PONDA: The Marathi Rajyabasha Samity (MRS) President G R Davlikar demanded that Romi Konkani be given official language status along with Marathi and Devnagri. He said these changes would end the language controversy.
“Giving recognition and official language status to Romi will help preserve the Goan Identity. In my view, there could be more than one official language,” he said.
He said that Romi has a rich history of 400 years and is used by Catholics for long, while Marathi is also being used for the past 700 years as “rightly pointed out by MLA Vishnu Wagh.”
Since Catholics use Romi, it should be given official status and Romi Konkani script be given recognition.
Quoting the Constitution of India, he said, “Subject to the provisions of Article 346 and 347, the Legislature of a State may by law adopt any one or more of the languages in use in the State or Hindi as the language or languages to be used for all or any of the official purposes of that State: Provided that, until the Legislature of the State otherwise provides by law, the English language shall continue to be used for those official purposes within the State for which it was being used immediately before the commencement of this Constitution.”
Asking the BJP to come clean on the language issue, Davlikar said a lot of migrant workers come here and Marathi would enable them to live easily.
Lauding MGP MLA Lavoo Mamladar for supporting the Marathi cause, Davlikar urged him to stand firm on his support for the language.
He condemned Congress leader and former chief minister Luizino Faleiro, for stating that Marathi supporters were raising the issue of official language in a bid to polarise Goans ahead of the elections.
Madusudan Chari urged Faleiro to demand official language status for Romi Konkani along with Devnagri and Marathi.
Shanudas Sawant said BJP leaders must come clean on the matter and not treat it as a poll plank.
