wise and not fall into such traps and Machiavellian or Chnakya
Devious schemes.
I would request all my goan brothers and sisters to remember we are one people,
one in thought, one in deed and one in Language and attitude. We are peace
loving, sensible, trust in God, and are content with the blessings God has
given us. Lead us forge ahead unitedly. Konknni is the Language of our state
and as a language can be written a myriad scripts, it is no problem having Romi
and Modi as a script. But no addition languages please as this will open the
doors to demands from other people who have migrated to Goa, where will it all
end? Having Konknni with devnagiri script was the most sensible compromise and
we should use it as often as we can.
God bless and keep you all
Cyrus Sanches
> From: Goanet Reader <[email protected]>
> To: "Goa's premiere mailing list, estb. 1994!"
> <[email protected]>
> Subject: [Goanet] CONTROVERSY: Language, community, caste ... and Goa
> ( a MRA/RKA statement)
> Message-ID:
> <cabcxcfe+tcfcvs3dglobgrrhu_w-9ukqi3oq8kkvco5ygpc...@mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
> DOCUMENT: Below is the text of a joint statement released on
> October 22, 2013 by the Marathi Rajbhasha Andolan (MRA) and
> the Romi Konknni Andolon (RKA)
>
> Motto: An agitation for Goa's social, religious, cultural,
> linguistic equality
>
> Press Release
> 22 October 2013
>
> Background:
>
> The Portuguese were invited in 1509 to conquer Tiswadi from
> Adil Shah of Bijapur by two Bamonns of Goa, namely, Timoja
> Nayak and Mhal Pai Vernekar! They wanted to overthrow Adil
> Shah and gradually establish their own Bamonn rule. Thus
> these two Bamonns and their colleagues were responsible to
> bring the Portuguese to Tiswadi and later to modern day Goa.
>
> During the Portuguese rule from 1510 to 1961,
> Bamonns of Goa learnt the Portuguese language and
> benefited from the Portuguese rule for education,
> jobs and other areas of life. With the arrival of
> the Portuguese Roman script and the printing press
> came to Goa. Up to 1987, Romi Konknni and Marathi
> were the two Indian languages which were popular in
> Goa as written languages and used for all spheres
> of life such as religious, spiritual, cultural,
> literature, educational, etc. Marathi was used as
> a written language in Goa at least from the early
> 13th century. The first Marathi inscription
> written in 1236 is found on a copper plate at
> Kasarpal of Bicholim Taluka.
>
> Portuguese missionaries were the first one to start the
> written tradition to Konknni in 1556. They used the Roman
> script to write and print Konknni. Since then, Romi Konknni
> developed as a written language. Till then Konknni was only a
> spoken language and it had no written tradition.
>
> But a few Bamonns of Devanagari Konknni proponents have
> created a myth saying that the first inscription of
> Devanagari Konknni is found in an inscription of 12th century
> at the foot of Bahubali's statue at Shravanabelagola,
> Karnataka! All the known scholars and linguists have said
> that the inscription is in Marathi. In Tanjavore temple in
> Tamil Nadu there are plenty of Marathi inscriptions in the
> Devanagari script. Due to various Maharashtrian kings, the
> Marathi language had reached in certain parts of Karnataka,
> Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
>
> In 17th century whatever literature which
> Portuguese destroyed was either Marathi or Sanskrit
> and not definitely Konknni. How could they destroy
> Konknni literature which never existed? The myth
> that the Portuguese destroyed Konknni literature
> written in Modi, Halekannada script and Devanagari
> script was created by a section of Bamonn Community
> of Goa to hide their inferiority complex. They
> have created enough myths to prove that their
> community and the actual production and imaginary
> production of their community are superior, pure,
> holy, and standard.
>
> In 1987 a Konknni dialect (Devanagari Konknni) of
> approximately 2% of Goans, namely the Bamonn community, was
> declared as the Official Language of Goa through their
> manipulative methods! Devanagari Konknni was created in the 20th
> century by Vaman Varde Valavlikar, popularly known as Shanai
> Goybab who lived and died in Mumbai. A few leaders of this 2%
> Bamonn community used this Devanagari Konknni to get
> recognition from the Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi as an independent
> literary language in 1975 with the active support of Romi
> Konknni. In 1981 they convinced the Sahitya Akademi to accept
> the Devanagari script as the only official script of Konknni.
> They did this to have their sole control in the literary,
> educational, cultural, social and later on in the
> administrative fields.
>
> The Bamonn Community promoted the Devanagari
> Konknni to have an upper hand over the Catholic
> Community and Hindu Bahujan Samaj, which identified
> with Marathi. Though the Bamonn Community widely
> uses Marathi still, they promoted Devanagari
> Konknni and not Marathi because the Marathi used by
> them and the Bahujan Samaj is identical and it is
> influenced by the standard Marathi. The Bamonn
> Community knew very well that Marathi will not give
> them the greater advantage over the Bahujan Samaj.
> To suppress, oppress and subdue the Bahujan Samaj
> and the Catholic Community, the Devanagari Konknni
> was created and vociferously promoted. It was a
> Machiavellian or Chanakya's conspiracy hatched by a
> section of the Bamonn Community to impose their
> dialect under the garb of the Devanagari script as
> the standard language over the rest of the Goans!
>
> This minority Bamonn community very well knew that the
> Catholic Community and the Bahujan Samaj will not unite to
> fight against their hidden agenda. A section of the Bamonn
> Community put fear in the mind of the Catholic Community by
> saying that if they demand Romi Konknni, then Konknni will
> not become the Official Language of Goa, instead Marathi the
> language of Maharashtra will become the Official Language and
> Goa might be eventually merged with Maharashtra and thus Goa
> will loose its own identity! The Bamonn leaders brainwashed
> the Catholic Community leaders who were members of the
> Konknni Porjecho Avaz (KPA) to accept the Devanagari Konknni
> as the Official Language of Goa.
