Anyone could have easily predicted that the meeting between the government and the Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch (BBSM) would be unproductive. On one side is the BJP government which has taken an inclusive stand and on the other side is the BBSM, a patently communal organisation, which does not mind tearing Goa into pieces in order to force its dubious agenda down the throats of innocent children. The Goa of today is multi-cultural and multi-lingual where one language is not enough to satisfy the needs and aspirations of all. The state is home to nearly 15 lakh people of which nearly one-fourth have arrived from across the borders in search of better pastures. The BBSM has no right to impose its views on these people who have contributed immensely to the
growth of Goa.
As far as local languages go, no two Goans can decide on
what the mother tongue is. For some it is the Konkani dialect
represented by the Devnagri
script, for others it is a dialect represented
by the Romi script, and for
still others it is Marathi. And lastly
there is a section, the largest, who
want their children to be educated
in English, which is not a foreign
or alien language. It is now an Indian
language because we Indians
have embaraced it and changed it
to suit our communication needs.
The BBSM has no business to tell us what language to learn,
write or communicate in. That ought to be decided by each
individual.
The ideology of the BBSM is convoluted because it turns
every pedagogical principle on its head. Take the school in
Ponda, for instance, which has nine students, each with a different
mother tongue. What should be the medium of instruction
in the school? Can the BBSM advise us on this or will it
take the easy way out of imposing Marathi on these students
even though it is not their mother tongue?
The pedagogical principle that primary education should
be imparted in the mother tongue is well settled, but in multi-
lingual Goa who gets to decide which language is the mother
tongue? Should a decision as important as this be left in the
hands of the BBSM whose only agenda is to divide Goa? There
is no agreement on the official language, leave alone the mother
tongue. And this is where the BBSM’s ideology falls apart.
This is why it has conveniently modified its ideology to give
support to Indian languages, not the mother tongue.
The BBSM’s agenda is divisive. It is communal. It is not concerned
with the welfare of the Goa’s children. It is totally disconnected
with Goa’s parents whose only aspiration is that
their children get a head start with a good, solid education. It
wants to impose its views on all. It wants to control the education
system by suppressing all other views.
The BJP government, on the other hand, has chosen an inclusive
path. That is what governments do. By giving grants to
DSE schools it has brought down the cost of English education
which many parents wanted but could not afford and by putting
cap on new English schools it has ensured that a balance
is maintained among all languages.
Ideally, the government should have extended grants to all
schools and left the choice of language and school to parents.
Because parents know what is best for their children, not the
BBSM.
