POINGUINIM: A strong mob of 50 Kannada activists from Ankola placed Karnataka flags along the residence of Konkani activists and allegedly vandalized the residence of Konkani Sanskruti Mandal President Usha Rane and other Konkani activists on November 1 (Karnataka Statehood day).
It may be stated that Karwar district is inhabited by Konkani-speaking people of Goan origin as such social activists of Goan origin led by Usha Rane, Ulhas Naik Desai, Shankar Revankar and others have been demanding for the merger of Karwar, Supa and Joida talukas with Goa.
Konkani speaking locals claim that these three talukas are as per history and documents belong to Goa and that they should be merged with Goa. They are spearheading the agitation with Karnataka and Goa states and have approached the Supreme Court with the merger of Konkani-speaking areas of Karnataka with Goa.
Chittakula Police led by PSI Uma Mahesh detained the Konkani activists and after the intervention of the locals, the Karwar SP diffused the tension by releasing the Konkani agitators, who blocked the roads for over three hours as a mark of protest on 1st November.
Efforts to contact Chittakula PSI Uma Mahesh failed, as PSI Mahesh was not available for his comments. His subordinates also refused to divulge any of the details of the detention of the Konkani-speaking people of this region.
Meanwhile, attack on Usha Rane’s residence by Kannada activists has evoked strong resentments with the people of Karwar, where over 80 per cent of the people are hailing from Goa and are Konkani speaking.
According to sources, the Konkani activists have called for a meeting after the Diwali celebrations. When contacted, Ulhas Naik Desai, of Goan origin, claimed that he has all the documentary evidence that the bordering regions of Karnataka belong to Goa.
“We don’t want to encroach on Goa territory, but want to be identified as Goans living at Karwar in their past glory,” stated Desai. Businessmen and locals consisting of many Konkani, Marathi and Kannada speaking people, who have made Karwar as their permanent abode, said that they want their identity with Goa and Goans.
Shankar Revankar, a businessman from Karwar, said their deities (Kul Dev) are in Goa, while many of the deities of Goans are located at Karwar, Idgunji, Joida and Supa. Revankar further said Portuguese ruled from Anjediva Island and Karwar to Goa. “This island now taken over by the Navy is still an integral part of Goa from where the Goa border begins,” he added. (HD)
1 comments:
We Goans are a very tolerant people my nature, we have excepted all the ghanti languages in Goa. But in the Ghanti state Konkani activists get attacked and yet our ministers do not raise concern. Attack on Konkani lovers is an attack on Goans as a whole.
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