PANAJI
Ratnamala Divkar, President of the Konkani Bhasha Mandal (KBM), made a passionate appeal for unity among Goans, stressing that Konkani has always been the voice and identity of the State.
Speaking at the 62nd anniversary celebrations of KBM held at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao, Divkar urged Goans not to allow any divisions, especially over language.
“It is time to stay united and not allow anyone to create a language divide among us Goans,” said Divkar. She expressed disappointment that some of those who once fought alongside for the recognition of Konkani as the official language are now distancing themselves.
“They want to have their separate existence,” she said, highlighting the dangers of divisions in a country already facing religious divides.
“Let not language be the reason for any divide among us. We are not against anyone, including Romi Konkani,” Divkar emphasised.
Referring to the Global Konkani Forum’s decision to approach the Supreme Court for equal status for the Romi script, she supported their right to do so but called for clarity on the long-standing ‘one language, one script’ decision.
“Let the facts be public. Let the government be questioned on this issue,” she added.
Divkar also spoke of KBM’s efforts to unite Konkani speakers, regardless of whether they are from Goa, the Konkan region, or Karnataka.
She mentioned that their programme, Petul, which aims to promote Konkani among children, will soon cross borders and involve participants from Konkan.
The event also featured the presentation of the KBM Awards for 2024.
The recipients were:
- Konkani Seva Award – Anand Mangesh Naik.
- Sarafin Kota-sponsored Feliciu Cardoz Commemorative Teacher Award – Dr Purnanand Chari.
- Dinesh Manerkar-sponsored Chandrakant Keni Commemorative Column Writing Award – Anant Agni.
- Ligorio Furtado Trust Journalism Award – Mahesh Divekar, editor of Bhaangarbhui.
- Vincy Quadrush-sponsored Juze Piedade Commemorative Karyakarta Award – Paresh Naik.
- Fr Maureen D’Souza Memorial Youth Literary Award – Akash Gaonkar.
- Vikram Varlekar-sponsored Young Entrepreneur Award – Sunetra Pai Fondekar.
- Narasimha Damodar Nayak Literary Award – Sonali Chodankar for the book Sahitya Yatra.
- Rock Barreto Literary Award – Ambesh Talwadkar for his poetry collection Half Century.
- KBM-sponsored Ramesh Veluskar Literary Award – Teotonio Costa for the book Charushila Ani Her Katha.
- Dinesh Manerkar-sponsored Ramnath Manerkar Translation Award – Snehalata Bhatikar for the book Bhagbhagaten Temook.
