It is time that Devanagari campaigners shed their biases, treat all as equal, and not foist their own preferences on a diverse, wider community
Now that Romi Konkani campaigners have reared their head in protest, and demanded their share of the Konkani pie, the relatively small (but overly networked) circle of Devanagari Konkani supporters has come up with a counter-offensive.
After adopting a wait-and-watch approach for many weeks, the Devanagari camp, which is sometimes seen as having monopolised all the spoils of Konkani getting official status in 1987, is finding its voice.
It's arguments range from pointing to why other scripts, besides Devanagari, cannot be accommodated for legal or other reasons; to stressing the supposed antiquity or "natural script" claims for Devanagari; to even swearing that they have absolutely "nothing against" Romi script usage in Goa.
But, at the same time, concessions are not forthcoming. Equality is on nobody's agenda when it comes to thrashing out the issue. If at all any leeway is offered, this is handed over to individuals. Possibly because they might mellow down their own demands as a result.
For a moment, let us not forget that Konkani is the only language in the world -- one is open to correction here -- that is simultaneously written in five different scripts. Others may have been written in many scripts, but at different points of time, not simultaneously. This makes Goa's reality rather complex.
Over the weekend, the Konkani Bhasha Mandal (KBM) was reported as having issued a call for Goans not to allow "any divisions, especially over language". The KBM has been State supported (with grant amounts ranging from Rs9 lakh to Rs15 lakh, annually, according to official statements issued online covering 2014 to 2018).
In the functioning of Konkani bodies in Goa, the bias towards Devanagari (and away from Romi) is all too obvious. Yet, when Romi starts demanding its share, then the cry goes out that this would cause "divisions". Take a look at the programmes organised, and people feted. Check how much of these reflect the diversity of the Konkani world, and which sections keep getting feted, and it would become clear of how strong the bias is here.
For instance, early in the 1980s, there was a backdoor push in Delhi to ensure that only Devanagari books could get Sahitya Akademi awards. This makes it seem that some literatures were treated as more equal than others.
Of the 46 or so Sahitya Akademi awards for literature in Konkani that have been awarded between 1977 and 2022, you have to struggle to find names like J.B. Moraes, C.F (Chafra) D'Costa, John Baptist Sequeira, Jess Fernandes, Melvyn Rodrigues and Edwin JF D'Souza. Leave aside that these include both Kannada script and Romi writers.
That's not all. The case of Jess Fernandes, awarded for his book of poems called 'Kirvontt' in 2009, has been cited as something odd. When his work was published in the Romi script, it didn't get noticed or awarded. The moment it got transliterated into Devanagari, it gets listed among the "most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the major Indian languages". Is this not promoting divisions within a language?
The example of Goa's Official Language Act of 1987 is even more bizarre. A last minute change added eight words to the law which made all the difference to the history of Konkani in Goa. Shortly before it was passed, late night, on Feb 4, 1987, these words were slipped in: "'Konkani language' means Konkani language in the Devanagari script".
Devanagari supporters were obviously pleased with this development. They were probably a party to this move, though nobody wants to talk about it today. The Devanagari camp did not speak out over the injustice caused to the widely used Romi script. Is this not engendering divisions within a language?
Later, in the 1990s, the issue of language in Goa took an even more bizarre turn. The Medium of Instruction was changed, allowing for only 'regional' languages such as Devanagari Konkani or Marathi to get government funding.
This saw Devanagari Konkani supporters conveniently join cause with their supposedly sworn opponents, Marathi backers, against the interest of minority-run schools. A dispute over primary teachers' salaries was converted into a campaign to foist an unfamiliar script on large sections in Goa. Was this not the creation of further divisions? Why did nobody raise this point then?
But that's not all. Discrimination has been implemented to various sections of the Konkani family in diverse ways.
Romi publications have been deprived government advertising ever since one can remember. The Novem Goem, a Romi script not-for-profit newspaper set up with great idealism in the early 1980s, was deprived of government ads. This happened even before the OLA of 1987 came about, or could be used as an excuse for doing the same. Journalist Paul Fernandes mentioned this in his speech at the Goa Union of Journalists meeting last week.
Vauraddeancho Ixtt faces the same, and is given the excuse that it is a "religious" publication. On the other hand, media close to the politicians in power were given support, on the basis that these were run "in Konkani". But the bias against Romi is all too clear here, and nobody in the Devanagari camp is raising an issue.
Likewise, some of Goa's best singers and actors have been long deprived recognition in their own land. Their work is associated either with Romi or the dialects associated with it. Here, the excuse for their belated recognition (or no recognition) is simply that they are not based in Goa. How blatant can such divisions get?
It is time that Devanagari campaigners shed their biases, treat all as equal, and not foist their own preferences on a diverse, wider community. A script asking for justice is not creating "divisions"; those who allow discrimination to continue very nakedly are doing so themselves.
