MARGAO
In order to reiterate its demand to amend the Official Language Act (OLA) 1987 and to accord equal status to Roman script, the Global Konknni Forum has planned a symbolic protest at Azad Maidan, Panaji on February 4, at 10 am.
The day coincides with the Official Language Day in the State wherein the Official Language Act was passed on February 4, 1987 after an intensive and extensive historic Konkani language agitation led by a large segment of Roman script users, with Devanagari as its official script.
The omission of Roman script in Official Language Act is considered as the greatest betrayal of the people, especially of the Linguistic Minorities community who fought and seven people sacrificed their lives as martyrs of Konkani, said GKF President Antonio Alvares.
He said Goa’s Official Language Act has divided Goan Konkani population based on the script as Roman script was deliberately kept out of the Language Act through a conspiracy of Nagari proponents for their selfish motives. The same opportunists among vested interests continued to prevail over Sahitya Akademi to carry out the injustice to Roman script and its users, he said.
“The clause in Official Language Act para 2(c) which reads as “Konkani language” means Konkani language in Devanagari script, has destroyed the traditional unity and communal harmony of the Goans. Till today, the Official Language Act has benefitted only a miniscule section of Goan society which uses Konkani in Nagari script. Moreover, it has also hampered the growth of Konkani in Roman script for last 38 years,” stated Salvador Fernandes.
He added: “In Goa, Konkani was always identified with the Roman script. Hence, it is the integral part of Goan and Konkani identity. Konkani in Roman script has survived and bloomed with the support of the people, but Konkani in Nagari script solely survives on funds of State and Central government. It is a fact that neither the entire majority community nor the minority community has accepted willingly the Nagari script for Konkani.”
