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The Diversionary and Divisive The Konkani Script
Contra Tu
a TGF editorial
[Goans who are
involved in the movement to preserve the Romi script for the
Konkani they love, should make it a point to read Prof Alok
Rai's Hindi Nationalism. It is available at the Other
Indian Book Store in Mapuça or on line from GoaCom.
The similarity of the Konkani hijack with the Hindi hijack is
striking. Even the role of business is similar.]
The learned Goa University professor Nandkumar Kamat writes that
Kokna tribals were the original inhabitants of the Konkan[1].
They now live in Maharashtra and Gujarat and speak 'Kokni". We
do not know what script they followed, nor for that matter IF
they had a script at all. What Professor Kamat tells us however, is that
modern Konkani doesn't have even hundred words from "Kokni" the
language of the original Kokna tribals of Goa.
There are other tribals in Goa called the Kunbis and Gavdas.
Tribals are the original natives. They are NOT of Aryan descent. If they did speak Kokni /Konkani before
they were sent packing into the hills and elsewhere by the Aryans
settlers (most likely
the Saraswats), it is hardly likely that their Kokni/Konkani was of
Aryan origin. Besides, it is impossible that the tribals
(who were treated as outcastes by the Aryans) had any
access to Devanagri, (the script of the Aryans) before the
Aryan Saraswats came and took over their land. It might be of
relative interest to ascertain who/what exactly caused the
original Kokna tribals to leave Goa. Couldn't have been
the dreaded Portuguese Inquisitors nor the over zealous Jesuits
(mentioned in the postings of Prof Borges on GoaNet and
Goa-Goans) .
The Jesuits who are much and often unnecessarily maligned,
usually
by disgruntled ex-Jesuits, arrived in Goa several centuries later.
With that in
mind, the learned and very articulate Miguel Braganza may be correct (GoaNet Nov 5, 2005).
If anything, the script of the original Kokni speaking tribals
of Goa may have been "Goykannadi" not 'Devanagri'.
Their (the
original) Kokni/Konkani most likely was Dravidian or Austric in origin, and not
Aryan.
Food for
thought - something the communal element among the Saraswats may
wish to chew upon.
TGF believes that the Saraswats not only displaced the Kunbis
and Koknas in and from Goa and horrendously discriminated against them via
the caste system [2], they also usurped
the name of the language Konkani while placing their own language
in situ. The mercilessly subjugated natives of Goa had no
recourse to disagree. They were relegated to the bottom of the totem pole as Sudras and Achooths (the untouchables). All this courtesy the
sanction of the Aryan religion most appropriately referred to as
Brahmanism.
What Cheek!
History is replete with examples of people
who plagiarise, impose, steal, usurp and basically Revise ( lie about
) it all to suit themselves. And we
have two extremes helping these linguistic thieves: Business
interests, politicians, selective historians, embittered
ex-intellectuals on one side, and the naive proletariat who may or may not
speak nor able to read the language on the other.
In Konkani's case, it appears that some who do not even speak
Konkani (let alone, are able to read the Devanagri script) are among
the prominent opponents of the Romi Script for Konkani. TGF could
understand their support for the Devanagri script - even if it
was for politically expedient reasons. What TGF does not
understand is their near fanatic opposition to the Romi
script which has been used by the vast majority of those who
fought to save Konkani from the clutches of the Marathi
lobby.
Many of these
alleged pro-Konkani folks have a record of having supported the
pro-Maharashtra (pro Marathi) MG Party of Dayanand Bandodkar.
Perhaps, they were unaware that the pro Marathi lobby was
working against Konkani, calling it a mere dialect of Marathi -
not worthy of a status of an officially recognised language.
The way these alleged pro-Konkani folks are carrying on, they
will succeed in converting Konkani into exactly that - a
perfectly unpleasant sounding nasal dialect of Marathi
which is
a beautiful language.
A similar coup took place in late 19th century North and
Central India when the 'Hindiwallahs'
with the help of the then British Lt. Governor Anthony MacDonnell
cleverly replaced the Urdu-Hindi spoken by the vast majority of
Hindu & Muslims with Nagri-Hindi spoken by the business class of
Hindus[3]. And they very cleverly called it Hindi. Then
went about the business of imposing it in the Devanagri Script -
The Persian Script in which Urdu-Hindi was also written having
been decapitated as a "foreign script". And of course, there was
that need for "One Country, One Language, One Script" and
"Standardization. !! Sounds familiar?
Anyway ...
Bollywood and most educated Indians have done a brilliant number on the Hindiwallahs.
They have shunned the so called "pure Hindi" and developed
their own patois known as Hinglish. The popular demand is
either for the original Urdu or Hinglish. That has become
the lingua franca of the Bollywood films. Unfortunately,
while this renaissance took its time to evolve, India had
to suffer the troubles that befell religiously sensitive
Universities in Banaras, Aligarh and Dacca, and the DMK
nearly succeeded in breaking off the South Indian States from the Republic.
