Konkani Porjecho Awaz (KPA), the group that led the Konkani language agitation, was an inferno sparked by an angry journalist over the disrespectful treatment meted out to lone Goa Congress MLA Luizinho Faleiro s Private Member s Bill for making Konkani the State s official language.
PANAJI
Faleiro, on July 19, 1985, proposed the Private Members Bill which was not even allowed to be introduced in the House by the then Chief Minister of Congress (I) Pratapsing Rane. Recalling this event, former independent MLA of Margao Adv Uday Bhembre said,
“The Bill was treated in a despicable manner. It was dismissed with a disrespectful remark and was not even granted the opportunity to be introduced in the House.” At that juncture, Bhembre and Faleiro jointly protested. However, it was a conversation between a very irate Babli Naik and Bhembre that gave the protest a form of a massive agitation. “Two days later, Babli called on me. He felt that this was an insult to Konkani language and I agreed. We decided to organise a protest to show our disapproval of government s attitude,” Bhembre related. Recollecting this, Babli Naik, a former journalist and editor of Goa s erstwhile lone Konkani newspaper Sunaparant , said, “It was unacceptable to me. I spoke with Bhembre and a few days later, while the Assembly was still in session at the Adil Shah Palace at Panaji, a group of Konkani writers, artists and activists sounded a call for a morcha.” The group hadn t anticipated that the crowd would go beyond 2,500 people. The common Goan stepped out on roads of Panaji in numbers beyond wildest imagination and marched towards the Adil Shah Palace.Faleiro and Bhembre entered the House to meet government office-bearers to explain their stand and the cause of the morcha. Meanwhile, protestors demolished the police cordon near Captain of Ports jetty and around 1,000 protestors were detained. MLAs including Monte Cruz and Ramakant Khalap came out to meet the crowd and sensed the fiery environment. This further pushed the group to convene a meet where the decision was taken to form KPA. KPA was formed on July 29, 1985 with Pundalik Naik as its convenor, Dr Rebello and Damodar Mauzo as the treasurers and Dr Wilfred D Souza, Erasmo Sequeira, Bhembre, Faleiro and several other activists and writers as its members. Then active member of KPA, Dilip Borkar informed that KPA s three-fold goal was to make Konkani the official language of Goa, to obtain statehood for Goa and to get Konkani included in the Eight Schedule of India s Constitution. On the eve of Silver Jubilee Celebrations of Goa Liberation, KPA addressed its largest public meeting at Azad Maidan in Panaji, with attendance touching a lakh. In the run up to this meeting, Margao was shut down for eight to ten days and KPA submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister on December 10, 1986. It was at this meeting that the strongest message was sent to the government. Ministers and members of the ruling party such as Dr Luis Proto Barbosa and Francisco Sardinha showed solidarity with the protestors while defying their CM. The agitation was supported by part of the Congress (I), Goa Congress, United Goans Democratic Party and the entire force of Goa s Catholic community. Despite this, it remained completely apolitical.
