Declare seven Goans as Konkani martyrs: RLAF

Declare seven Goans as Konkani martyrs: RLAF
NT News Service


Margao, Dec 19 In bid to obtain official status for the Roman script,
the Romi Lipi Action Front (RLAF), on Wednesday, urged the government
to include the Roman script in the Official Language Act of 1987.The
Front has also demanded that the government table and pass a bill in
the Goa Legislative Assembly, recognizing the seven Goans – Floriano
Vaz from Gogol, John Fernandes, Audrin Fernandes, Inacio Gonsalves,
Cajetan Dias, Mathew Gracias and Joaquim Pereira, all from Agassaim --
who lost their lives in the struggle for recognition of Konkani
language, as Konkani martyrs.The government should also erect statutes
of the seven Martyrs in the state, and give their families all
facilities enjoyed by the freedom fighters of Goa, the Front demanded.

Father Pratap Naik of the Thomas Stephens Konkani Kendr blamed the
people."When I go to address Konkani lovers in Karnataka 10,000 people
gather in no time to hear me. Why such poor response in Goa?" he
asked, referring to the attendance at the Lohia Maidan, in Margao.

The meeting was organized by the Romi Lipi Action Front to honour the
`Konkani Martyrs', on Wednesday.

Elaborating further, he said people from Karnataka speak in Kanada,
Keralites converse in Malyalam and the citizesn from Kashmir in
Kashmiri. "Only Goans take pride in speaking the language of English,"
he lamented."We need to shout, scream and yell so that our legislators
know our desire," he said making a passionate appeal, on need to
remain united, to get recognition for the Roman script.

Former Vice-Chancellor of Goa University, Dr Olivinho Gomes said that
there was a need to start a new struggle to get recognition for Roman
script.Much injustice has been done to the Konkani lovers who express
themselves in Roman script, he said and stressed the need to rectify
the same.Quoting former Sahitya Academy President, Mr S Chatterjee, he
said, Mr Chatterjee was of the opinion that only Roman script would
solve the acrimony over the dual scripts in Goa.

He said government should stop issuing executive orders on giving
grants to Roman script writers. Instead the Roman script should get
official recognition in the language Act, he added.

The President of the Dalgado Konkani Akademi and former speaker, Mr
Tomazinho Cardozo, Prinicipal of St Xaviers College, Mr Newman
Fernandes, former director of AIR, Mr Yusuf Shaikh, Fr Conceisao Da
Silva, Mr Miguel Braganza and many others spoke. ENDS.
...................................

Dears,
This is a fairly accurate report of the meeting held to honour the
young men, most of them around 20 years of age, who were killed during
the KONKANI PORJECHO AVAZ-led agitiation in 1986 that gave us Konkani
as the Official language and , through the language, Statehood. The
POLITICIANS benefitted by the increase in the number of MLAs in Goa
from 28 in the UT of Goa, Daman & Diu to 40 in the state of Goa. The
power of the Chief Minister increased and he was no longer palying a
second fiddle to the Lt. Governor. The Devanagri lobby got a Goa
Konkani Academy almost exclusively to itself for 20 years, Sahitya
Puroskars for those whose newspaper articles were hurriedly compiled
and printed in book form, jobs for their chelas as teachers since 1992
,etc. The majority of the agitators and 100% of the martyrs knew not
how to read and write in Devanagri. Their families are as poor as in
1986 and still cannot read the Devangri script to file an application
in the Official Language. To what end was their sacrifice? Think about
it.

Mog asundi.

Miguel