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KONKANI MAI SCREAMS MAY DAY! By Rajan Narayan
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KONKANI MAI SCREAMS MAY DAY! By Rajan Narayan

Cover Story, May 30- June 05, 2026 May 29, 2026 , by

On the eve of 40th Statehood Day the Marathi lobbies are again demanding equal status. Konkani Mai is sending out distress signals over the loss of Goan identity. Unfortunately, the Nagri Konkani fanatics have divided Goa on communal lines. This has weakend the Konkani language and unique identity of Goa…

EVEN as the 40th anniversary of the Statehood of Goa is commemorated on May 30, 2026 Konkani mai is sending out distressed signals. Konkani mai is screaming “May Day! May Day!” This is the distress signal sent out by commercial planes and ships which are in distress. Konkani mai has reason to be agitated because as recently as last Sunday the Marathi imperialists under the leadership of Subhash Velingker, stepped up the demand for equal status for Marathi. It is clear that this is not merely the renewal of the language dispute but an attack on the secular fabric of Goa.
It all began on the eve of the Liberation of Goa in 1961. The two neighboring states of Maharashtra and Karnataka were already coveting tiny Goa. Soon after Liberation the Maharashtra lobby headed by YB Chavan intensified its demand for merger of Goa with Maharashtra. The Maharashtra lobby even set up the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party with the only rationale of merging Goa with Maharashtra. The Maharashtra lobby propped up Dayanand Bandodkar as the chief minister. Significantly, the MGP emerged as the single largest party after the first general elections. The MGP quickly moved resolutions for the merger of Goa with Maharashtra.
However, the Goa lobby which is synonymous with the language of Konkani, rushed to the late Indira Gandhi who was then prime minister. It was the late Purshotamdas Kakodkar, who was a good friend of the Nehru family, who demanded an opinion poll for Goa. Indira Gandhi agreed to the opinion poll. It was expected that the entire Catholic population comprising of almost 40% of the then Goa population will vote for retaining the unique identity of Goa. Let us here emphasize that the identity of Goa is tied in inextricably with the mother tongue of 100% of Goans — Konkani. Which unlike Marathi represents all communities living in Goa. Admittedly divided by scripts in that the Catholics are committed to Konkani in Romi Konkani script, while a section of the upper class Saraswat Brahmin community has been promoting Konkani in the Devanagari script.

SURPRISE, SURPRISE
TO the surprise of Maharashtra and the MGP a significant section of the majority Hindu community voted along with the Catholics to defeat plans to merge Goa with Maharashtra. Logically, Goa should have been granted statehood after the Opinion Poll mandate in favor of Goa retaining its identity. However, this did not happen for another 20 years from1967 to 1987 of the dispute over Konkani should become the official language. The states in India are formed along linguistic basis, so much so the Centre insisted that Goa has to decide on an official language first before it could claim the status of a state.
This was the trigger for the statewide agitation to make Konkani the official language of the Goa. Mind you at the beginning of the agitation in 1985 there was no talk of scripts. The entire focus was on Konkani being the official language of the state.
The battle for Konkani stated in June 1985, when Luizinho Faleiro moved a resolution in the Legislative Assembly seeking official language status for Konkani. The then speaker of the assembly Dayanand Narvekar, at the instance of Pratapsingh Raoji Rane, did not even permit the introduction of the resolution. I recall that in the OHeraldo which was committed to Konkani, we carried an illustration by cartoonist Alexis. The illustration depicted Konkani mai in a coffin with the heading “Konkani mai mailem” (Konkani mai is dead).
This proved to be a rallying point and so very quickly the Konkani Projche Awaz, a body of Konkani writers covering both in Devanagiri and Romi scripts, launched an agitation. Pundalik Naik was the president of the Konkani Projche Awaz. Tomasin Cardozo was the secretary of the movement.
As in the case of today’s Enough to Enough movement, then to it was primarily the Catholic politicians who rushed to support the demand to make Konkani the exclusive official language of Goa and leading from the front were Churchil Alemao and Luizinho Faleiro. The rally that was held in July 24, 1986 at the Azad maidan attracted over two lakh Goans, both Hindu and Catholic, from across the state. It was not just a public meeting. It was a celebration of Goan identity.
There was pop star Remo singing a special song on Goa belonging to Goans and Konkani being the spirit of Goans. There were tiatrists who gathered in support of Konkani. As the meeting proceeded even the Hindu Congress ministers who were sitting on the fence like the late Harish Zantye came to the Azad maidan to declare his support for Konkani. The problem was the then chief minister, Pratapsingh Raoji Rane. Rane was totally committed to Marathi. Rane had an open contempt for Konkani and did not bother to hide it. The upper class and upper caste residents of Goa dismissed Konkani as the language of the servants.
Both the upper class and upper caste Hindus and Catholics chose to speak in Portuguese till the Liberation of Goa. After Liberation they switched to Marathi which emerged as the language of religion and culture. Konkani had been suppressed by the Portuguese. Post-Liberation all the 1,500 odd primary schools started by the government were in Marathi-medium. There was a very strong Marathi lobby in the Rane government at that time. The Konkani lovers again had to run to Delhi. It was Shantaram Naik, the Congress Member of Parliament from north Goa, who persuaded the late Rajiv Gandhi to bat for Konkani. Rajiv Gandhi directed chief minister Pratapsingh Rane to bring forward the official language bill to make Konkani the official language of the state of Goa. Indeed, Rajiv Gandhi even deputed a senior Congress high command observer, RL Bhatia, to ensure there were no last minute hurdles to the passage of the official language bill.

