There is no reason why other dialects of Konkani cannot be cherished and accepted, and written in the Romi script too
Nearly four decades after Goa's Official Language Act was passed, the summer of discontent over it seems to be never ever getting over. Devanagari Konkani supporters seem more or less placated with the law, while Marathi campaigners have only occasionally raised an issue. But the Romi issue still stays like an unhealed wound.
Ironically enough, this pertains to a section of the language campaigners who were the most invested, the most anguished, and the most consistent in terms of battling for a place under the Goan sun for the region's most widely spoken language. Not just spoken, it's the language Goa sings in, acts in, fights in and often prays in too.
Even more ironically, when recognition came, the Official Language Act, 1987, said that "Konkani language” means Konkani language in Devanagari script". This effectively disinherited the world of Romi Konkani, which is much more than just a script.
Together with the script, out of the window went centuries of literature, history, and community knowledge. Similarly discredited and disinherited were the dialects that were connected to the Romi script.
Because of the way history and geography work in Goa, it cannot be denied that certain dialects are connected to certain scripts. For example, the now dominant Antruzi dialect from the Ponda area is what mostly gets used with the Devanagari script. No surprise that those not familiar with this dialect would find Devanagari quite alien to read and comprehend, and not for reasons of script alone.
Romi, for long, has come to be associated with the Bardezi dialect. As its name suggests, it is from the region of Bardez. The fact that so many Bardez migrants at one time ended up in Bombay cemented this link. (This city undeniably shaped the fate of Konkani for many decades, right through tiatrs, periodicals and even individuals like Shenoy Goembab, who himself wrote in Romi at one stage though not from the Bardez region).
But there is no reason why other dialects of Konkani cannot be cherished and accepted, and written in the Romi script too. We just need an open mind over this. This is true in the case of Saxtti as well. Rather, especially Saxtti.
For some reason, the dialect from the heartland of Konkani speakers is today looked down and frowned upon. To reduce Saxtti to the language of the comedian (and comedienne) in the Konkani tiatr is patently unfair. But, in actual fact, from the 15th to 17th centuries, it was Salcete Konkani which was considered the standard version of Konkani. If you have any doubt, take a look at the books published and manuscripts written in those times.
There is no reason why the Konkani language cannot be more accommodating in accepting its various scripts and dialects. Also, to be logically consistent, we cannot want official status for one or two scripts, but not for others. Or, for one or two associated dialects (by implications), while keeping the rest out in the cold.
So, when a Pratapsing Rane asks -- somewhat rhetorically, as he is remembered to having done -- which Konkani would be accepted as official, he should be squarely told that all are branches of the same tree, and equally acceptable and legit.
Just because elite communities speak some form of Konkani, it doesn't become more valued, or less rich and desirable when spoken by subaltern and humble groupings. The Gawdi Konkani (recently the subject of a PhD thesis by Prof Denis Vaz) deserves as much study and respect, as does that spoken by the Saraswat or Christian Bamon/Chardo. Likewise, the diversity reflected over varied geographies needs acceptance.
After the 1987 celebrations, Goa forgot to bother about how the Official Language Act serves (or doesn't serve, and acts counterproductive to) the region.
Our lawmakers of those times need to be given credit for a law which is almost wholly unimplementable. One which just pulls wool over everyone's eyes, while pretending to do a lot of good.
For instance, the Official Language Act seems to have nobody wanting to implement it. This is not really surprising given the way it played favourites among scripts (and, as a consequence, dialects).
The Act specifies that the Government will notify the date from which Konkani will be used for which official purpose. But, for the last quarter century, not a single notification in this regard has appeared, as has been pointed out.
At the same time, the government is fraudulently misinterpreting a definition that pertains to, and is contained in, the Act. The law states: "Konkani means the Konkani language written in the Devanagari script." This means that wherever the word 'Konkani' appears it should be read as "Konkani Language written in the Devanagari script." But the government mischievously interprets it to say that any matter purporting to be Konkani, but written in a script other than Devanagari, will not be accepted officially as Konkani even if it is related to literary, social, cultural, mass communication, etc.
There are other ways in which the diverse groups are being disadvantaged and dis-entitled in the State.
Section 3(1) of the Goa Official Language Act, 1987, lays down that: "Provided further that the Government shall not, in granting aid to any educational or cultural institution, discriminate against such institution only on the ground of language." But what the reality is, we all know, including going by the chief minister's recent statements.
Even more serious is the issue of to what extent are the provisions of Article 29(1) of the Constitution of India applicable to Goa.
This Article of the Indian Constitution lays down: "Any section of the citizens residing in the territory of India or any part thereof having a distinct language, script or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the same." So, what happens to the non-Devanagari scripts (and associated dialects) of Konkani in the context of this right?
The website endangeredalphabets.net explains it well. It says: "If something is important, we write it down. Yet 85% of the world's writing systems are on the verge of vanishing -- not granted official status, not taught in schools, discouraged and dismissed. When a culture is forced to abandon its traditional script, everything it has written for hundreds of years -- sacred texts, poems, personal correspondence, legal documents, the collective experience, wisdom and identity of a people -- is lost."
Language death is the process by which a language dies out due to a voluntary language shift by its speakers. Linguicide, by contrast, is when an agent is involved in causing the death of languages.
Let it not be said that 21st century Goa was responsible for the linguicide of its language by stifling and killing the diversity that Konkani has long been known for.
