MARGAO
Speakers at the debate on the topic "Goa's Opinion Poll in present Context: To what extent has Goa become Ours?" have underlined to take along all sections of Goans, including religious and caste communities together to protect Goa for posterity.
The debate organised on the death anniversary of renowned linguist and literary doyen Madhavi Sardesai at the Ravindra Bhavan here on Friday evening saw the speakers saying that ongoing movements, be it the movement against mining, casinos, besides land and econ
omic issues, cannot be seen as islands.
Summing up the debate, Lokmat editor Raju Nayak pointed out that the message from the debate is clear that all Goans, whether they belong to the minority Catholic community or the Bahujan Samaj, need to be taken together to protect Konkani language and identity.
In his key note address, Prof Parag Porob of the Department of History at the Goa University said the entire politics of Goa is centered around land.
"The last three elections since 2002 had been the ground on land issues, where government is trying to take up developmental issues, which is opposed by the people. The government appears more comfortable in launching projects, but this could have been done differently by taking the people into confidence and forging a consensus. Unless the government takes the people into confidence, the projects may not sustain the Goan economy," Prof Parag said.
Historian Prajal Sakhardande lamented why Opinion Poll day is not officially celebrated when Goa is a product of the Opinion Poll.
"Those who took part in the Opinion Poll movement should be honoured. I am born post Opinion Poll and hence for me, Goa has remained a separate State because of the people who took part in the Opinion Poll movement," he said.
Former student leader Prashant Naik feared that Goans may become a minority in their own homeland by 2030 if the current pace of migration continues. "The only solace being that those who have migrated into Goa do not cast their vote in the election," he said.
Prashant, who is the chief spokesperson of the Goa Forward party, said the regional party is clear that only candidates, who swear by Konkani, will be given tickets, while citing the instance of former MLA Naresh Sawal, who was not considered for the ticket after he espoused the cause of Marathi.
Prof Maria Rodrigues made it clear that Catholic community has not gone away from Konkani language, saying that Tiatr has kept alive the language, not only in the field of entertainment, but in taking up social cause.
"I do not think that Catholics have gone away from Konkani. Some of them may be are studying in English for economic reasons and job security," she added.
Prof Hanumant Chopdekar and Yuganj Naik participated in the debate. MLAs, including TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai, Digmabar Kamat and Reginaldo Lourenco attended the programme.
Summing up the debate, Lokmat editor Raju Nayak pointed out that the message from the debate is clear that all Goans, whether they belong to the minority Catholic community or the Bahujan Samaj, need to be taken together to protect Konkani language and identity.
In his key note address, Prof Parag Porob of the Department of History at the Goa University said the entire politics of Goa is centered around land.
"The last three elections since 2002 had been the ground on land issues, where government is trying to take up developmental issues, which is opposed by the people. The government appears more comfortable in launching projects, but this could have been done differently by taking the people into confidence and forging a consensus. Unless the government takes the people into confidence, the projects may not sustain the Goan economy," Prof Parag said.
Historian Prajal Sakhardande lamented why Opinion Poll day is not officially celebrated when Goa is a product of the Opinion Poll.
"Those who took part in the Opinion Poll movement should be honoured. I am born post Opinion Poll and hence for me, Goa has remained a separate State because of the people who took part in the Opinion Poll movement," he said.
Former student leader Prashant Naik feared that Goans may become a minority in their own homeland by 2030 if the current pace of migration continues. "The only solace being that those who have migrated into Goa do not cast their vote in the election," he said.
Prashant, who is the chief spokesperson of the Goa Forward party, said the regional party is clear that only candidates, who swear by Konkani, will be given tickets, while citing the instance of former MLA Naresh Sawal, who was not considered for the ticket after he espoused the cause of Marathi.
Prof Maria Rodrigues made it clear that Catholic community has not gone away from Konkani language, saying that Tiatr has kept alive the language, not only in the field of entertainment, but in taking up social cause.
"I do not think that Catholics have gone away from Konkani. Some of them may be are studying in English for economic reasons and job security," she added.
Prof Hanumant Chopdekar and Yuganj Naik participated in the debate. MLAs, including TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai, Digmabar Kamat and Reginaldo Lourenco attended the programme.
