The Intellectual and the Foundation of the New Goan Century

A few weeks ago while making a case for the now scrapped Regional Plan, the Chairperson of the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry remarked how there was a need for such schemes as the increasingly discredited IT Park since there was a flight of the “intelligent class” away from Goa. In observing this flight from Goa Kunkolienkar does have a point. There is a massive flight of young and intelligent individuals from Goa primarily because they do not have the appropriate environment to flourish.

And yet, I am not going to turn this into an argument against the Government or indeed for the Regional Plan or such destructive plans like that of the supposed IT Park. We very often get the Government we deserve and my argument is that it is our society that does not value the intellectual enough. This lack of respect and value for the intellectual is what is creating the politically and socially state of affairs that Goa has been wallowing in for decades now.

The marginal position for the intellectual is clearly visible in the fate of that most glorious of Goan institutions, the Central Library. From its current location within the centre of Panjim, there are plans to shift the building to Patto. From a central location accessible with ease to all within and outside of the city, we are going to shift the library to a building that can be reached currently only with a good amount of difficulty. In this shoddy treatment to an institution that has moulded generations of Goans, we can gauge our society’s respect and recognition of the intellectual.

The library building will reportedly be from the first floor upwards, since the ground floor will be devoted to shops. Selling coconuts, rice and a variety of vernacular smut no doubt! The ease with which the powers that be decided to locate shops at the base of a fine intellectual institution is once again indicative of what exactly our society considers the fundamental basis for success in the world. Money, money, money. If Goa has been able to move, rather successfully, from being some sort of a feudal society to a modern society then due credit has to be given to its large middle class. Ignoring the problems with considering persons settled abroad as Goan, I will for the moment include them to count on the middle class (and even super-rich) Goan, as being spread throughout the globe. Goa made one leap with some ease. The next step, of inculcating a value for education for the sheer sake of producing knowledge and being able to examine an issue from a variety of perspectives has been by and large ignored.

It has become the flavour of the moment to call persons now settled comfortably in other parts of the world members of a Diaspora; Goa is no exception. And yet compare the Goan diaspora to the mother of all, indeed the original diaspora, the Jewish diaspora. The number of Jewish foundations flush with money and spending on intellectual and cultural innovation within (and outside of) the community is mind-boggling. Where, I would like to inquire do we find a similar investment by and for the Goan community? There are ofcourse a variety of Trusts set up by the ‘prominent’ families in Goa but any activity that would even mildly threaten to disturb the status quo receives no support. In addition, it appears that one is expected to be eternally grateful and beholden to the persons who created the endowment from which one is benefiting. Hardly the kind of environment for critical intellectual and cultural activity to take off.

There has been much enthusiasm in the wake of the apparent victory of the Save Goa Campaign over the Regional Plan. There have been well-intentioned cyber-Goenkars who have suggested, quite appropriately that they ought not to just sit around but support the activity taking place in Goa. And yet, this may not be quite the answer in the current environment when the campaign is the product of multiple and strange bed-fellows. Not all of whose credentials are either impeccable, nor their intentions bona fide. But rather than let a good idea go waste we need to figure out ways in which we can pour in diasporic money and encourage a flourishing of critical and questioning intellectual and cultural renaissance. We need foundations that will fund scholars young and old to locate themselves in Goa and add new insight into an already vibrant civil society. Funds that will assure Goan youth that Goa is a destination that encourages local talent to engage in intellectual exploration, giving them the financial and institutional strength to pursue intellectual trajectories and yet be rooted in Goa. We need funds that will award those who build new buildings respectful of its environs and our environment. We need foundations that will support young and upcoming artists and musicians. All of these will challenge the uneasy and delicate peace presided over by political bosses and business houses. And yet this will, like the churning of the Ocean of Milk, bring forth vibrance that can only come where the intellectual is valued and respected, not for the money s/he brings home, but the learning s/he generates. Now when are those dollars going to start pouring in?

(published in the Gomantak Times, 7th Feb 2007)

Responding to Kunkolienkar’s Defence of the Regional Plan

A fortnight ago the Navhind Times interviewed Nitin Kunkolienkar, President of the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry on his views on the opposition to and the demand for the denotification of the Regional Plan 2011. I would like to engage with some of his views since they represent the viewpoint of a number of influential persons within the State.

The first point he articulates is that the plan has been prepared by experts after reviewing a number of aspects like the infrastructural development of the state, new areas of growth that are likely to take place in view of economic liberalization and is not an individual document even though unfortunately some undesirable clauses had been incorporated into it at the last moment. These he argues can be rectified easily.