RANE & KHALAP ROLES
THE official language bill was passed in the letter on February 15, 1987 but the Marathi lobby led by Ramakant Khalap aided and abetted by Pratapsingh Rane, managed to dilute the official language bill. Admittedly, Konkan was made the official language of the state . The bill however specified that only Konkani in the Devanagiri script would be the official language of Goa. This dismayed the Catholics who were only familiar with the Romi script. What was worse was that the Rane government withdrew grants to the Diocesan primary English schools. The then education minister Shashikala Kakaodkar decided the grants would be limited to Konkani and Marathi medium school primary schools. The church run Diocesan schools had to wait till 2005 when it blackmailed Manohar Parrikar to restore grants to church run primary schools in English in return for support for the Catholic candidates of the BJP.
No attempt was made to enforce the official language status of Konkani . Every time the use of Konkani was notified for any official purpose there was a demand that Marathi should also be used. It began with invitation cards. Invitation cards for official functions were issued in English and Konkani in the Devanagari script. Following the demand of the Marathi lobby they were then issued in three languages. This became four languages to include Hindi, the national language of north India. A Konkani Academy was formed. Simultaneously, a Marathi Academy was formed. The Sahitya Kala Akademy only gave awards to books written in Devanagari or translated from Devanagari Konkani.
ALMOST 40 years later — as 2027 will mark the 40th year of Goa’s statehood — Konkani mai once again fighting to save her home. A Marathi bulldozer led by Subhash Velingker is at door anew. Last Sunday, Subhash Velinker, former RSS chief, led a huge rally demanded equal status for Marathi. Velinker went to the extent of claiming that if a new opinion were to be held the vote would go in favor of Marathi. But Velinker unwittingly revealed his hidden agenda. Which was to marginalize the Catholics. Velinger attacked Manohar Parrikar for giving Catholics the BJP ticket. Velinker even went to the extent of claiming it was the Church which was dictating the course of Goan politics.
It is not Konkani which is under threat. It is the idea of a secular democratic Goa, which absorbed Adil Shah’s Islamic soldiers. The Khoja Muslims who were the first Muslim came with Adil Shah’s army. It may be pointed out that the first Legislative Assembly for Goa functioned from the Adil Shah Palace in Panjim in Goa. Goans subsequently embraced the Portuguese. After Liberation they welcomed the migrants of not only neighboring states but also Gujarat, Utter Pradesh, West Bengal. Muslims from all over the country decided that Goa was a safe sanctuary and over the last few decades the bold and the beautiful and the rich and powerful have also moved to Goa.
The statehood of Goa is not about linguistic politics. It is linked with Goa’s core identity as the only secular oasis in the country. The only state which has not witnessed a single communal riot in the 500 years of its history. Never mind all the talk of the Inquisition; yes, it happened. Temples may have been destroyed. Adil Shah may also have destroyed temples. The Kadamba kings and other monarchs of India and particularly the kings of south India did impose Hinduism on states like Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, see Bali to this day.
History is a continuous process. The moving finger writes and moves on, as poet Omar Khayyam said. You cannot lure it back to cancel half-a-line. We have to fight against Marathi in Goa because it comes with a Hindutva agenda. In sharp contrast, Konkani does not have a linguistic or communal or caste identity. Konkani is the unifier. Marathi is a divisive force not only in Goa but also in Maharashtra, with the Shiv Sena-BJP government in power. We need to preserve our hard earned independence. Independence from hate, independence from bigotry. Independence form petty, divisive issues. Viva Goa, Viva Konkani.

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