It was interesting to read in the People’s Edit column the open letter addressed to Defence Minister, by Audumbar Govekar. Firstly he showers immense praises on Manohar Parrikar on his elevation to the high position of Defence Minister by PM Modi, on account of his several capabilities and virtues. However later he castigates him for his and BJP government’s utter failure on various fronts such as tolerance for zero-corruption, inefficiency in executing and timely completion of developmental projects, financial mismanagement by PWD and GSIDC and so on and lastly famous U-turn in solving the issue of MoI.
By and large his analysis of Goa government’s overall performance is correct. Finally referring to the problem of MoI he poses a peculiar question.”Is MoI in Germany, France, Italy, Portugal, China, Korea ……. English?”. To this I would like to provide him with a simple but comprehensive answer. None of these countries have ever been under the rule or influence of British Empire. On the other hand, India, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Kenya, Tanzania, West Indies, etc., have been ruled or colonized by the British for hundreds of years and therefore after they have gained independence (including India) have adopted English as one of the official languages as well as the medium of instruction or provided the parents the option to choose English as medium of instruction at primary level along with some other languages
As for the countries like Germany, France, Portugal, Brazil, China, Japan ,Taiwan, Korea etc, on realization of global importance of English, their respective governments have encouraged educational institutions by giving handsome financial incentives to open and run English medium schools and enable their people to learn and master English language. It is very disappointing to note that nowhere in the world English language as MoI is facing so much opposition and hostility as in Goa, purely for political and egoistic reasons.
Let’s hope that better sense prevails in the near future.