Hindi was hijacked, says Delhi University's Prof Alok Rai, to serve the agendas of the
upper castes [4]. The polarisation which resulted among
Hindus and Muslims as a result of Urdu-Hindi's degradation into
an artificial language far removed from common speech but called
Hindi, exists till this day. The 'Hindiwallahs' even castigated
Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister for openly
declaring that Urdu was his language.
Is Hindu Catholic discord what the alleged Konkani Mogis among the Saraswats have
in mind for Goan Hindus and Catholics ? Perhaps!
Prof Alok Rai noted that when Gandhi came and talked about Hindi
becoming the language of the national movement, he was speaking
about one kind of Hindi. When Tandon in 1945 says: I am sorry, I
cannot stop you from leaving the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan -
something has happened to Hindi. There is another Hindi that has
taken its place. Something has changed in the nature of Hindi.
We should spare a thought for the average Goan who fought in the
Konkani struggle, always spoke Konkani at home and still speaks
Konkani with his ageing parents. Aurora Couto notwithstanding,
that average Goan does not understand this contrived and imposed Konkani.
Do we all
understand that something has happened to our Konkani . There is
another Konkani that is trying desperately to
take its place ? Do We?
Even Manohar Parrikar, the best equipped but unfortunately
communalist Goa Chief Minister had difficulty with the allegedly
"pure Konkani" Devanagiri script Goa newspaper
Sunaparant. He remarked that
he himself found difficulty in reading the newspaper and one
needed to hold a dictionary to understand the context. Mr. Parrikar appealed to the Editor Mr Sandesh Prabhudessai to
ensure that the newspaper is readable [5].
If
Sunaparant
continues on
this path of communal stubbornness, TGF wishes it every
financial and intellectual loss. TGF hopes
Sunaparant
continues to publish forever - whether it is read, understood or
not is another matter.
Contrary to what Aurora Couto opines about Konkani and Devanagri,
activist Godfrey Gonsalves notes that one of the reasons, for
Goans not accepting the Konkani language as widely as one could
expect, is the Imposition of the Devanagiri script upon the
majority of Goans - with a political view [6]. Gonsalves also notes
that the Hindu Saraswat Brahmin community have managed to
successfully use the Catholics as
stepping stones for their own (Saraswat) interests. He adds that the Saraswat
Brahmins succeeded by fooling gullible politicians like
Churchill Alemao, the Roman Catholic priests, and in fact the
entire Diocesan schools' system.
Brilliant Goa historian and former Jesuit priest Dr. Teotonio de
Souza is in the Goan Observer having noted : "I was a young seminarian aged
20 at Rachol Seminary in 1967. The cultural atmosphere of the
Seminary was marked by the efforts of the Jesuit priest, Vasco
do Rego, in sanscritizing liturgical Konkani" [7].
TGF believes that the artificial Sanskritization of Konkani
along with the simultaneous decapitation of Lusitanian words
which had become a part of the Konkani vocabulary, is
the reason why almost ALL older Catholic Goans still do not
follow the liturgy of the Church. Was this a bonus for the
communal elements among the Saraswats, or was it one of their
secondary intentions?
No
distinction from the "Hindi" zealots who decapitated Persian
words from Urdu (an Indian language aka Hindi or Hindustani)
with the simultaneous Sanskritization - to construct a new Hindi
in India; In Pakistan, the "Urdu" zealots decapitated Sanskrit
words with the simultaneous Persianization - to construct a new
Urdu.
TGF supposes
that this zeal has solved the major problems of the two
countries. Yeah Right!
TGF has noted the clarion call given by alleged Konkani Mogi
Uday Bhembre to boycott the
T. S.
Konkani Kendra led by Fr. Pratap Naik SJ and Fr. Mathew Almeida. Hopefully, someone will
explain why he did that.
Mr. Bhembre who has done his stint in politics, has come up with
a “Road map for faster development and standardization of
Konkani language". After the Arab-Israeli "road map", it is now
the in thing in Goa to come up with Road Maps. That is kind of
ironic for a place which does not have decent roads, and even
worse road sense.
Mr.
Bhembre is said to be an honourable man. TGF will reserve
judgment on that until he explains the 'boycott
T. S.
Konkani Kendra'.
Until that occurs, TGF will classify him as just another Goa
politician who deals in broken promises, unfinished plans, and
political double speak. He surely knows how much Goans trust
their politicians. Accordingly, he should not be too
surprised if his plan is renamed the Road Map to Nowhere.
For that is exactly, as Godfrey Gonsalves argues, where Goan
Konkani will end, if Goans fall for Mr. Bhembre's two-tone.
Professor Sebastian Borges is one of the writers who has turned
his guns on Romi Konkani. He noted recently that Konkani "was
spoken (pre 1961) only by the labourers and servants; the
“elite”, i.e. the upper castes of both the religions, employed
it only to communicate with the former, never using it in
public."
What unadulterated nonsense is Prof Borges writing about?. Did he ever visit
the villages of Salcete, the heartland of Konkani in the pre1961
era? What is it
that was spoken at the tinto (market square) of Salcete villages. In which language
were the church sermons delivered?. Unless Prof Borges is
suggesting that ALL Sashticars are of the so called lower "castes".
Perhaps!
