Arvind Bhatikar’s absurd reasons for rejecting FORCE’s invitation to a debate at the Lohia Maidan are meant for the birds! Everyone knows that Bhatikar had nothing to say by way of argument. He lost his case even before he made it. What he did not lose was his mindless, thoughtless, and ludicrous reasoning. Bhatikar made a reprehensible show of caste-class arrogance. He would not debate with Savio Lopez because they both came from different privileges. One from the high and mighty IAS class; the other from a simple commoner’s background – just a diploma in Food processing averred Bhatikar. Bhatikar took his bizarre quarrel to even more comical proportions. He would only engage in debate with Smita Irani or the ex-CM or the current CM of Goa. In the case of Irani, he did not offer any rationale for his choice. Why, one wonders, would he want to debate Irani whose own educational credentials add up to a hurried degree in Harvard according to fair reports. Or, for that matter, why engage with Parrikar? CM Parsekar? Of course. He is an educationist and he knows. But Parsekar has made his view known and, has in all probability, debated in the precincts of his own office with the BBSM leaders.
Savio Lopez has, by contrast, emerged as the voice of the people’s aspirations for a future Goa. He has effectively articulated why Goa cannot lag behind as archaic propagandists are asking. And he is a leader asked to be the champion of parents, teachers, and large parts of civil society who care about the future of Goa. Lopez has one thing going for him – he is not guided by self-interest.
Bhatikar buttresses his claim to be the master and know-all of educational policy because of his work experience in formulating educational policy in his IAS days. Up until now, google does not illustrate this claim even once. So, one is left to wonder at what seems to be a loud boast rather than a sound base to lay claim to having an informed opinion.
Fears are that Bhatikar and his ilk may only sully the communal balance with their outbursts. They have threatened to bring down the government. They may not have the mass base for that and, at best, can destabilize the government which may have taken a balanced and objective view of the situation. But a cornered tiger can be desperate and dangerous.
The policy on MOI is not about peripheral claims and counter claims. It is about the future of generations of young Goans who need to come out of their education equipped with a competitive edge in a globalized world. If Konkani and Marathi is all they are going to be able to cope with in any degree of confidence, they will be confined to the narrow confines of Goa. Goa itself will be condemned to functioning within narrow margins. Imagine generations of Goans unable to interface with the world outside because they were handicapped by language barriers, in this case without fluency in the one language, English, that interlinks the world.
What the BBSM is proposing may amount to parochialism. It will result in a small and elite club of private education entrepreneurs snatching privilege because children who study in their institutions will be the small and privileged English speaking class. The Goans who may get compelled to stick with Marathi and Konkani will remain in subservient jobs. Imagine, going up to Higher Secondary and lacking in fluent English. Higher education avenues are closed.
Clearly Bhatikar had few choices. He would have been forced to eat humble pie in a debate where Savio Lopez held the moral high ground as well as the popular sentiment – cutting across religious, ethnic and class boundaries. Bhatikar would have left the Lohia Maidan defeated. Little wonder he assumed an air of superiority while ignoring the truth that his spurious arguments in favour of Marathi-Konkani had little substance.
Having said this, it must be emphasized that Konkani and Marathi need not be done away with. Konkani is the language of all Goans. It must be respected and promoted in all spheres of life – not just in education. It is the sole instrument of identity for the Goans as a people. Marathi may be less used but it remains a language of richness and depth in terms of literature, as does Konkani.
English or Konkani-Marathi is not a matter of either-or. It is about being prudent and far-sighted. It must be a non-negotiable principle and policy to promote English education as an avenue of being globally included. Simultaneously, it must be the endeavor of government to affirm Konkani and Marathi as languages which signify the particularity of what Goan traditions and heritage are. This two-step approach will shun parochialism which, if perpetuated in any social thinking, could become the bane of Goa’s future.
The government seems to have got it right. And so have the people at large. Those who wish to be at the periphery must be welcomed to the mass of enlightened people in society. If they choose the darkness, they do so at their own peril.