There are two issues here, one of the importance of process in a democracy under the rule of law, and the other, what sort of a democracy are we committed to? Justice, a famous legal maxim goes, must not only be done, but seen to have been done. It stresses the importance of procedure in the delivery of justice. In the case of the Regional Plan 2011, there was a violation of procedure on both the evolution of the plan, and the insertion of ‘individual’ requirements into the plan.

There was a less than appropriate involvement of the common person in the evolution of the Regional Plan. Notices were sent no doubt to invite comment on the plan, but who was going to explain the technical details it to the individual and community? If we are to take the Constitution’s mandate of decentralization seriously, then there is a need for a team of experts to visit each individual village, map out existing uses of the land, superimpose the proposed uses over it and list out the impacts of these. This process of planning envisages a just role for both expert and common person, where both can talk to each other, learn from each other; with opposition only serves to iron out existing tensions and faults within society and Plan. This form of planning is recognized as commonplace and required in various parts of the world and even the Central Government is slowly getting into this mode. In failing to organise the planning process in such a way the Regional Plan did not involve the common man and compromised the quality of expert advice. Given that there are procedural errors in the articulation of the plan, the Plan itself is the problem. Besides, without a process in place, and a process to identify the problems how on earth can one identify the problems that are to be pulled out? This is not merely a legalistic quibble but a necessary consequence of taking democracy seriously.

Kunkolienkar then went on to point out that if planning as represented by the Regional Plan is delayed Goa would be the loser in development. This would adversely affect our economic growth and make us ‘remain’ backward. This vision of doom is the oldest trick in the developmental book: the shame of being backward and the loss of goodies which are on offer for the moment alone. Once again it relegates process and debate to the backburner and privileges autocratic decision making. What such business plans do is create a platform for inequitable growth, where a minority grows rich on the exploitation of the general public and the environment. This service of a minority is a major reason why the proposed SEZ are also being opposed.

Everyone agrees that there are huge problems with tourism and the mining industry in Goa despite the huge amounts of revenue they bring into the State. And yet we are not talking about it. There is no serious and organized debate being organized about it. On the contrary we see the Regional Plan as being able to offer solutions without addressing the problems that already exist. Something like pushing dust under the carpet. We need to seriously take stock of the tourist and mining business in the State, ensure that it is more equitable, so that it will allow for greater and more equitable generation of internal revenue. Better working conditions and salaries could well allow for retention of Goans within Goa, as well as the investment of these revenues in new-economy business and intellectual endeavours. All of this requires pubic debate that leads to a Regional Plan, and this can only be done through the process outlined above.

There isn’t much space left to deal with Kunkolienkar’s opinion and so I will end by responding to his take on the inevitability of urbanization and the growth of the real-estate development business. He stated that “that rural areas have never remained rural in any part of the world and over a period of time urbanisation takes place.” It is a “pattern” that “just cannot be reversed. Goa, that is 50 per cent urbanised now, would have at least 65 per cent of its area in the urban zone over the next decade or so…”

This entire argument is based on an outdated understanding of rural and urban. Older urban studies defined the rural against the urban. As such, an aesthetic of concrete high-rises came to define the urban, as seen in Kunkolienkar’s argument. Others would argue, more appropriately in my opinion, that the distinction is itself flawed. The so called rural areas have had a relationship with the urban, and have therefore been urbanized for a long time now. Perhaps a better way would be to think of these places as having less than equitable access to resources and facilities. This in no way is tied to the aesthetic of highly concentrated high rise buildings is being pushed by Kunkolienkar. All over the world there is a new understanding of cities, wherein well-developed (for want of a better word) villages with a good proportion of greenery to built-form ration, of low-rise, high density structures are being considered as contemporary, relevant and ecologically sound. By this logic Goa’s villages have had an urban character for ages now and there is no reason why this should be bypassed as impractical. On the contrary they could serve as a planning model. Besides what Kunkolienkar does not tell us, that a good amount of the real estate development is fuelled by speculation, which not only does not cater to the local resident, but since not fuelled by need, is in the long run wasteful.

Kunkolienkar’s concern stems from a valid concern, but once he realizes that the implications of his solutions are essentially anti-democratic, perhaps he would see the other point of view?

