Konkani language agitation

The Konkani language agitations were a series of agitations that happened in the Indian state of Goa (formerly the union territory of Goa, Daman and Diu) during the post-Independence period. The agitations involved several mass protests, riots, student and political movements in Goa, and concerned the official status of Konkani in the state and in the Indian Republic.

Since early times, Konkani language and literature took a beating due to persistent invasions on Goa by:

The final death knell for Konkani was the Inquisition which sought to root out Konkani from Portuguese territories in India. The use of Konkani, the language of communication between the Portuguese authorities and the local population was, amongst other Hindu practices, declared heretic. Portuguese was declared to be the sole language; a move supported by Franciscan missionaries. It was made the sole language of official communication and a pre-requisite for government jobs. A Church edict in 1684 directed a change over of the lingua franca from Konkani to Portuguese. This unsuccessful language policy was revoked in 1761 by the Minister of the Kingdom ( Prime Minister) Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, better known as the Marquês de Pombal. However, the Inquisition had taken its toll. Konkani manuscripts and literature, in the Nagari and Goykanadi, were consigned to the flames as heretic literature. This led to extermination of Konkani from the velhas conquistas. However, Konkani survived in the Hindu majority novas conquistas, who, in view of the edict against written Konkani continued using Konkani as the language at home. They also used Marathi translations of sacred Hindu texts. This was followed by the arrival of Marathi speaking Brahmins to serve in Hindu temples. This episode in history was an important event in the struggle for the status of Konkani vis a vis Marathi amongst the Hindu population of Goa. Konkani also survived amongst the Saraswat Brahmins, Gaud Saraswat and Bhanap, the Daivajnas, the Kudumbis, the Catholics who migrated to Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra. Konkani received no patronage in her homeland, Goa during the Portuguese period. Occasional books written by Fr. Agnelus F.X. Maffei in 1882 and the book on Konkani grammar by Fr. Thomas Stevens in 1622 were published with Konkani being rendered in the Roman script.

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