A couple of educated gentlemen, with at least one of them having standing in society as a litterateur and scholar and other a retired IAS officer, who runs a English medium school, have taken upon themselves to acquire a patent for intellectualism. They are Mr Uday Bhembre and Mr Arvind Bhatikar.
Mr Bhembre has every right to call himself an intellectual. But he must understand that a man’s reservoir of intellect starts shrinking, the moment he insults, ridicules and obliterates other voices, opposed to him which resonate the will of countless people. As the movement in favour of giving a choice to parents to decide the medium of instruction for their children grows, both Bhatikar and the BBSM have emerged as the proxy voices of the BJP to restart the movement to polarize people by demanding a stoppage for grants for English primary schools and stifling the right of parents to choose.
While this is shameful that both Bhatikar and Bhambre are out of sync with Goan parents who have and will continue to exercise the right of the choosing the medium of instruction for their children in primary government schools aided by the state, Mr Bhembre has even gone against the decision of his son of admitting his daughter in an English language private school. But while Bhembre’s son may be privileged and has decided to exercise his and his wife’s choice, there are many parents who may not be able to afford private primary education in English. That is where the state must step in as the previous Digambar Kamat government had done and the new Manohar Parrikar government had continued with.
What kind of intellectuals are Mr Bhembre and Mr Bhatikar, who are demanding that a government they are now tacitly batting for, go back on their cabinet decision on giving grants to English medium schools and not introduce a bill, pending for over three years. They are openly calling for the government to reject and go back on its public assurance to Savio Lopes, the convenor of Forum for the Right of Children in Education (FORCE) that a bill would be introduced in this winter session of the assembly, to seal the decision of the cabinet to give grants to schools for English schools, which are already receiving grants.
But the sudden awakening of the Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch (BBSM) of which Bhembre and Bhatikar are leading lights, is purely political. The ruling BJP is looking for even a crack in the window to stop inking that bill which would give grants to English medium schools. Its polarisation project would get a severe jolt, if it continued with grants to English medium schools – read diocesan schools run by the Church. It is therefore using its “puppets” (the word used by Bhembre to describe FORCE convenor Savio Lopes in an interview to Herald Review), Uday Bhembre and Arvind Bhtikar to target Savio Lopes, the Diocesan schools and the Council for Social Justice and Peace to try and polarize an issue, which is and can only be about choice of parents and not language and culture.
One must now dwell upon the extreme and disgusting arrogance displayed by Arvind Bhatikar, former Chairman of MPT and Uday Bhembre towards Savio Lopes. Before we play what they said, Both Mr Bhatikar and Bhembre, must sort out the confusion in their heads, that “so called intellectuals and literary people” have the mandate to think and decide for the future of Goa’s children. Thousands of parents, cutting across religious lines and including those who do not send their children to church schools, speak the same language of Savio Lopes. And look what Uday Bhembre had to say about Savio Lopes in his interview to Herald. “Savio is nobody in Goa in the world of intellects and literary people. He has rushed back from the ship and made a front for the Church. The Church wants to safe guard the interest of its Diocesan Schools and speaks through the Diocesan Schools forum or the Council for Social Justice and Peace and now through its puppet Savio. He’s a front of the Bishop.”
Herald asks Mr Bhembre this: “Do people who rush back home from ships, do not have the right to speak on behalf of countless other parents who wish for the choice of deciding on their children’s education, as Lopes does?” Bhembre and Bhatikar and their masters in the BBSM and the Goa government can continue to sit on their pseudo intellectual high horses. But the right of parents to chose is not a pseudo intellectual one. It’s a very simple one.
Now look at what Mr Bhatikar says about Lopes. “Savio is neither qualified nor has experience in the field of education. He has a diploma in Food Technology from a government polytechnic institute and has worked for many years on cruise ships. I have considerable experience in implementation of educational policies during my career as an IAS officer.” Sadly Mr Bhatikar’s IAS education hasn’t taught him the basics of education. Even illiterate parents with a dream to educate their child in a language they chose need to be protected and helped by the state. And Savio Lopes speaks for all parents who have the heart to make the right choice for their children and don’t need the help of degrees for this.
Bhatikar and Bhembre should hang their heads in shame for insulting countless parents of Goa.