(Published in the Gomantak Times, 31 January 2007)

On why Goa needs no SEZ

I’d like to address the issue of whether Goa needs Special Economic Zones (SEZ). For those who have not yet heard the news, there are a good number of SEZ planned for Goa. As of now we know for a fact that the Goa State has leased over 900 acres of land to four companies who have been approved as developers of SEZ. Let us concern ourselves with the extent of land as of now, even though there are other as important issues as well. For example that this amount of land, is even more than what the Central Board of Approval for SEZ had approved, and that much of the acquisition of land precedes even the approval of the SEZ.

What is the logic of the SEZ formula? The logic simply put is that India- and by that implication Goa- is a developing country and needs to catch up with the industrialized and developed west. Since it does not have the resources to invest in infrastructure all over the country, it provides a special area for a few industries, which then operate as the push factor, pulling up the surrounding regions along with them. India even before Independence has been imagined as this vast country, full of starving illiterate farmers, a country with little or no basic infrastructure. This is a serious national self-image problem, and one that has been internalized by its leaders and policy-makers. This allows then for the country to create such schemes that are designed to bring pieces of the West into India, to operate by their own laws, so that we can then emulate these islands of prosperity and be pushed into development. That this idea is wholly disrespectful of the intelligence and desires of the people we shall leave be for the moment. What I would like to draw attention to are the facts of Goa. Goa has a decent infrastructure and a rather high standard of living, even though there are pockets within it that need more attention. Goa in no way measures up to the image of a starving, infrastructure-less land. Quite clearly the economic and policy remedy for Goa is not the SEZ but something that is tailored to the local conditions.

The SEZ policy also rests on another logic; that the citizens are stupid and illiterate, have no idea of modernity and need the wisdom of some enlightened bureaucrat to help them get out of poverty and into modernity. Now quite clearly Goa does not fall into this category at all. If anything, Goa has the most vibrant civil society and political sphere in the country, where every issue is subjected to the minutest public analysis. Goa has had a system of Panchayat Raj (however restricted it may have been) since before the Constitution of India was in force. This has laid the foundation for the noisy and contested Gram Sabhas which though we may dislike them, are indicators of a conscious citizenry. In such is the case, why then do we need to have these Special Zones set up which disrespect entirely the demands of the Indian constitution that the local self Governments have a larger say in the administration of the country? The SEZ legislation envisages a single window clearance system for industries within these zones. What this translates to is a bureaucratic office over-eager to please and willing to disregard every law and regulation that has been set in place. The SEZ are also exempt for local taxes and fees. Take a look at the wealthy Panchayat of Sancoale. The source of its income is the industrial estate located on the hill above it. In the case of Sancoale, the Panchayat can take up matters of concern and also benefit economically from the location of industries within its jurisdiction. All of this because it has control over the land on which the estate is located. In the case of villages whose land will be annexed for the SEZ however, they can kiss any dreams of wealth from rightfully owed taxes goodbye. All they can hope for is the possibility of jobs that may or may not come to them.

And this is another issue that we need to address. The SEZ does not cater to existing local problems of unemployment or lack of industry. It caters to the interests of big capital and profit-making. As such, it is not going to be a carefully tailored solution to local crises, but create huge amount of jobs, that will require labour from outside the State. Goa and Goans are not closing the doors of their State, but surely we need to realize that what the SEZ policy is doing is merely displacing problems from one part of the country to another. This smacks of another type of internal colonialism, one of the country, by the country, for the interests of global capital.

No sir, Goa does not require the SEZ. While it requires more industry and employment opportunities t the method of achieving this must be one that respects not just the Goan citizen, but also the local dynamics of the problem. We already have a thriving tourist industry how do we internally regulate it to make it yield more to Goans so that they have a desirable job option within the State? How can we improve the local transport system so that we can have people move frequently within the State, creating not only jobs in transportation, but job options within the State? How can we invest in infrastructure that will improve quality of life for the local, and also have the local service this infrastructure? The solution to all of these lies not in the ill-conceived idea of the SEZ, but in a developmental policy that is genuinely dialogical and respectful of the local and one that can emerge out of the Panchayati Raj system which is perfectly suited to this objective.

(Published in the Gomantak Times, 17 Jan 2007)

Travelling Bangalore...

Ok...so I'm in shock.

Ever the do-gooder I chanced upon a colleague who lives at the absolute other end of town and thought I'd be cute and give her a travel tip. "Do you know that there is a Volvo bus that leaves from Chandra Layout and goes right up to Indiranagar?" I beamed!

