Nagesh Karmali, Arvind Bhatikar and Uday Bhembre, the three self-styled preservers of Goan culture, despite being far removed from today’s Goan reality, won’t know where to look. Their very own – or so they thought – Sudin Dhavlikar of the MGP, has been bitten by the reality bug, and in a very welcome sign, endorsed grants for all schools in the primary section for all languages, including Church schools which do not get grants.
While the statement was made casually, there is nothing casual when it comes to the significance of these remarks. Dhavlikar and his party have traditionally been the first family of those seeking for firstly a greater place for Marathi as a language in Goa and secondly promoting the regional language and the mother tongue in primary schools. His remarks on Monday, on the sidelines of a government function, seeks to, very admirably, separate the issue of grants with culture. Dhavlikar, at long last and irrespective of political exigencies, has spoken the languages of parents and not of bigots. And he has finally nailed the so-called MoI debate for what it is – no debate at all. While Herald played the recording of his comments in Margao, admittedly in disbelief, Dhavlikar’s remarks were clear leaving no scope for confusion. Let’s reproduce it again “I am of an opinion that we can give grants to all the schools as the number of schools are running without grants. I am not against anybody, let us have grants to all, 30-35 schools of Church also still don’t get grants”.
The last sentence is also not without extreme significance. Play this against a shocking and criminally divisive comment made by Nagesh Karmali, who is known as a “freedom fighter”, just a day ago. He said that the Church in Goa is doing what the Portuguese could not do to finish Indian culture.
Speaking after releasing a book, written by fellow self-proclaimed preserver of Goan culture, Uday Bhembre, Karmali said, “The suppression by Church today is much larger than the way Portuguese suppressed it in the 16th and 17th century”.
Bhembre wasn’t far behind. He said, “Time has come for the 75 per cent to rise up against the domination of 25 per cent Goans” without elaborating whom he was referring to. “The whole Goan society is ailing with chronic disease and surgery is the only solution to it, not simple treatment”, he added.
The unfair and boorish – and of course – down right disturbing and communal remarks, need to be fathomed. The firm of Karmali and Bhembre (with former IAS officer Arvind Bhatikar doing an obvious encore) have reacted to a simple issue of parents across all faith and income strata, wanting the freedom of choosing the medium of instruction for their children, by accusing the Church of oppressing Goan society.
The Church may have a lot to answer for and it surely will but no sane element in Goa and more so, thousands of parents, who have perhaps not seen the inside of a church except on solemn occasions, as invitees, will say that MoI is a church driven issue. No, it’s a parent driven one.
Sudin Dhavlikar always knew it. And perhaps it is a sign of the changing times that even Sudin Dhavlikar needs to take a practical pro-parents view sensing how strong these fault lines are. The BJP, which claims to have political sense, should draw lessons from this. The medium of instruction issue can unite the whole of Goa against the BJP and if the MGP decides to be with parents, rather than with the narrow world view of culture espoused by the Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch, BJP’s political isolation will be complete. And it can’t then blame the Church for it. Nor can it blame a Nagesh Karmali alone. Those who live by the Karmali, Bhatikar and Bhembre ideology will perish by adapting this ideology.
