Team Herald
MARGAO: The Global Konknni Forum (GKF) and supporters of the Romi script have raised concerns over the SahityaAkademi’s exclusion of four other scripts from official recognition, particularly questioning the criteria used to nominate Devnagari as the sole official script for Konkani. They have called on the Konknni Advisory Board to justify this decision or make public the standards that led to it.
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During a press conference in Margao, Kennedy Afonso, President of GKF, along with Jose Salvador Fernandes and other members, urged Konkani-speaking enthusiasts to boycott events organised by the SahityaAkademi and the All-India KonknniParishad. They expressed their dismay over the appointment of Fr MousinhoAtaide as the new president of the Parishad, suggesting that this appointment was used to further suppress the Romi supporters.
Afonsocriticised the passage of the Roman script in the Official Language Act (OLA), claiming it violates Article 29(1) of the Constitution, which protects minority rights. He questioned how Fr Ataide could justify this decision, especially when the majority of the Konkani-speaking minority uses Roman script in daily life.
Referring to the Bible, which has been translated into Devanagari script, Afonso challenged Fr Ataide to explain how many Goans can actually read it in Devnagari. GKF went further, daring him to publicly support Devanagari as the script of the minority community and direct churches in Goa to replace the Bible in Roman script with a Devnagari version.
Afonso also questioned the opposition to introducing Roman script Konkani into schools, alleging that there is a concerted effort to suppress the script in favour of Devanagari. “Is the intention to choke and kill the Roman script completely, so that only Devnagari survives?” he asked.
demanding that the Konknni Parishad clarify its stance on the matter.