Uma, for that is her name, brought me right down to earth..."Yes" she smiles "but its very expensive..from Richmond Road to HAL it would cost me 25 rupees".

25 rupees! Now thats a lot of money, if she travelled on this bus everyday to work the poor woman would loose a good chunk of her salary.

My colleague Priya and I have been raving about the Volvo buses in Bangalore for a while now,
on how neat and efficient they are, how bright and beautiful, and how wonderful it would be if the entire fleet of public transport buses in Bangalore were Volva. Apparently however, this is not going to be very possible, since if we converted the entire fleet to Volvo's we would only have the rich and upper middle class travelling in these buses!

This entire episode has only confirmed a fear that I have had about the possibilities of a public transport system for India's urban spaces. One, there is no interest in such a system since hte rich and the upper middle class, and the middle class in busy imitation need to assert their difference from the rest of the population. Two, where efforts are made at public transportation, it will operate in a manner as to exclude the poor and the working class from its operation, reserving the swanky additions for the middle class. And so it will go on, India's pernicious caste system, taking new forms every day. While I was a student in Bangalore, you had the Pushpak buses which promised, thanks to a higher fare, that you did not have to stand with the stinky and smelly folk, and could travel in relative comfort. From the Pushpak to the Volvo not much has changed at all...

There have already been fears expressed that Bangalore's proposed Metro will be way to expensive for the working class who do not earn the fancy salaries that the techies do...but then perhaps thats what the Metro is intended for...the working class sods...let them find their own way!

Middle Class Activism: Spadework for Paradise?

Thankfully for Goa, the pogrom in Sanvordem resulted in a whole lot of soul searching as citizen groups around the state inquired why exactly the events transpired and what was it that we could do to make sure it never happens again. One of the issues that emerged and received some amount of support was that this was a good opportunity to make sure that we went on a demolition drive of all ‘illegal’ shrines across the state.

This suggestion and the manner it was attempted to be brought into action is indicative of a common malaise in our vibrant democracy; the danger of middle class activism. The example cited is perhaps not the most appropriate since it forces us to get into a debate on secularism and the space of religion in the public space, but we should perhaps risk that so as to ground this discussion in an immediate and personal context.

What makes this suggestion so typical of middle class activism is that it reflects so clearly the position of some of the liberal middle class’s opposition to religion in the public sphere. A position that is not shared by a good amount of the population. A population that sees religion as being appropriately celebrated in the communal space. A population that possibly sees these shrines not as markers of their religion alone, but as concessions to realms that we cannot see but nonetheless have an impact on us. These sensibilities do not find space in the law as is currently contained in the law books, but nonetheless is tolerated in practice because of the support that it contains. Nonetheless if one chooses to implement this letter of the law, the shrines go, since they are, according to the letter of the law, illegal.

And yet, why did we choose to focus only on illegal religious structures? Why not on the many illegal structures that are growing rapidly all over Goa? The class bias is pretty much obvious, the more humble of Goan folk erect religious structures as they relate to their land and community, while the Gulf (and otherwise) rich Goan (and recent immigrant) erect buildings that will allow to indulge themselves in the consumerist paradise that awaits those who can pay. This is where we need to focus on the manner in which the law is implemented to make our world a better place. All too often, middle class activism uses the law as a tool to push its interest without creating a space for other groups to articulate their opinion.

There can be no other description of this process than the tyranny of the middle class. The tyranny was visible in Delhi when the Supreme Court legislated, without concern for the men who made a livelihood through autorickshaws and taxis, the need to switch from diesel to CNG. The fact that Delhi is visibly less polluted is not reason enough to condone the act. What we have to be more mindful of is the destruction that pursuing solely the middle class interest caused for those few months. Men who barely got a few hours sleep as they waited in line for barely available CNG. Or men who had to cease work (and the growling of their stomachs) to re-equip themselves with new technology. The upper middle classes barely felt the pinch, the industries that supplied them their transport, were poised to make the switch, or they used petrol anyways!

In Goa we saw this sort of middle class activism when the gaddos in Panjim were shifted from various parts of the city into defined zones. In doing so we refused to recognise that the gaddo operates best as the corner store, rather than just another shop in a long line of shops. The reason for their banishment was their scattered presence violated the upper middle class’s vision of what the picture perfect city should look like. It also violated their right to use the sidewalks. What is surprising is that this group of people rarely walk the streets; they move from point to point using their own private vehicles.

