OF COMMUNALISM AND MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION by Tomazinho Cardozo

The happenings at the Azad Maidan on 6th April 2011 have exposed the true colours of leaders of Konkani movement. These leaders who used to shout at the top of their voices that Marathi language had no place in Goa, they were sharing the platform along with the protagonists of Marathi language.

Throughout the language agitations, these leaders of Konkani always spoke very highly of the role of the Catholic Church in Goa. They described the church of Goa as the most secular institution. In the meeting held on 6th instant at the Azad Maidan, the same leaders dubbed the Catholic Church of Goa as communal.

It does not bother me at all when Marathi protagonists level unsubstantiated charges of communalism against the Catholic church of Goa because I have heard them saying the same thing since the Opinion Poll in 1967 which decided against the merger of Goa into Maharashtra. These people who wanted to destroy the very existence of Goa by merging it into Maharashtra have no moral right to dictate terms to Goans who with their sheer sincerity and dedication prevented the merger of Goa into Maharashtra and saved Goa’s existence. But it does matter when Konkani protagonists who used and misused the Catholics of Goa to win each and every battle against the communal forces whose aim was to eliminate Konkani language also dub the church and Goan Christian as communal. It also hurts when a priest belonging to the institution of church shares the same platform with those who falsely accuse the church of communalism. An excellent example of ‘double-standard’ indeed!

The problem of these Konkani leaders is that they always had a hidden agenda. The hidden agenda was to try their level best to preserve Konkani only in Devnagiri script and that too at the cost of Catholic community which used Roman script for Konkani for ages. They knew that the huge Hindu bahujan samaz would never be with them. And in order to achieve that hidden agenda there was no other way for them but to take the help of Christian community in Goa. That was the reason why they did not bring up the issue of scripts of Konkani throughout the agitation in which 7 Christian youth laid down their lives. Hundreds of meetings were addressed during the agitation but the issue of scripts was never mentioned. On the contrary, I remember these very same leaders, requesting me and other Christian speakers not to bring up the issue of script. We sincerely believed that it was the right approach to protect the unity of Konkani forces. And when the Goa Official language Act was passed, fraudulently they recognized Konkani in only Devnagori script. That was the greatest betrayal of 20th century.

In 1991 Konkani education started in Goa on a large scale. About 130 schools belonging to church authorities opted for Primary education in Konkani medium. Much against the wishes of the people the church authorities accepted Konkani education in Devnagori script. In fact the lovers of Konkani were compelled to learn Konkani in a particular dialect and in Devnagori script. These very leaders of Konkani praised with extraordinary expression the role of the church at that time. All those praises were because the church permitted to foist Konkani language in a particular dialect and in a particular script in schools managed by Christians. At this time these leaders never considered the church as communal because knowingly or unknowingly the church was helping these leaders to achieve their hidden agenda.

But when the church supported the demand of the parents to have choice of medium of instruction in primary, the move of the church went against the hidden agenda of these leaders. If the parents opted for English as the medium of instruction in primary schools then overnight Konkani education in Goa gets vanished because it exists only in schools run by the church authorities. The dream of getting the hidden agenda achieved get shattered. Thus the same leaders dubbed the Catholic Church of Goa as communal. A reflection of frustration!

There are ample examples of the involvement of Goa Catholic Church directly or indirectly that has helped to win numerous agitations in the state of Goa. All these agitations were and are for saving Goa from destruction. The Opinion Poll of 1967 and the agitation to make Konkani the sole official language of Goa could have not won if the church did not play its role. That time the mergerists and protagonists of Marathi used to label the church as communal. Today the same Konkani leaders who used to refute these allegations against the church are leveling similar charges.

After Goa achieved statehood, Goans had to resort to numerous agitations in order to save Goa from destruction. Some examples; the government had to withdraw the Regional Plan 2011 and establishments of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) ended abruptly. The church played a significant role in the success of these movements. All these acts did not make the Catholic Church of Goa communal but when it comes to medium of instruction, the same church is labeled as communal not because the church is communal but because the hidden agenda of these leaders will end abruptly.