Chinchinim: Konkani has attained state recognition, It has been included in the eighth schedule of the constitution. Sahitya Academy awards are bestowed on a privileged few. Lakhs of rupees are spent in the name of konkani, Huge sums are sanctioned to produce konkani telefilms for persons having the right contacts. To put the matter straight konkani is no longer an emotional issue. It is not a language that unites Goans. It is lucrative commercial proposition.
Goans of all hues fought for konkani?s recognition and a few sacrificed their lives to give konkani, its due place which it enjoys today. But does anybody remember Floriano Vaz, the first martyr of the konkani movement?. Does anybody give a damn to the six brave martyrs of Agassaim who laid down their lives in the struggle to defend konkani Mai ? Once konkani was declared the exclusive official language of Goa, the brave Goans who risked their lives and limbs were all sidelined and subdued.
A coterie of devanagari writers who rode piggy back on the Konkani movement, hijacked the same, and ensured that Konkani only in the Devanagari script and that too the Antruzi Variant was declared the official language of Goa. Stabbing true Konkani lovers in the back forcing them to face the bullets while the Autruzi speakers took the bouquets.
Where does it leave the Hindu Bahujan Samaj ? Why they do not accept Konkani as their own ? Though they speak Konkani at home and in market places. Why do they still patronize Marathi ? It is because the Konkani that goes as the standard version, the chaste Konkani, the xresht and the shudh variety is spoken by only two percent of Goans mainly Saraswat Hindus.
The Hindu Bahujan Samaj is of the opinion that they will accept Konkani only when their version also forms part of the standard Konkani.
Where do the Catholics who thronged Lohia and Azad Maidans during the language agitation in large numbers, to demand official status for Konkani figure in the whole Konkani parivar. Before hazarding a guess let us examine the contribution of the Catholic community in preserving Konkani.
Catholics by and large speak and use Konkani in churches, religious ceremonies and in their day to day activities. Their cultural art forms be it tiatrs, Kantaram, manddo, deknni, comedies etc are exclusively in Konkani. The Catholics were following Konkani in the Roman script ever since the first printing press was established in Asia.
Great Konkani stalwarts like Reginald Fernandes whose contribution to Konkani fiction, manddo and music is unsurpassed. Monsignor Dalgado who brought out Konkani dictionaries developed Konkani grammar and popularised Konkani amongst the masses. Rev Fr Antonio Pereira who has over thirty Konkani books to his credit are a forgotten lot.
Their only mistake was, their Konkani was written in Roman script, and did not measure up to the Antruzi version.
Take the case of Dr Olivinho Gomes , a tower of Konkani literature who gave up his Indian Revenue Service postings for the love of Konkani ,he faced persecution right from the day he was appointed as a Konkani professor at the Goa University .Though he has written several books in the Devanagari script and that too of a very high standard ,his books do not find favour with the Goa Konkani Academy. Though the Academy doles out lakhs of rupees on books written by minions and novices .Dr Gomes is conveniently cold- shouldered and ignored.
Fr Pereira lived and died for Konkani , his book was considered for the Sahitya Academy award, but was denied the prize because he wrote the book in roman script. Though the Sahitya Academy confers awards on individuals for their overall contribution to the language and not to the script. The coterie of devanagari writers ensure that only books written in the devanagari script are recommended. Ignoring the claims of deserving Konkani writers in other scripts.
In other Indian languages the Sahitya Puraskar is held in high regard and one is not sure of getting it even if you write over a hundred books. The award goes to persons of high eminence in the literary field. In Konkani the award is trivialised and one can rightly guess who would be awarded the prize next.
The Catholic writers in Konkani are pushed to the extremes .The Konkani zealots message to the Roman Script writers is, write Konkani in the Devanagari script, adhere to the Antruzi variant and speak Konkani the way the phoneys do and then only be ready to accept the crumbs, because the cake and the icing is reserved and rightfully belongs to a privileged few.
The Catholic schools teach Konkani .The students are forced to accept and study Antruzi Konkani, though they follow and speak the Shasti or the Bardeshi variants .As a result the Catholics use Devanagari script for academic pursuits only , but use the Roman script in their day to day activities both in their religious and cultural fields. The Konkani that they learn in school is as good as Latin to them and they follow Hindi better.
Not satisfied in marginalizing the Catholics and the Hindu Bahujan Samaj. The Antruzi Devanagari fanatics prefer Marathi words in their writings when simple and popular substitutes are available in the Sashti or Bardeshi versions. Not only that new Konkani words are coined which are understood by only those who use and develop them,leaving mainstream Konkani speakers and writers in the dark. This exclusive attitude only harms Konkani and stifles its growth and development .It alienates majority Konkani lovers who suffer in silence.
Humiliated and hurt the Catholics have started to lean towards English though their children study Konkani .They have belatedly realised that only English can benefit them, as it is the language of higher learning and is the de facto lingua franca of the world.
Goa and Goans will cease to exist when the Catholics of Goa disown Konkani .The very identity of Goans is Konkani and it should be preserved in its entirety at all cost.
A bold initiative is taken by the stalwarts of Konkani like Tomazinho Cardozo, Fr Pratap Naik and Dr Olivinho Gomes by reviving the Dalgado Konkani Academy. The DKA seeks to unite and organise the Konkani writers in the Roman script .It aims to give these writers a platform which was denied to them for long. It definitely will revive the waning interest in Konkani amongst the wide Diaspora of Goans spread across India and the world. The DKA will also help non Goans who want to learn Konkani but are unfamiliar with the Devanagari script.
The DKA should document and preserve works in Konkani in the roman script. It should also preserve old Konkani original songs, tiatr scripts, manddos and bring out articles and books on illustrious Konkani writers of the yore. Transliterate works of Konkani greats in Kannada script , who are unknown to Goans but who have high literary value. It should try and encourage Konkani literature that is acceptable to all Goans irrespective of their caste, creed , region or religion.
BY Nelson Lopes
Chinchinim,Salcete,Goa.
Ph:2863327
Author: Nelson Lopes