Agitations STOP, de-intellectualise Konkani, focus on education for 2050
TANVI BAMBOLKAR, PANAJI | 24 January 2016 22:35 IST
Enough of agitations, Konkani movement now needs to concentrate upon constructive work in the fields of education and research, with a Vision Document to reach out to the Konkani masses at grassroot level.
This was the essence of the last seminar of the 30th session of All India Konkani Parishad focussed upon Konkani in 2050, chaired by Stephen Mascarenhas, editor of daijiworld.com from Mangalore.
“Let us do the constructive work for Konkani in the fields of education and research, which makes the future generations feel proud about the language,” suggested Dinesh Manerkar, a writer and publisher.
Manerkar was bluntly critical of not doing any constructive work in the last 35 years in the field of education and research but focussing only on the literary-cultural work and agitations.
“Realising this, the Konkani Bhasha Mandal has now started producing hundreds of children’s books, songs and hymns, which will ultimately build tomorrow’s mass base for Konkani”, said Manerkar, executive member of the Konkani Bhasha Mandal.
“Language travels in the way the society does. Thus it is the duty of the society to drive the language in the right direction,” he added.
Supporting his view was Yugank Naik, research scholar at Goa University, who appealed to the Konkani activists to de-intellectualise Konkani and reach out to the masses.
He stressed the need to make Konkani movement inclusive and widen its base among the common masses rather than limiting it to writers and intellectuals.
Yugank Naik at 30th Konkani Parishad (Photo: Antara Bhide)
Konkani has a geo-political identity, he said, which got its rights through political movements while it is today spread from Gujarat to Kerala.
“To build a roadmap for 2050, Konkani immediately needs a Vision Document”, he said.
Both Manerkar and Naik reacted vehemently when Dr Tanaji Halarnkar, a veteran Konkani scholar, observed that there is an emerging divide between Mhalgade (veterans) and Balgade (youngsters).
“This did not exist few years ago when all the generation worked together passionately for Konkani. The passion has to be revived in today’s times to see Konkani shining in 2050,” he cautioned.
“Each period demands something from the language and if we fail to fulfil those demands, we are bound to fall behind. How we adapt to these demands decides the future of language,” said Dr Halarnkar.
President of Kerala Konkani Academy Payyanur Ramesh Pai said that they are a linguistic minority in Kerala and thus have their own limitations.
“If the whole Konkani community comes together by bridging the geographical gaps, we shall excel more than what we have,” Pai said.
Nirmala Sawant, former minister, stressed upon taking all kind of precautions to preserve the language if it has to prosper.
We need to have konkani language channel like Discovery Konkani feed.