Team Herald
MARGAO: Raising concerns over the Official Language Act 1987, the Global Konknni Forum (GKF) has deemed it a ‘communal act’ enacted with the intent to marginalise the Roman script used for Konkani by the Catholic community in Goa.
The Forum has demanded that the Act be amended in the forthcoming Assembly session to introduce Roman Script in schools, asserting that the Act, violates fundamental rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution.
In the press release, GKF president Kennedy Afonso said that the Act was introduced by certain communal elements in the government at that time to impose the Devanagari script as the only recognised script for Konkani.
This decision, the Forum claims, has effectively excluded 35% of the Goan Catholic community from their right to equality as citizens. The Act deprives children of the right to study Konkani in the script of their choice, denies them government job opportunities, and hampers the recognition of Roman script writers and authors, thereby stifling the growth of Konkani literature in Roman script.
“The Official Language Act is ‘anti-national and bad in law’ as it contradicts the tenets of equality enshrined in Article 14 of the Indian Constitution and violates Article 29 (1), which protects the rights of minorities to preserve their language, script, and culture,” stated Afonso.
“It is the fundamental right of the minority community to protect their script, and the government has a duty to ensure these rights are upheld. Our elected representatives, especially those from the minority community, must stand against this ongoing discrimination that has persisted for 36 years.”
The GKF announced its plan to present a draft bill to all MLAs soon, seeking an amendment to the Official Language Act to include Roman Script Konkani in schools starting from the next academic year.
The Forum emphasised that the new National Educational Policy (NEP) does not impose any particular language or script on anyone and argues that Roman script Konkani should be offered as a subject in schools, allowing students the freedom to choose which script they wish to learn.
The Forum has highlighted the adverse impact of the Official Language Act on minority students, who, despite being forced to learn Devanagari in schools, struggle to grasp it. This challenge was illustrated recently in a government job examination conducted in Konkani, where all 25 minority students who appeared for the test, failed, resulting in all positions being filled by candidates from the majority community or those from outside the State, the Forum pointed out.
The GKF challenged the government’s claim that it is supporting Roman Script Konkani by providing grants to the Dalgado Konkani Akademi (DKA), a private institution. Afonso argued that such funding does little to develop the orthography, grammar, or school textbooks needed for Roman Script Konkani.
“On the contrary, giving grants to DKA has weakened the cause of Roman Konkani,” he said, adding, “The government should redirect these funds to develop textbooks from Class 1 to Class X, ensuring the survival and growth of the Roman script for future generations.”
GKF continues to advocate for the inclusion of Roman script Konkani in the education system and urges the government and its representatives to act in favour of protecting the cultural and linguistic rights of the minority community in Goa.