>
> The leaders of the Catholic Community reluctantly accepted
> this proposal to prevent Marathi to occupy the status of the
> Official Language. KPA was funded and supported to a large
> extent by the Romi Konknni supporters. The vast majority of
> Romi Konknni users were under the impression that their
> Konknni will become the Official Language. When the Language
> Bill was passed on 4 February 1987, the Catholic Community
> realized that they were cheated and betrayed. Paul did the
> hard labour and Pandurang reaped the fruit! The vast
> majority of the Hindu Community, especially the Bahujan Samaj
> which was using Marathi for educational, social, cultural,
> religious and in other domains of lives too felt that their
> language and their community was reduced to the status of
> second class in their own State of Goa.
>
> Till date the Devanagari Konknni has not been fully accepted
> by the all members of Bamonn Community members for written
> purpose! They either use Marathi or English for written
> communication! Both the Catholic Community and the Hindu
> Bahujan Samaj have not accepted the Devanagari Konknni which
> is labelled by a few as Bamonni Konknni. The Devanagari
> Konknni survives on State and Central Governments' grants,
> projects, schemes and advertisements.
>
> On the other hand the Romi Konknni and Marathi have
> the popular support of the people. They have
> survived and will survive without State and Central
> Governments' support. Marathi Plays, sale of
> dailies, periodicals, books, DVDs, number of
> Marathi schools prove the fact that though the
> Bahujan Samaj speaks a dialect of Konknni, they do
> not accept it as an independent language, rather
> they consider it as an oral language and a dialect
> of Marathi. Till 1987, for the Bahujan Samaj,
> Konknni meant Romi Konknni. In Romi Konknni
> Tiatrs, weeklies and periodicals, DVDs are very
> popular. Devanagari Konknni is a parasite, which
> lives with the support of a few members of Catholic
> and Bahujan Samaj communities.
>
> The Devanagari Konknni though lacks popularity and support of
> the people, it has been forced on Goans as the Official
> Language! It has created division, intellectual vacuum and
> harm in every area of life of the Goans. Due to Devanagari
> Konknni, the social unity of Goa is shattered and stunted.
> Even after 27 years of the Official Language status,
> Devanagari Konknni has not yet become popular and it has been
> rejected at all levels by the majority of the Goan Community.
> The proponents of Devanagari Konknni promote the fascist
> principle, "One language, one script, one community". This
> principle is against the Constitution of India which promotes
> "Unity in diversity".
>
> To undo the great harm caused by the Devanagari5B
> Konknni and its proponents to the Goan Society and
> to foster social unity in Goa, Marathi Rajbhasha
> Andolan (MRA) and Romi Konknni Andolon (RKA) have
> come together on a common platform to jointly
> demand for the change in the Official Language Act
> 1987. The time has come for the Bhaujan Samaj and
> the Catholic Community to come together to build a
> stronger, peaceful and united Goa. Up to now the
> proponents of Marathi and Romi Konknni were
> independently demanding to change the Official
> Language Act to obtain the official status for
> Marathi and Romi Konknni. In the past politicians
> promised them but did not fulfil their promises.
> Even the present Chief Minister before coming to
> power had promised both the groups that if his
> party (BJP) comes to power, he will do justice to
> both Marathi and Romi Konknni. Now he has
> conveniently forgotten his own promise. Hence now
> the time has come for MRA and RKA to fight together
> for their rights.
>
> Demands:
>
> MRA and RKA demand from the Goa Government, Ruling Party's
> MLAs, Opposition Party's MLAs, MPs of Goa to change the
> Official Language Act 1987 and pass a new bill which declares
> Romi Konknni and Marathi as the Official Languages of Goa.
>
> We demand from the Goa Government to present and pass a
> Language Bill in the winter session in the month of December
> 2013 or to call a special session in the month of January
> 2014 and once and for all to settle the issue of Official
> Languages of Goa before the Lok Sabha Election 2014. The
> Official Language Act 1987 has played havoc in Goa and
> divided Goans and created hatred towards the native
> languages.
>
> Clarion Call:
>
> If the just demand of MRA and RKA is not fulfilled at the
> earliest then the agitation will continue throughout Goa and
> it will have unprecedented political implications both for
> Parliamentary election and Goa Assembly election. In
> a democracy, the just and lawful demands of the majority should
> be respected and fulfilled. We earnestly call upon the Goans
> to set aside their past prejudices and to support MRA and RKA
> to make Romi Konknni and Marathi as the Official Languages of
> Goa to unite the Catholic Community and the Hindu Community.
>
> A few states in India have more than one language as the
> Official Languages. For Example in Bihar: Hindi and Urdu; in
> Uttar Pradesh: Hindi and Urdu; in Haryana: Hindi and Punjabi;
> in Andhra Pradesh: Telugu and Urdu; in Delhi: Hindi, Urdu and
> Punjabi; in Jharkhand: Hindi, Santhali, Oriya, Bengali and
> Mundari; in Tripura: Kokborok and Bengali; Daman and Diu:
> Marathi and Gujarati. If Romi Konknni and Marathi become the
> Official Languages of Goa then both the Catholic Community
> and the Hindu Community can live peacefully with unity and
> friendship. Let all of us who care for Goa make this dream a
> reality without further delay.
>
>
> Mr. Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar Fr. (Dr.) Pratap Naik, S. J.
> Convenor of MRA Convenor & Spokesperson of RKA
>
Sets me free, my iPad3
The heat is on. Goa is boiling
