User:Deepak D'Souza/Vishal Gomantak

Vishal in local Indian languages is huge, big or large. Gomantak in local Indian Languages is Goa. Konkana is a another name used to represent the entire Konkani speaking region.

Name

Vishal Gomantak or Greater Goa or Konkan State was a concept of an enlarged state of Goa that would include the neighbouring Konkani speaking areas from the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka. It has been proposed many times since the annexation of Goa to India in 1961.

Why, Vishal Gomantak

What is Goa and how is it formed? The The name Goa used to define the territory ruled by the Portuguese? Or also the area which did not become part of Goa but was a part of the same language, culture and geographical part historically? the area which was called Gomantak.

The Portuguese forces did not colonise entire today's state of Goa for 450 years. It was only in three talukas of Old Conquests – Bardez, Tiswadi and Salcete (later split into Mormugao). In fact the Portuguese also conquered Karwar in 1510 but returned it back. The rest of the seven talukas – the New Conquests - were under Portuguese rule for only 150 years. The southern side like Ponda, Quepem, Sanguem and Canacona were ruled by Sondekar. The northern areas like Sattari, Bicholim and Pedne were annexed from Khemraj Sawant Bhosle of Sawantwadi. Karwar was actually part of Canacona. The name of this taluka itself comes from the ancient word called Konn, some historians say, Karwar is also historically one of the five Konn. The other Konn, they say, are Malle Konn, Kathin Konn and Han Konn, situated today in Karwar district. If Sondekar and Bhosle had not surrendered to Portuguese till Goa was liberated, would Goa have been a “state” consisting of only four talukas of the Old Conquests – Salcete, Mormugao, Tiswadi and Bardez? Historical facts thus prove beyond doubt that Karwar was part of pre-Portuguese Goa.

Background

As Goa was freed in 1961, a border dispute had sparked off in Belgaum as well as Karwar, Joida (called Supa which was submerged due to Kali dam most people were relocated to a new formed town Ramnagar) and Haliyal. While Belgaum was Marathi-speaking area, the language of education in Karwar-Supa-Haliyal was also Marathi, just like Goa. They were thus demanding detachment of these areas from Karnataka and its merger into Maharashtra. The Kingdom of Swantwadi also wanted to merge with its areas that it had lost to Goa and for a separate Union Territory. Soon after reorganisation of Maharashtra and Gujarat states in 1960, the agitation of Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti to merge Belgaum, Khanapur, Karwar, Supa and Haliyal into Maharashtra heated up and Swantwadi a Konkani speaking area was already merged to Sindhudurg. Similar reactions were felt a year later (1969) to merge Goa into Maharastra. The Government of India then appointed a commission under country’s third Chief Justice of India Meher Chand Mahajan. The Mahajan Commission report, submitted in 1967, clearly stated that Belgaum and surrounding disputed areas are Marathi-speaking while the areas of Karwar-Supa-Haliyal are Konkani-speaking. Konkani was officially not recognised as a language by any official body till then.

Language & Dialects

Despite having a small population shows a very high number of dialects. The dialect tree structure of Konkani can easily be classified according to the region, religion, caste and local tongue influence.[61]

Kalelkar classification Based on the historical events and cultural ties of the speakers, N. G. Kalelkar has broadly classified the dialects into three main divisions :[61] however there are sub-dialects for example the accents of Konkani differ in Goa it self, North & South Goan Konkani sounds different and the same can be said about New & Old conquest Konkani.

Northern Konkani: Dialects spoken in the Ratnagiri and Sindadurg district of Maharashtra.One may Konkani is a form of Marathi. However this Konkani has the strongest influence of Marathi, also known as Malvana Konkani

Central Konkani: Dialects in Goa and Karwar, where Konkani came under the influence of Portuguese language and culture and a lot of new words have been added or created, also known as Goan Konkani

Southern Konkani: Dialects spoken in the Canara region(Mangalore & Udupi and also Kasaragod konkani in northern Kerala) are influenced by Tulu and Kannada, also known as Manglorean Konkani.

The proposed State

The movement to establish Konkani as a literary language and to unite all Konkani people in the country had sparked in the town of Karwar, by hosting the first ever Akhil Bharatiya Konkani Sahitya Parishad in 1939.

The first proposed Konkani state was actually made by Karwari people, when states for the republic of India were being carved out. Karwar did not find favour and was merged with Karnataka. Kingdom of Swantwadi after it joined the Republic of India was also in a fix to merge with Maharastra or maintain its Identity by becoming a union territory as the people spoke Konkani and half of the kingdom was occupied by the Portuguese, however it was merged with Sindadurg district.

Among the various areas that have been demanded to be merged into Goa: Churchil Alemao's proposal:

1. The Konkani speking areas of Sindhudurg district in Maharashtra, chiefly Malwan Swantwadi, Donamarg, Kudal and Venurla;
2. The Konkani speking areas of Uttar Kanada (north Kanada) district in Karnataka, mainly Karwar, Joida, Haliyal and Batkal.

