Team Herald
MARGAO: The Global Konknni Forum (GKF) and other Konkani script associations are gathering in Mumbai on November 17 for a conference to raise their voice as one against the hegemony of the Devanagari script that they say is being unjustly supported by the Sahitya Akademi. The conference will also press for the inclusion of the Roman script for Konkani in the school curriculum in Goa.
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The sammelan or conference will be held at Mahim Gymkhana, Mumbai. Kennedy Afonso, the President of GKF, criticised the Sahitya Akademi’s “one language, one script” policy, asserting that it was an unfair decision made without considering linguistic criteria. He pointed to the controversial 1981 decision by the Konknni Advisory Board of the Sahitya Akademi, which had chosen Devanagari as the official script for Konkani, allegedly through “chicanery and without consulting the other four Konkani scripts”.
Sahitya Akademi recognises only one Konkani script, while bypassing the four other scripts of Roman, Kannada, Malayalam and Perso-Arabic. Afonso emphasised that this decision ignored the diversity of Konkani and disregarded the rights of users of other scripts.
On the topic of including Romi Konkani in school curricula, Afonso stated that the Goa government should amend the Official Language Act and pass a resolution to introduce Roman script Konkani from Classes I to X. He argued that not doing this is a violation of the fundamental rights of the minority community, specifically the right to preserve their language, script, and culture, as enshrined in Article 29(1) of the Indian Constitution. He accused the Goa government of catering only to the interests of one community in its education policies and the Official Language Act.
The Mumbai event is a precursor to the All India Konkani Maha Sabha scheduled to be held in Goa in January 2025, which aims to bring together all Konkani organisations and advocates for the preservation and promotion of the language in all its forms.
Delegations from the Global Konknni Forum, Mandd Sobhann, Karnataka Konknni Lekhancho Sangh, and several other organisations representing different Konkani scripts have pledged their support for the conference.
