Little did the PWD Minister Sudin Dhavlikar know that his one potent and telling remark, ripped open the mind of this government and laid bare a clear harsh reality. Dhavlikar said that the government should withdraw grants to English medium schools immediately.
It also justified completely why “unknown parents of school children” (as the police complaints against them have stated) were forced to take to the streets because this is exactly what they were apprehending. And even as the Chief Minister mentioned that a Catholic parent called and said that they were blocking the roads, because they learnt from a ‘Father (priest), that the government was withdrawing grants for English; Dhavlikar’s comments made those fears come alive.
Look at how appalling Dhavlikar’s comments are. He is a member of the very cabinet which approved the new Medium of Instruction policy which includes grants for schools which have English as a medium of instruction in the primary section. This cabinet decision has not turned into an Act, with the policy going to a select committee, which has caused a massive delay, allowing people like Dhavlikar to even state that grants, promised by the government would be withdrawn. If there was an act, even a Dhavlikar or a Vishnu Wagh wouldn’t have been able to stop prevent grants going to English schools.
The statement of Vishnu Wagh was equally shocking in its tenor, but hardly surprising in its spirit. He said ‘All Hindu MLAs within the BJP have come together and decided to put an end to Diocesan monopoly”. We ask, who gives Vishnu Wagh the right to speak for all Hindus and also Hindu parents, many of whom -including women proudly wearing their mangalsutras- were on the streets for the sake of their children. These parents- including housewives who themselves have not had English education – do not see English as a language of the Church but the language of communication in a modern India. These are parents who are confident that the mother tongue is not so fragile to be broken by English being taught to their child at a primary level. If Vishnu Wagh thinks that Hindu MLAs of the BJP have “decided to put an end to the monopoly of Diocesan education”, many Hindu parents have decided to put an end to the tyranny of a government that seeks to deny them the choice of medium of instruction for their children.
While many felt that the manner in which parents took to the streets, blocked traffic and did not allow commuters to get to work, was simply uncalled for, because the schools were getting grants anyway, albeit without a law, what happened in the Assembly, justified the fears of the parents. The government and many of its MLAs put a communal spin. The Chief Minister indicated that it the ground level feedback was that Priests created confusion in the minds of parents that grants would be withdrawn. And then he said that people who are behind this agitation have a “terrorist mentality”.
If the Chief Minister of this state can’t see the difference between terrorists and terrorised parents, he will understand what happens when hurt turns to anger. And this was manifested in an outpouring of anger by people against their MLAs on Friday morning. In different parts of Goa, local MLAs were stopped and told by their people that unless they tabled the bill for the Act which would sanctify the Medium of Instruction policy, their people power would be on display. What FORCE and every school should not do is refuse to accept any further grants and even try and appeal to the people of Goa to raise funds to give back the grants received so far by each school, from the time the BJP government came to power. They should announce that schools will refuse to accept a single paisa unless the government enacts an Act to enshrine the cabinet policy firmed on MOI.
Mr Laxmikant Parsekar is surprisingly naïve or ignorant of Goa’s history if he thinks that warning the schools of “serious consequences” can quell the voice of parents. It is a people’s agitation which gave Goa its statehood because of which Mr Parsekar is the Chief Minister of Goa. And it is a people’s agitation which ensured that Konkani became Goa’s official language. Now the struggle to get grants for English medium schools is not an attack on Konkani but broad basing the freedom of choice for parents. This is not at the cost of Marathi and Konkani education but it’s a worthy supplement.
It is only people with small minds and hearts who will oppose this. And it does take brave hearts to fight for this.
