The MoI seems to a contentious issue for Manohar Parrikar, and more complicated than when the Hon CM was Leader of the Opposition. The promise by him to find a solution by June 4, to please all parents sends a chill down my spine. Whatever solution he comes out with cannot please all. And if it has the backing of the BBSM then all hell break loose. We wonder if FORCE is still in existence. This issue is so delicate that any wrong decision taken by our CM can have far reaching repercussions and complications for his government. Parents have already given their opinion in writing in support of English. And if the CM is still in doubt, about taking a decision then having another Opinion Poll in Goa should be considered. The mighty have been crushed during the last elections, but they are just waiting for an issue to show their ugly head again in society.
If educationists believe that children’s primary education should be essentially in their mother tongue, let there be no discrimination between the ‘haves and have nots’, the rich and the poor, the aided and the unaided! Let all the children study in their mother tongue during their elementary stage of learning. Let there be no choice for any of the parents. Money should not be a barrier for our children to get the best of education. And mind you, who decides which language is our mother-tongue if we prefer English or Portuguese or Spanish to speak in our homes. Can we say these languages are our mother tongues? Let us show an example to the world that we are not hypocrites by using English wherever we go and even when we name our pets and when we call our dogs, but when it comes to MoI we have to surrender ourselves to our political obligations.
Parents for English want justice to be done to them and their children and no court judgment can prevent that. Let’s forget for a moment what the politicians, the educationists or the learned judges have to say and just think of what is best for our children. Let us not deprive our children of the best education possible because of our egos or our commitments. Our children are the future of Goa and our country. Konkani or Marathi will always remain close to our hearts in our homes, but with English our children have to explore the world to the fullest. Dear Chief Minister, please allow our children to remember you as the one who was the best! Don’t let our children remember you as the betrayer whom we falsely trusted.
