Mangalore: Call for Sustenance of Diversity in Konkani Script at JKS Seminar
Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
Mangalore, Mar 11: A two-day seminar on 'Scripts and languages of modern India, with special reference to Konkani' was inaugurated at Kalaangann here on Saturday March 10. The seminar has been organized by Jagotik Konknni Songhotton (JKS - Global Konkani Organization).
Addressing the gathering, Prof Valerian Rodrigues, centre for political studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, said that language and script are related despite being distinct. The script in itself has no meaning, and language needs script to express itself, he said.
He further said that as Konkani is spoken by around two million people belonging to different cultures and states along the coast, different scripts like Kannada, Malayalam, Devanagiri, Urdu and Roman have been used to write Konkani. This diversity needs to be sustained, he urged.
The feeling that Devanagari is associated with 'tradition' has made a section of the upper caste Konkani speakers in the west to opt for it, he said, adding that the controversy over script for Konkani is embroiled in political ramifications. There is a feeling that Sahitya Academy is favouring Devanigiri script, which the non-Devanagari Konkani speakers are hesistant to accept. Though Konkani speakers had been united in their efforts to include Konkani in the 8th schedule of the Constitution, they are divided over the issue of script, he said.
The controversy has been compounded after the introduction of Konkani in schools, he pointed out, adding that controversy has affected the teaching-learning process.
He called upon the Konkani speaking community to be united and and defend their rights as a linguistic minority so as to preserve their language and culture.
Every writer has the freedom to use the script he or she is familiar with, but the problem arises when you consider the support the writer would get from the public for writing in that particular script, he observed, and said that Konkani cannot be confined to any one single script.
JKS general secretary Eric Ozario said that script is secondary when compared to language, and that called for a more heterogenous approach to the issue, wherein different scripts are accepted and respected.
He further said that the call for 'one language, one script, one literature' is a threat to the growth of Konkani, and it would be better to adopt the motto 'unity in diversity' when it comes to script for the language.
He also pointed out that given the diversity among Konkani speakers, it would not be possible for a few people to decide on the script without taking the larger interest into consideration.
Among those present were Dr Anvita Abbi, professor of linguistics, Jawaharlal Nehru Universirty, New Delhi.