Goans fought a violent battle to make Konkani our mother tongue the official language and as a result Goa got its statehood on linguistic basis giving opportunity to forty aspiring politicians to become legislators every five years. Marathi was not given this position as the official language of Goa though the language Act provided that Marathi could also be used for official purposes. It was not an insult to Marathi as Marathi was considered already a most developed Indian language and a mother tongue and official language of another neighboring state Maharashtra.
The then legislators found it prudent to make Konkani the official language spoken by 99 percent Goans in their homes as the official language of the state in the official Language Act so as to patronize and develop it to protect and preserve our cultural identity.
The recent oath taking ceremony of the Laxmikant Parsekar Ministry has exposed the hollowness of the presently elected representatives of Goa especially the north Goa MLA’s towards the official language of Goa. Out of the ten ministers, eight of them have taken the oath in Marathi with the exception of Francisco D’ Souza and Mrs. Alina Saldanha taking the oath in English. All of them forgot that Goa as a state has given them the opportunity to become ministers and it is Konkani which requires their patronage to protect, preserve and promote Goa’s cultural image.
Protocol makes it imperative for atleast the heads of Government to patronize the official language on such auspicious occasion. It appears that our present elected representatives feel shy to speak in their mother tongue but do not feel guilty to enjoy the privileges it offers them. At least the incumbent chief minister should have taken the oath in Konkani. It is very sad to see that our ministers cannot read Konkani even in Devnagri text though they can read the Marathi text.
Blue blooded Goans should feel ashamed of this episode as a mindless and ruthless behavior of our elected representatives who have no concern for Goa , its culture, language and heritage. I request our representative to take note and correct themselves in future. You are elected by Goans in Goa and not in Maharashtra and all Goans can speak and understand Konkani in any form whether it is Devnagri or Romi. We should not only preach that Konkani is our mother tongue we must practice and strive to use it in day today affairs and develop it.