As an aside,
TGF hopes that one day, the learned Prof Borges will accept that
the Caste System is incompatible with Catholicism, and that
those who practise the Caste system could NEVER be called Catholics.
With that in mind, TGF hopes that Prof Borges never again makes
oxymoronic statements such as "the upper castes of both the
religions".
Miguel Braganza appears to have hit it on the button when he
called Borges' pronouncements 'Jesuit Goebellism'. The issues
highlighted in Borges' writings on the subject in fact
look like they were dictated by Joseph Goebell himself.
Braganza also notes very pertinently that "While we talk
endlessly about *scripts* the unwritten agenda seems to be to
sideline various dialects, all in the name of standardisation.
If you read the primary school text books, even those of the
second standard, there would be a large number of words which
you wouldn't understand. Much like the 'padribhas' which today
dominates the religious services in church".
TGF believes that well known Goan Journalist Fred Noronha has
one of the most pragmatic, moderate and sensible takes on this
issue. He notes (GoaNet Oct 21, 2005) "My view is that rather
than getting caught up in grandstanding over Devanagari-alone,
Devanagari-and-Roman-only, or Marathi-must-get-its-own-place, we
need to go further. Can Goa not recognise that in a
multicultural situation, the diversity of different language
groups need to be recognised?
Goa has been a melting pot, let it remain one. Why is one
language
legitimate, while another illegitimate?"
All TGF can say to Mr. Noronha is Well Said.
TGF does not accept what appears to be the Two-Tone doublespeak of Uday Bhembre. He cannot reasonably call for the boycott of the
TS Konkani Kendra in one breath, and speak about "one people" in
another.
TGF notes with sadness the swipe on Fr. Pratap Naik's Mangalorean origins. Fr. Pratap is one of the key
pro-Konkani fighters. The only benefit Fr. Pratap would have had
from living in pre-1961 Goa, is that he would probably have
known that the Konkani he and the TSKK are presently promoting, is
NOT the Konkani that
most Konkani-agonists speak at home.
The TSKK must understand this very clearly. Modern Konkani is
the culmination of years of influences which came upon the
tribal Konkani which was originally spoken in Goa. Among these
influences are Marathi, Portuguese, Kannada, Urdu and English.
So please do not try to reinvent Konkani. That is what
the 'Konkaniwallahs' are doing.
If Konkani is NOT all inclusive and multi-scripted, it will die
a rapid natural death. In its place will be English, Hindi,
Marathi, Kannada and Malayalam. Do not be surprised if that is
the actual agenda of the Devanagri-Only 'Konkaniwallahs'.
Dr. Hrishikesh Shenoy, a UK based moderate and enlightened
Saraswat sums it up quite appropriately [8] "There is a
possibility that good Konkani literature may be in the Kannada
or the Nagri script as much as in the Roman script. I think we
should keep the script option open, with an organisation like
the TSKK (translating) the written piece into all the Konkani
scripts so that these can be judged by all and read by all.
I think the answer to the narrow minded Only-Devnagri activists
is not more narrow mindedness and so my request that your
brilliant suggestions [9] advocate equal status to all
scripts (so) that NO one group loses out".
In conclusion, TGF says to the real Konkani-Mogis: Watch out
for those who
are promoting this Devanagri-only position. They might actually
be promoting something else. They might actually be
Konkani-Fogis. Their agenda may actually be to destroy
Konkani.
The TSKK too needs to modify its present position into an all
inclusive one. Otherwise, it might effectively end up helping the
Konkani-Fogis in their anti-Catholic and anti-Konkani cause.
And while these Konkani-Fogis engage Goans in this diversionary
battle of the scripts, Goa's natural wealth will continue to be
stripped off by Big Business, Qualified Goans will continue to be
sidelined in their quest for decent jobs, Goans will continue to
be conned by politicians, and Goa will continue to become a mountain of filth
and degradation.
Think about it!
TGF
November 6, 2005
references:
[1] Tracing the Roots of the Konkani Language - Nandkumar Kamat
http://www.colaco.net/1/nanduKonkaniRoots.htm
[2] The Caste System of India - José Colaço
http://www.colaco.net/1/caste.htm
[3] Hindi Nationalism - Alok Rai, Sangam Books, India
also read The Politics of Stupidity - Alok Rai
http://www.colaco.net/3/stupidpolitics.htm
[4] Konkani: the struggle, betrayal and reality - TGF
http://www.colaco.net/1/Konkani2004.htm vide # 3
[5]Konkani: the struggle, betrayal and reality - TGF
http://www.colaco.net/1/Konkani2004.htm vide # 2
[6] Konkani: the struggle, betrayal and reality- TGF
http://www.colaco.net/1/Konkani2004.htm vide # 6
[7] Konkani: the struggle, betrayal and reality - TGF
http://www.colaco.net/1/Konkani2004.htm vide # 1
[8] Re: What NRI Goans can do for Konkani in Goa
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Goa-Goans/message/22313
[9] Pratap Naik SJ: What NRI Goans can do for Konkani in Goa
http://www.colaco.net/1/LookingGlass7.htm
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