TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: The surprise element during the last week’s Assembly session was the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and Deputy CM Francis D’Souza voicing their concern about the survival of the Konkani language.
Parrikar in fact said that Konkani would die out in 10 years if English continued to dominate. He also pointed out that Marathi would prosper as it is spoken by 10-11 crore people in neighbouring Maharashtra.
“If we don’t pay attention, it (Konkani) will come to an end in 10 years… English will finish Konkani. It (English) cannot finish Marathi unless Maharashtra wants it to end. The language is spoken from Mumbai to Belgaum to Hubli and Karwar. Their dialect differs but it is spoken by 10-11 crore people,” he told the House.
He added that since Konkani is not spoken outside Goa expect a few parts of Mangalore, it will meet a deadly fate if the mother-tongue language is not encouraged among the people of Goa.
Supporting the Chief Minister’s statement, D’Souza echoed similar view urging people to communicate in Konkani.
“We should communicate in Konkani rather than just making a noise over giving it preference. Only then, the language will survive. Some people speak in Konkani and suddenly switch over to Portuguese language,” he said.
