HC gives hope for Konkani in Kannada script

Bangalore Mirror

 

Court directs HRD ministry to make a ’reasoned and speaking order’ about use of various scripts for Konkani

Bangaluru, 02 May 2016: After dismissing a petition earlier this year regarding the use of Kannada and other scripts for writing Konkani, the High Court has now issued direction to the Union HRD ministry to consider the representation and make a ’reasoned and speaking order.’ This comes as a ray of hope after the Kendra Sahitya Academy made it mandatory for Konkani submissions to it be in the Devanagari script. On the other hand, most of the literature in Konkani is written in Kannada and some also in Malayalam, Roman and Arabic scripts. 

 

Konkani artiste Eric Ozario, writers and others had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the HC against the Sahitya Academy direction. On February 1, 2016, the HC dismissed the petition saying it cannot issue any direction. A revision petition was filed and in its order dated April 27, 2016, the division bench of chief justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee and justice Ravi Malimath said that instead of issuing notices to the ministry of human resources, liberty would be granted to the petitioners to make a representation to the secretary of the department. 

 

The court further directed that the said secretary would give an opportunity to all the concerned parties to have their say, and consider and dispose of the representation "within six months."

 

Ronald Castelino, president of Karnataka Konkani Sahitya Academy, said it was unfair on part of the Sahitya Academy to consider only the Nagari script. "In South India, Konkani is predominant in Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra. Nagari, Romi (Roman) and Kannada scripts are largely used. A little use of Malayalam and Arabic script is also prevalent. Of the five, Kannada script is believed to have maximum literature."

 

The Konkani-speaking population in Karnataka is more than the Konkani-speaking population in Goa. According to an estimate, Karnataka has about 25 lakh Konkani speakers while Goa has 10 lakh. The Konkani-speaking population in India is roughly about 50 lakh. Of the 25 lakh Konkani speaking population in the Karnataka, 80 per cent use Kannada script to write it. The younger generation of Konkanis are increasingly using the Roman script to write the language in day-to-day communication.

 

Castelino said, "The Kendra Sahitya Academy’s demand that the literature should be translated to Nagari to be considered for the award is like indirectly killing the other scripts. Just for the sake of the award, if a writer has to translate the work to a different script, it indirectly means that Kannada or other scripts are not recognised. There is enough number of people who are competitive enough to go through the works for the award. Many Indian languages are dying because of non-patronage."

 

Konkani is recognised as a language of Karnataka and has its own state Sahitya Academy. The state funds the academy and chairs in universities.