A handful of Marathi supporters led by Subhash Velingkar were heard demanding equal official status for Marathi along with Konkani in the Official Language Act, 1987 (Act 5 of 1987) by giving their own silly justifications at a meeting held on Sunday in Mandrem. Firstly, the reason why these so-called 'Marathi lovers' are making such a demand is because they want to build a big communal divide amongst Goans by promoting two separate languages i.e Devanagari-Konkani for Catholics and Marathi for Hindus in Goa. Secondly, they want to fully stop Goan Catholics from taking up government jobs by giving Marathi equal official status along with Konkani and modifying the current 'knowledge of Konkani is essential' clause to 'knowledge of Konkani and Marathi is essential' in future for those applying for government jobs. Well, Konkani is not just the mother tongue of Goans but is a language of our unique identity/cultural heritage of Goa. And taking this fact into consideration, Konkani was rightfully bestowed the top position and made the sole official language of the state way back in 1987.