Panjim is currently attempting to drill into its residents a system of waste management. If this measure adopts as its guiding principle the fact that it is being implemented to ensure a decent working environment for the municipality workers, then we ensure it does not degenerate into middle class activism. What we have to keep in mind, especially in a socially stratified society like ours, is that the end cannot ever justify the means. To be an effective democracy we need to ensure that the means are as laudable as the ends. To ignore this fact would be to lay the framework for a repressive system of laws that soon enough could be used against us, just as we use it against those whose point of view we do not deem important.

(published earlier in the Gomantak Times, 2006)

Land and Goa: The politics of Exclusion

There is much that can and needs to be said with regard to the cry of “Goa for Goans”. I had earlier expressed the view that we should be wary of dismissing this cry as one made by common folk, on the instigation of a disgruntled elite, and manipulated by unscrupulous politicians. I would like to reiterate this point. The cry to privilege the local in Goa is not, in this day and age, a uniquely Goan experience. On the contrary this cry seems to resound in many parts of the globe, be it Europe in the xenophobic cries of Haider of Austria and Le Pen of France, in the ‘tribal’ wars of Africa, or even the Kannada movement in the metropolis of Bangalore.

If it is not just a phenomenon of Goa, then there must be something to this cry and it would be best if we addressed ourselves to it now, rather than later. Perhaps we would be better placed to understand what is happening in Goa if we looked at the situation in Bangalore. A few months ago, as Goa was peacefully commemorating Christ’s Last Supper, Bangalore was mourning the loss of one of its greatest film-stars, Dr. Raj Kumar. However while Bangalore mourned there was a deathly silence through the city, as it waited in bated breath for violence to break out. And break out it did when persons who gathered to pay respects to the actor broke out into violent rioting. In the process a good amount of property was damaged and a few policemen lost their lives.

The violence was not entirely unexpected. Raj Kumar had been used by the Karnataka/Bangalore for Kannadigas for a long time, as various groups claimed the city of Bangalore as the exclusive space for Kannadigas and Kannada. The English press has had a field day displaying this as some sort of a bizarre claim and entirely without cause. However, this is not entirely true. These demands for Kannada have emerged out of a number of reasons. Primary among them is the manner in which the English speaking corporate world has sought to refashion Bangalore into its exclusive playground, and the impact of big money that has recently been pouring into Bangalore. What this has resulted in is a feeling of powerlessness among Kannadigas in Bangalore, a sense of frustration at the inability to gain access to the kinds of consumption engaged in by the members of this corporate world. And furthermore a slowly building rage at constantly being portrayed as dull, stupid, lacking initiative and good for nothing.

From my point of view I see this as similar to what is happening to and in Goa. Goa is being converted slowly but surely, not into a place where people live and try to make ends meet, but a huge property market for people from all over the world. A good number of these people can enjoy ridiculously comfortable lives while living in Goa, or use it only as a holiday home. This is not to say that they are not entitled to comfortable lives or their holiday homes. However when all of this adds up, it only results in a situation where the local (be it ethnic Goan or hard working outsider) feels deprived and frustrated at their lot. Finally one has the social relations between this propertied class and the local. How often have you heard Goans being called lazy, lacking initiative and good for nothing? Or perhaps you have heard the more positive side of this trio, happy-go-lucky, laid back and jovial. Which ever way you look at it, they both stem from a definite way of looking at the Goan. Not to mention that this propertied class looks on the locals not as neighbours and members of the community one belongs to, but more as a source of domestic employment.

What Goa and Bangalore have in common is that they are places where the forces of globalization are having a field day, where there is nothing that cannot be bought. A good amount of this is happening in both places through the cooperation of local brokers- be they politicians, local businesspersons or compradors. What is resulting is a good amount of frustration and powerlessness with the situation that one does not seem to be able to change, and seeing an old world, which was predictable and known slip by. This is not to say that globalization is bad and must be done away with. On the contrary, globalization seems here to stay, the question is how do we deal with this growing rage? For surely if we do not address it, it will consume us all. The Raj Kumar riots in Bangalore have shown us as much.

The solution is not simple, nor one for me to suggest, but one for us to collectively (and it is obvious that we don’t seem to be operating as a collective) arrive at. It would help if we moved in this direction rather than dismissing these signals as manipulations of stupid common folk by wily politicians, or the hypocrisy of a society that has made its money through migration. Once again it should be stressed, the issue is not about Goans and non-Goans, the issue is about the politics of exclusion and deprivation.

