BICHOLIM: The Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch (BBSM) has demanded that the BJP MLAs either stop grants to English medium schools by June or resign by October 2.
Speaking at a meeting that was attended by around 2,000 people, in Sanquelim Saturday, BBSM convener Subhash Velingkar criticised former chief minister Manohar Parrikar and the BJP government saying they had cheated the people on the MoI issue.
“We have given two ultimatums: that of June to stop grants to English medium schools or October 2 for the resignation of the MLAs for failure to fulfill their promise,” Velingkar said adding, “There is no change in national policy regarding MoI, except in Nagaland and Mizoram. We trusted the statements and promises of the BJP, but they have traded on the issue of MoI. The BJP did not fulfill the assurances given to the people before the elections.”
He warned that if their demands were not fulfilled, they would intensify their agitation.
BBSM member Ratnakar Lele said that the government always gave false promises on the MoI and called upon the people to show their strength to the government at the next election.
Calling the BJP’s statements as ‘drama’, Pundalik Nayak said that all the MLAs speak what has been prompted to them by Parrikar when he comes to Goa during the weekends.
He said that the parents could choose the MoI, but BBSM wanted the government to stop grants to English medium schools.
“Parents should think about what type of culture they want. English has given a destructive culture. A child is molded in primary school, and so parents should support the local language and give them education in their mother tongue,” said Anil Samant.
