I had the good fortune of witnessing different events that touched profoundly the lives of Goans in many interesting ways.
Liberation Day, Statehood Day and Konkani Day.
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Certainly each of these days are important and are also significant in their own ways. Liberation Day would have happened sooner or later because it was backed by the powerful Indian Armed Forces.
However the Statehood Day and declaration of Konkani as Goa’s Official Language would never have happened, had it not been if the historical Opinion Poll Day held on January 16, 1967, did not take place.
Undoubtedly the Opinion Poll’s outcome was very critical and defined the future course that Goa and Goans would be subjected to. Had Opinion Poll failed than there would be no question of having Goa Statehood Day, as Goa would have been just one more district of the giant state of Maharashtra. There wouldn’t be a Chief Minister heading a Cabinet of Ministers, nor a Governor appointed by the Centre, but just a District Collector as the head of Goa’s administration. Our Mother Tongue Konkani would never have attained the official status. Marathi would have been the official language of Goa and Goans would have been a minority in the state of Maharashtra.
Thanks to the positive outcome of Opinion Poll, Goa’s history took a completely different turn, from just an Union Territory to a full-fledged State having a complete autonomous administrative setup with the election of its own representatives for the Goa Assembly and elected members to Indian Parliament.
Unfortunately, inspite of all these immense benefits accrued as a result of successful Opinion Poll, successive administrations that followed downplayed its importance or just paid some lip service without giving any serious importance to this historical event.
Truly speaking Opinion Poll should have been a public holiday and all the Goans who had fought gallantly to make the Opinion Poll a reality should have been remembered and received public meritorious accolades.
Fortunately there are still many Goans including this newspaper, who realised the importance and significance of Opinion Poll and are still trying vehemently year after year to perpetuate it’s memory and legacy.
At this moment it’s relevant to remember Dr Jack Siqueira, also popularly known as the father of Opinion Poll, whose brilliant idea was responsible to have an official opinion poll conducted across Goa to decide the fate of Goa’s political future. That is to find whether Goa should remain as a separate entity or merge into Maharashtra. Surprisingly the party in power that time Maharashtrawadi Gomantak headed by late Dayananda Bandodkar decided to support strongly the merger of Goa into Maharashtra.
Finally it is really sad to note that none of the great projects that have been coming into existence in Goa, have never been named after this eminent Goan Dr Jack Siqueira nor his statue erected in any of the prominent places. Hopefully this trend will change with time.