(published in the Gomantak Times, 2006)

On why incorporating Karwar into Goa is not a good idea

“Imagine a situation where Goa has 13 talukas, hydroelectric and nuclear power projects, two major ports and an added coastline. This is not wishful thinking or an academic debate, but a social movement in operation for nearly 15 years.” This extract is from a report that appeared in the Herald a few days ago. A report informing us of the existence of a movement in Karnataka’s Karwar district which seeks to merge with Goa. The reasons they give are that they do not wish to exist as a part of Karnataka, since the Karnataka government has ignored the development of Karwar. Also, they argue that around 60% of the people of Karwar speak Konkani, and it is only natural that they should be part of a Konkani speaking State. Finally, there are religious links between the people of Karwar and Goa, with family deities on both sides of the current border.

The tenor of the report seemed to suggest that this movement was something that we should be glad for and welcome with open arms, since it would create a larger Goa with more economic opportunity and secondly it would buttress the claim of Konkani within Goa. However, I am not so sure that for these reasons we should automatically support this claim. On the contrary it is exactly this sort of a promise that we should be wary of since there is more than meets the eye in this case.

The mere support for Konkani does not translate into the support for what the Language Agitation and the struggle against merger with Maharashtra was all about. Both movements sought to protect a Goan identity and local concerns that were only superficially connected with the names we have given to these movements. What was the issue of merger with Maharashtra all about? On the one hand the Catholics very rightly did not want to get swamped in a Hindu Maharashtra, the Saraswats did not want to loose dominant status in a Maratha Maharashtra, and the Goan bahujan samaj wanted to escape Brahmin domination by creating an option in a Maratha Maharashtra. Similar the support for and against Konkani was on similar lines, the Catholics wished to secure their identity, and the pro-Marathi lobby by and large identified the Konkani movement with their greatest fear, Brahmin dominance in Goa.

Perhaps the Bahujan samaj in Goa were the most far-sighted of us all who saw in the pro-Konkani movement, the contours of a design to ensure Brahmanical and Hindutva dominance. The Catholics woke up a little late in the day and realized that in supporting Konkani without securing the protection of the script that guarantees their uniqueness, they laid the foundations for their own demise from cultural and political life.

To put things in context now, let us recollect that it was in Karwar, in 1939 that a decision was taken to recognize Devnagari as the natural – and hence only- script for Konkani. A reading of Indian history will point us toward the fact the recognition of Devanagari as the natural Indian script was the tool used by Hindu right wing groups to cast India as essentially Hindu. This recognition refuses to recognize the multiple strands that have played their part in constituting India, and delegitimizes them. Similar to the manner in which Romi, the only script that supports a living and vibrant Konkani, is currently being delegitimized. That the mention of family deities comes up when there is talk of incorporating Karwar into Goa should instantly alert us to the fact that the argument is also playing to a Hindutva lobby which would seek to create a Goa on the basis of religious markers.

We need to develop a politically savvy understanding of what exactly is afoot here. The mere reference to Konkani and a greater Goa does not work to the advantage of Goa, Konkani or the communities that speak Konkani or live in Goa. Let us once again refer to modern Indian history to understand that what appears to be progressive may in fact not be so. Rightist forces have always managed to secure their agenda by riding piggy back on overtly secular and progressive agendas. Until the 80’s the women’s movement protesting obscenity found support from the BJP, until the Fire episode when it realized that what the BJP was supporting was the suppression of female sexuality in the name of Indian values. Similarly the women’s movement did not realize that the BJP’s support for a Uniform Civil Code was not their pro-women stance, but an anti-Muslim stance.

Currently as the protagonists of the Romi script seek to secure allies, there seems to be opposition to recognize the claim of Marathi as an official language in Goa. We need to figure out where this demand for Marathi is coming from. It is the demand of a minority that fears domination. A fear similar to what the protagonists of Romi experience. They seek recognition of Marathi in its Goan form, and as a Goan language, as an alternative to the brahmanical hegemony that will persecute both Catholics and the Bahujan samaj. The threat of Maharashtra is now dead. A new threat has emerged now, the threat of a brahmanical Hindutva, and it seeks to use Konkani and the idea of a larger Goa to get its way. We need to realize this. The addition of Karwar to Goa is not in Goa or Konkani’s larger interests. On the contrary, acknowledging Marathi as a Goan language may do more to further the interests of Goans in Goa. But more about this some other time…

(published in the Gomantak Times, 2006)