Konkani Catholics of Bangalore keen on mother tongue in liturgy

From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore

Bangalore, May 1: Roused by the enthusiasm and prodding from the indefatigable Konkani fighter Eric Ozario, Mandd Sobhann Gurkar and General Secretary Jagotik Konkani Songhotton, Konkani Catholics of Bangalore resolved to wage a relentless battle in favour of their mother tongue in the liturgy in their respective parishes of the Bangalore Archdiocese.

Allowing the use of the language of the faithful or the mother tongue is a right conferred on all the Catholic faithful after the Second Vatican Council and also the Canon Law, explained Eric Ozario, who led a 90-minute-long ''Konkani Niyall” discussion and musical programme under the joint auspices of Dev Sthuthinth Konkani (Konkani in Liturgy), Mandd Sobhann, Jagotik Konkani Songhotton and Federation of Konkani Catholic Associations (FKCA), at Sadhbhavana, the Provincialate of Carmelites in Bangalore on Wednesday.

''Konkani, which is believed to have originated on the banks of the ancient Saraswati river, is a divine language and also popularly known as the language of the gods,” said Eric Ozario and sought to drive home the point by explaining that even routine greetings like Good Morning, Good Day, Good Afternoon, Good Evening and Good Night as also Thank You that are commonly used in English language are rendered as ''Dev Bori Sakal Deemv,” ''Dev Boro Dees Deemv,” ''Dev Boro Dhanphar Deemv,” ''Dev Bori Saanz Deemv,” ''Dev Bori Raat Deemv” and ''Dev Borem Karum,” wherein God is always invoked which was not the case in any other language.

Konkani Catholics of Rajajinagar Konkani Catholic Welfare Association as well as those of Yeshwanthpur, Mathikere, Dasarahalli and other parts of Bangalore participated in the Konkani Niyall programme in which Konkani Kalaratn Eric Ozario explained the richness of the Konkani language and its culture.

Even though there were over 50 lakh Konkani speaking people in almost all parts of India, especially in the States of Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala, the 2011 census figures indicated that there were around 24 lakh Konkani speaking people, Eric Ozario said and explained that the lower number of figures was a glaring example of the Konkani speaking people not owning up their mother-tongue during the Census enumeration and mentioning the predominant language of the region or the State of their domicile as their mother-tongue.

However, all Konkani speaking people must proudly own their mother-tongue and should not exhibit any inferiority complex in doing so or display their snobbishness or false sense of prestige by speaking in English even at home, Eric Ozario said and pronounced the 10 commandments that all Konkani speaking people must scrupulously follow if their mother- tongue had to survive, grow, flourish and prosper.

''The greatness of Konkani, whether one accepts the latest official census figure of 24 lakhs or 50 lakhs as is widely believed by all Konkani protagonists, lies in its being recognized by its inclusion in the 8th Schedule of our Constitution in 1992, which is a rare and unique honour. Konkani is one of the 22 languages which finds a place in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution and is the official language of Goa. Karnataka has constituted a separate and independent State-level Academy for Konkani in 1994 and accorded the third optional language for study in the educational institutions in 2007,” he said appealed to all Konkani speaking people to work and strive for the growth of the language and its culture.

Underlining the importance of having the language of the people or vernacular language or the mother-tongue as the language in liturgy, Eric Ozario the fate of Latin, which enjoyed the pre-eminent status in the entire Catholic Church all over the World until the Second Vatican Council in 1966, when the vernacular or the language of the people was allowed a place in liturgy, must be borne in mind by everybody. Latin was the language of the Roman Empire and faced decline subsequently all over the world.

''Konkani speaking people must demand the use of their mother-tongue in the liturgy in their respective parishes and all churches as a matter of right and not as a charity or concession as per the decision of the Second Vatican Council, which had to be obeyed implicitly by all Bishops and Archbishops, and also in accordance with the Canon Law. It is also a constitutionally guaranteed right,” he said urging the Konkani speaking people to fight peacefully for enforcement of their rights by submitting written representations to their respective parish priests and even the Archbishop and finally even be prepared to wage a legal battle for allowing the use of Konkani in liturgy.

Eric Ozario urged the Konkani speaking people to proudly speak the language in their homes and always encourage the language, its literature and culture and be prepared to fight for the language whenever it faced any threat from external forces and indifference by a section of its own people. The fight in favour of Konkani in the liturgy was not aimed against any other language including Kannada, Tamil or Malayalam and much less against English.

FKCA Chairperson Aida D’Cunha presented a bouquet of flowers and appreciated the valiant battle and campaign mounted by Eric Ozario and his team and said the Federation was proud to associate with the initiative. ''We are also exploring all possible avenues to further the cause of Konkani and organize similar awareness campaigns in different parts of the city,”  she said.

Earlier, Edwin Pinto, former President of Rajajinagar Konkani Catholic Welfare Association, welcomed the gathering.

Leading guitarist Alwyn Fernandes, Cajetan Dias (Harmonica), Sunil Kumar (Violin), Dynan Caldeira (Guitar) and Norbert Gonsalves (Gumat) accompanied Eric Ozario in the musical programme.