Ravi Naik, the Congress candidate from Ponda has a
practical explanation for omitting Konkani as a medium
of communication to voters in his constituency.
His manifesto was printed in Marathi, English and
Kannada. When asked why Konkani was not necessary
in a State where it is the official language, Naik quipped
that those who speak Konkani can read English and Marathi
and hence there was no need to use the official language. He
also explained that there are over 2,000 voters from the Kannadiga
community and it was important to reach out to them,
which is believable especially in the smaller constituencies of
Goa where a few hundred votes could decide the outcome of
an election.
Naik cannot be faulted for being practical, but his approach
to the elections outlines demographic changes that are taking
place in the State. Former Karnataka chief minister B R Yeddyurappa
was roped in by the BJP to campaign in Kannadiga
pockets and he made an appeal to a
hamlet in the Taleigao constituency
which has around 1,000 votes. According
to the 2011 census, the State
is home to around 74,000 people
of Karnataka origin and when their
number crosses a certain limit in a
constituency they become important
to candidates.
This situation also underlines
how Goa is changing. Of the 13.48
lakh population in 2001 for which
statistics are available, around 2.10 lakh recorded languages
other than Konkani or Marathi as their mother tongues. They
constitute around 15.5 per cent of the total population registered
in the 2001 census. Of these, Hindi speakers form the largest
group with 76,000 followed by Kannada. The next largest
groups comprises of 54,000 who registered Urdu as their mother
tongue followed by Malayalam with 15,000. These groups
cannot be ignored by candidates.
Unlike the period between two elections when politicians
pay lip service to local languages, but do little to aid them, it
is at the time of elections that the true impact of languages is
felt and Ravi Naik’s approach reflects ground realities. Goa is
changing and one does not know what the next census will
throw up in 2021, but the State needs to also face the reality that
parts of it are quickly acquiring cosmopolitan status, where
identities begin to blur. It was a fear of being swamped by influx
of migrants from other states that sparked off demands for
special status. Central leaders came and promised to deliver of
this demand but failed to create the legal infrastructure to protect
the Goan identity. Goans can still seek refuge in numbers
as nearly 10.73 lakh people who constitute 79.5 per cent of the
population registered their mother tongues as either Konkani
or Marathi. Rapid development in the tourism, real estate and
mining sectors has turned the State into a magnet for labour
and further development will have a larger impact on the demographic
structure. Since there is no law to curb entry and
exit of citizens of the nation, Goa might just have to take the
good that comes with development along with the undesirable.
