Advocate Uday Bhembre is correct in his argument that more scripts for Konkani will harm the religion. He is absolutely right is stating that every state has one Official Language Act and there is no Official Language Act in which two more scripts are prescribed for any language. But sadly, there is some anomaly in the Vichar Vibhag statement because on the other hand the Vichar Vibhag openly states that unfortunately in Goa scripts are related to religious communities.
Therefore scripts isolate one community from another in respect of literature, arts, culture etc and that this is not conducive to communal harmony and unity. Agreed, that is the feeling today, that by showing recognition to one script, the Vichar Vibhag is isolating another community, giving importance to one community and by giving official recognition to one script, indirectly fostering the growth of the Marathi language in the state.
The issue at stake is simple – in a democracy is it good to isolate one community. Is it good to give recognition to one script which indirectly gives a feeling of superiority to one community by using one particular script. Sadly it is for this reason that the Central government has introduced reservations because one particular section of a majority community used to suppress another section of that same community on the basis of its caste. Should the same happen in Goa because official recognition is given to one script. Advocate Uday Bhembre is right in saying that Roman script is used by the Catholic community and that the script should not isolate it from others as such isolation is not in the interest of the minority community especially when fundamentalists are active in the majority community. Now comes the other interesting question why are the fundamentalists active. Simple because they have a leverage in the form of recognition of the script. What is needed is parity of scripts – that is all – so that the fundamentalists do not get the upper hand. By giving recognition to one script, ignoring and isolating another, sadly the Vichar Vibhag is giving a boost to fundamentalism, which is now giving rise to the inclusion of Marathi. But if there is parity then everything is equal and surely that should be the case in any democracy.
The issue at stake is simple – in a democracy is it good to isolate one community. Is it good to give recognition to one script which indirectly gives a feeling of superiority to one community by using one particular script. Sadly it is for this reason that the Central government has introduced reservations because one particular section of a majority community used to suppress another section of that same community on the basis of its caste. Should the same happen in Goa because official recognition is given to one script. Advocate Uday Bhembre is right in saying that Roman script is used by the Catholic community and that the script should not isolate it from others as such isolation is not in the interest of the minority community especially when fundamentalists are active in the majority community. Now comes the other interesting question why are the fundamentalists active. Simple because they have a leverage in the form of recognition of the script. What is needed is parity of scripts – that is all – so that the fundamentalists do not get the upper hand. By giving recognition to one script, ignoring and isolating another, sadly the Vichar Vibhag is giving a boost to fundamentalism, which is now giving rise to the inclusion of Marathi. But if there is parity then everything is equal and surely that should be the case in any democracy.
1 comment:
Very pretty design! Keep up the good work. Thanks.
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