Goa, Feb. 3 -- Giving Konkani its due is still Goa's big, unfinished project

FREDDY FERNANDES

freddy@herald-goa.com

The Liberation of Goa from the Portuguese regime, did not mean liberation of the people's language - Konkani. Just as the language was suppressed under colonial rule, it continued to be denied its rightful place after Liberation by the first elected government of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP). Although the members of the MGP were Goans and spoke Konkani in their homes, they espoused Marathi as their mother tongue.

The MGP led by the first Chief Minister Dayanand Bandodkar was constituted on the fear that Hindu Brahmins and Catholics would continue to dominate the polity after Liberation, as they did under the ...