Goa battles to preserve its identity by Arwin Mesquita, UAE

Goa was liberated on December 19, 1961. Over 450 years of Portuguese domination came to an end, Goa became free and a part and parcel of its motherland. Democracy was ushered in. Goans, all of a sudden, found themselves in a completely different situation. They started breathing free air in a democratic atmosphere As a teenager I was witness to the happenings taking place in Goa. Some were pleasant, others disastrous. Soon after Liberation Goan society was vertically divided due to two major issues: (a) Goa's merger into Maharashtra or Goa's preservation as a separate state and (b) the language issue—Konkani or Marathi as Goa's Official language.
The ultimate aim of those who supported the Marathi language as Goa's official language was to merge Goa into Maharashtra. Those who advocated the cause of Konkani as Goa's official language dreamt of preserving Goa as a separate state in the Indian Union.Thus Goans, who had always lived in harmony, without any discrimination of caste, creed and religion, were now pitted against each other to fight a battle and decide whether to preserve Goa and its unique identity by achieving full-fledged statehood or destroy Goa and its unique identity by merging it into Maharashtra.
The first battle among Goans was fought in January 1967 when the only opinion poll in the country was held in Goa by the Indian government. The opinion poll was to decide whether Goa will be merged into Maharashtra or continue as a union territory. Goans overwhelmingly decided against the merger of Goa into Maharashtra and Goa continued as a union territory. However, to achieve statehood for Goa the official language issue had to be solved first. Another conflict began among Goans to attain official language status to Konkani or Marathi.
The language agitation was the largest ever agitation witnessed in the history of Goa. This battle was not fought completely on democratic principles. It was left to the political will of the then ruling Indian National Congress party. This took place in 1987 after almost 20 years of the opinion poll.
By then much water had flown down the Mandovi river. Goa's many political leaders who fought tooth and nail for Marathi and to merge Goa into Maharashtra were now controlling the affairs of the Congress party. It is because of these people that the language agitation turned bitter, bloody and complicated. Although the Congress stood for Konkani, some Congressmen, then an effective lobby able to influence any decision in the Congress, succeeded in granting Marathi language almost the same status. The only difference being Konkani was placed at the first level and Marathi at the second level in Goa's Official Language Act. Whatever may be the interpretation of the Act, Konkani became the official language of Goa in February 1987 and immediately thereafter, Goa was declared a separate state on 30th May, 1987.
If we analyze this brief background, the struggle to make Goa a separate state was mainly to preserve Goa and its identity. Development of the state could have taken place even if it was merged into Maharashtra. If the final aim in achieving statehood for Goa was to preserve and promote Goan identity has that goal been realized?
About 23 years have passed since Goa attained statehood. During these 23 years, what has been the progress record in the preservation of Goa's unique identity for which the elders sacrificed? Are there any specific efforts made by the government to protect Goa's identity? After attaining statehood Goa's political environment was completely polluted due to the misdeeds of some of Goa's politicians. Politicians in Goa became power-hungry, greedy and selfish. They mastered the art of toppling governments and projected Goa as a politically notorious state in the country. They concentrated on developmental projects as such projects helped in their personal development too. In the bargain, they completely forgot the most important aim of all the battles that Goans fought—preservation and promotion of Goan identity.
Konkani language, which is the foundation of Goan identity, has not made any progress in any field in Goa. Educationally it is restricted to very few primary schools compared to Marathi primary schools. The number of English as well as Kannada primary schools is on the rise. In secondary schools and in all other higher educational institutions it is English, which controls the educational scenario. Konkani is being replaced even in households by English because parents feel that the future of their children depends on the knowledge of English alone. The scene at the markets is more disturbing. Non-Goans control the sale of vegetables, fish, etc.
Instead of doing business by speaking the Konkani language they speak in Hindi and Goans carry on their marketing with the help of Hindi. Konkani language—the most important factor of Goan identity—is slowly and systematically being displaced from the Goan soil. Look at the rapid increase in the Goan population. The percentage of non-Goans in Goa is almost 40%. If the same influx trend continues, in another decade, Goans will be a minority in their own state. There has been a serious setback to the promotion of Goan culture.The 40% non-Goans settled in Goa promote not Goan culture, but their own culture among their children. The children from the original Goan families ape western culture. If this is the reality, in what way is Goan identity protected and promoted for posterity? The most important goal of achieving statehood for Goa was the preservation and promotion of Goan culture and in doing so to strengthen Goan identity. Unfortunately this has not taken place because the political will in Goa has completely failed to extract the benefits of statehood for Goa and its identity.