The participants of the seminar held on the occasion of the silver jubilee literary conference of Akhil Bharatiya Konkani Parishad at Dinanath Mangueshkar Kala Mandir, Kala Academy, observed that the identity of a region is more important than the culture of the place and an institution should be set up to work towards uniting the people of one region with those from other regions, all of whom are bonded by a common language.
The seminar also noted that creating a Konkani cultural state may be a distant dream, but immediate efforts should be undertaken to bring together Konkani speaking people.
The seminar presided over by a representative of the Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Akademi, Arun Ubhaykar. Noted Konkani writer from Kerala, Dr L Sunita, the editor of the Konkani daily Sunaprant, Sandesh Prabhudessai and the well-known Konkani novelist, Mahabaleshwar Sail, who has conceptualised the idea of Konkani cultural state, participated in the seminar.
Sail, opening the seminar said that the concept of Pt Jawaharlal Nehru to create Indian states based on the language spoken in the particular region, was not a political concept but a cultural one.
Forming a Konkani cultural state with the participation of the Konkani speaking people from the four states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala will result in cultural and lingual development of this new state, he said.
This state would have all the properties and aspects of a political state and it has to be recognised by the Constitution, Sail added.
Dr Sunita, reading a paper on the topic said that the culture that has evolved over the years would guide us to form a Konkani cultural state.
She further observed that Konkani is spoken by some of the members of Hindu, Muslim as well as Catholic communities in all the four states on the western coast and hence there is a possibility of creating such a state.
In spite of different scripts, the original form of Konkani language has not changed, she noted, stressing that Goa is the centre of Konkani culture and it should be maintained so while forming a new state.
Prabhudessai said that there is every possibility of the cultural state becoming a controversial state due to various reasons. He also raised a question that instead of desiring for a Konkani cultural state, why not aim for a Konkani cultural nation.
Speaking further, he said that a state is a political and a administrative provision made to bring together different people. “The idea of formation of a Konkani cultural state is to be supplemented by strong lobbying for the same in the Parliament,” he observed, questioning as to whether we have such a strong lobby.
Stating that Goa cannot protect the interest of minority Konkani communities in other states, Prabhudessai said that the concept of a Konkani cultural state would definitely receive strong opposition from various quarters, especially the establishment.
It would be beneficial if we try to preserve our identity through Konkani language, in the immediate future, he suggested.
Ubhaykar, summing up the discussion said that one should look at the entire issue with optimism.
“It is very important that the Konkani speaking people are proud of their language, just as the Tamilians, Andhraites and Kannadigas do,” he said, mentioning that the bond between Konkani people from one state and others must be gradually taken to an international level.
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