JKS organizes 2-day seminar to resolve Konkani script controversy

JKS organizes 2-day seminar to resolve Konkani script controversy

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Mar 11, 2012: A 2-day seminar titled Scripts and Languages of Modern India with Special Reference to Konkani, organized by the Jagotik Konkani Songhotton (JKS) was inaugurated at Kalaangan on March 10 Saturday. 

Prof. Valerian Rodrigues of the Centre for Political Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) said that, although script by itself is meaningless, language needs it for expression. Stating that Konkani is the language of around 2 million people spread across different states and cultures, he said that people use various scripts such as Malayalam, Kannada, Devanagari, Roman, and Urdu to write Konkani. He voiced his opinion that this diversity ought to be sustained.

Stating that the script controversy is caste and politics related, he said that the general feeling is that the Sahitya Academy is favouring Devanagari, which non Devanagari writers are unwilling to accept. Although Konkani writers united to get Konkani included in the 8th schedule of the Constitution, they remain divided over the script issue even today, he said. 

Stating that the controversy has intensified after the introduction of Konkani in schools, he said that it has also affected the process of teaching and learning. He urged Konkani-speaking communities to unite and resolve this script controversy. Observing that Konkani cannot be confined to a particular script, he said that all writers have the right to use a script they are familiar with although problems arise when one desires public support for one’s work. 

Eric Ozario, the general secretary of JKS, said that language and not the script must be given primary importance. Voicing his opinion that the call for one script for one language threatens the growth of the language, he said that the motto unity in diversity must be applied instead.
Dr. Anvita Abbi, professor of linguistics at JNU Delhi, was also present.