Margao Correspondent

Margao, Dec 21: The First Martyr of the Konkani movement Floriano Vaz was remembered on his 25th death anniversary, a bust erected at Chandrawado- Fatorda was honoured by GPCC General Secretary Vijai Sardesai.

Floriano Vaz was gunned down by the Gujarat State Reserve Police constable during the height of the agitation 25 years ago that culminated in Konkani being conferred the status of the official language of the state of Goa.

Sardesai in his address said that Floriano Vaz was a symbol of supreme sacrifice for the sake of conferring the right status and self respect to our mother tongue and to the concept of Goan Identity.

He said Floriano Vaz also symbolized the selfless dedication of the Goan scheduled tribe community to the cause of preserving Goan identity.

He further expressed grief and said that although many had waxed eloquent on the need to honour the Konkani martyr nobody had done anything noteworthy in this direction for the last two and half decades.

He said he had fulfilled the promise of erecting Floriano Vaz’s bust and the ongoing work of development of Floriano Vaz Recreation Complex at Chandrawado is a perfect example of remembering the supreme sacrifice of the scheduled tribe Konkani protagonist.

MMC vice chairperson Gonzaco Rebello, MMC councilor Joseph Silva, Sadanand Naik, office bearers of the Fatorda Block Congress Committee and locals were present on the occasion.