The Idea is to form a larger State for Konkani speaking people so that other languages and cultures are not forced on them. Giving all dilects of Konkani strength and protection. Allowing Manglore peole to come and settle in and around Karwar. Allowing Konkani people from Maharastra to come and settle in Swantwadi, Donamarg and Vengurla and making konkani people more concentrated in a area rather than scattred all around. Creating a multicultural society within all Konkani speaking tribes and crating a land were Konkani people can come and live, a land were they can fallback on.

First proposals

The first proposal for Vishal Gomantak came soon after Goa's annexation into India. However there were counter proposals: these included full statehood without modifying the present boundaries and a proposal to merge Goa into Maharashtra. The pro-merger demand became prominent and the "Vishal Gomantak" idea took a backseat.

The merger proposal met with stringent opposition and was put to vote in a referendum held on <fill>. The Goan people voted to remain against the merger and Goa continued as an independent union territory. After a fierce aggitiation Konkani was made the official language and Goa was granted full statehood in <fill>. .

The Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party had been the main proponent of the move to merge Goa with Maharashtra. After their failure at the opinion poll, the MGP also supported the idea of Vishal Gomantak.

Gomantak a newspaper which was started to support the merger, too started supporting the idea of Vishal Gomantak.

Recent events

IN recent years the demand for Vishal Gomantak has been revived by a few people, mostly Konkani writers both from and outside Goa. However therre is little support for this demand in Goa itself. One of the foremost proponents of this demand has been the All India Konkani Parishad(AIKP). The AIKP is a literary body dedicated to the promotion of Konkani. It passed a resolution at its Karwar session held in <fill>, demanding the formation of Vishal Gomantak .

Another group that supports the demand for merger of Karwar into Goa is the Goa Konkani Ekikaran Committee. The comittee held a meeting at Sadashivgad in <Fill> and was attended by veteran Konkani personalities such as Naguesh Karmali, Ramesh Veluskar; and also by Mahabaleshwar Sail and U. B. Kalghutkar of the Maharrashtra Ekikaran Samitee. The MES has been demanding the merger of Marathi speaking areas of Karwar and Begaum into Maharashtra from the past 30 years.

RPI leader Ramdas Athavale claimed that "injustice had been done to the Marathi-speaking people in the border areas by the inclusion of Belgaum in Karnataka. His remedy was that if the Marathi speaking areas of Belgaum could not be merged into Maharashra then they should be merged into Goa.

Another prominent supporter of the idea was Goa Law Commission chairman Ramakant Khalap. Khalap based his opinions on the Mahajan comminson report. This report excluded Goa since it was still under Portuguese rule at the time of the commision's activity. Khalap claimed that Goa's borders were an accident of history and that the commisions's report should be used to reorganise the state on the basis of geographic and linguistic continuity.

One of the most surprising proponents of Vishal Gomantak was Bal Thackeray, the supremo of the Marathi nationalist Shiv Sena party.

Karnataka's claim on Goa

In July 2007, the Karnataka Government made a counter claim, as a political move that Goa was "historically, an integral part" of Karnataka. The statement was in response to a suit filed by the Maharashtra Government in the Supreme Court and in fear that Vishal Gomantak movement may catch milage.

Opposition to the idea

According to Tomazinho Cardozo, a prominent Goan politician, the idea has received very little support among the people of Goa itself. He reasons that it is because Goans are opposed to any idea which threatens to "destroy the uniqueness of Goa". The counnter statement to this thought was that the current Goa would keep most of its Identity intact. Two new districts would be formed. The Konkani speaking people from Maharastra could settle arond the areas of Swantwadi, Vengurla and Donamarg forming the first new district. The Konkani people from the coast of karnataka (Manglorean people) could be concentrated to places like Karwar and the wide open spaces of Joda which would be the second new district.

Miguel Braganza has attributed the wariness of the Goans as they fell that the action of the Goa Konkani Ekikaran Committee only play into the hands of the Marathi lobby seeking merger into Maharashtra.

The Catholics in Goa saw the idea of Vishal Gomantak as a ploy to dilute their numbers and hence opposed it. To gather the support of Goan catolics, a statement was issued that the Konkani people from all over the world can come and settle here. This included the substancial population of Manglorean Konkani Catholics, could come and settle near Karwar if they wanted. Some even went on to say that East-Indian Catholics can also be allowed to accomodated around north of Goa, near Donamarg. The experts said The East-Indians, Goans and people from Daman & Diu have some common cultures due to the Portugues influnce and the Marati that these communities speak is smilar to Konkani.

The Goa Hit-Rakhan Manch(Translation: Forum for protection of Goa's rights), a youth organization formed in 2000 opposed the demand to merge the disputed Marathi-speaking areas of Karnataka such as Belgaum, Nipani, Khanapur. The demand had coincided with another attempt by the pro-Marathi lobby in Goa to obtain official status for Marathi in Goa, a move which was turned down by the High Court. They claimed that these moves would facilitate non-Goan Marathi speakers getting jobs in Goa.