Rui Carvalho Baceira, who has recently
completed his 3-year stint as the Consul General of Portugal in Goa, made some
very interesting comments about his stay before moving onwards to head
Portugal’s diplomatic mission in Palestine. Of his many observations, his
statistics on the people applying for Portuguese nationality can offer some
insights on the problems Goans are facing vis-à-vis education and employment. In
an interview
to a prominent national daily in Goa, Baceira said that most Goans seeking a
Portuguese passport “are male, between 20 and 30 years old, and are not
skilled. Few have a university background”. He further added, “In Goa,
Portuguese passport aspirants are roughly 60% Christian, 30% Hindu and 10%
Muslim”. While it is not exactly clear what Baceira meant by “unskilled”, the
reference, perhaps, could be to a lack of professionals, such as doctors or
lawyers, seeking the Portuguese passport.
Baceira’s comments are noteworthy
precisely because they emerge out of first-hand information on how Goans are
engaging with Portuguese nationality. The question is why is this happening – that
is, why mostly unskilled Goans, without a university background, seek a
Portuguese passport. Are any of the internal problems within the educational
and employment setup of Goa pushing unskilled Goans out of Goa? The question is
worth asking as many commentators in the past have made the suggestion,
in the context of the controversies over Portuguese nationality, that it is
rather the internal problems facing Goan economy and polity that is pushing
people to migrate out of Goa.
The issue of a large number of Portuguese
passport aspirants being unskilled reminded me of some commentators who had argued
about Goa’s linguistic politics being detrimental to Goans pursuing higher
education and professional courses. Some ten years ago, Bahujan Samaj and
Marathi activist Ramnath Naik, in his History Hour talk
titled, “Social Damage done by Goa’s Language Controversy and the Conspiracy
behind it” at Xavier Centre (6 October, 2005), made the interesting suggestion
that introducing Konkani in the Devnagari script overnight had consequences for
the educational success of Goans. Naik asserted that shifting to a new
language, without having the necessary infrastructure of scholarly books and
trained teachers and scholars, had put members of the Bahujan Samaj at a
disadvantage.
Naik’s assertion, though at first glance
seemingly bizarre, may hold true, as the demand for English as Medium of
Instruction (MoI) would demonstrate. The manner in which the MoI issue has
played out in Goa over the last few years has made one thing clear: most Goans,
irrespective of religious affiliation want English medium education for their
children, as a way out of the stifling and narrow linguistic system presently
existing in Goa. The question, therefore, is whether the linguistic and
educational policies of the Goa government (irrespective of which political
party is in power) has led to the increase of unskilled Goans, who are unable
to access university education?
That poor or low-income families were not
being able to afford quality education for their children was also a major
issue that votaries for English as MoI constantly highlighted. It does appear
that if there are many Goans unable to access quality education it is largely
because the educational system, from the primary to higher education levels, is
not equipped to provide education to all Goans, irrespective of income and
social status. Moreover, in the past several decades successive governmental
policies have only made the situation worse, rather than broadening the choices
that Goans had in terms of pursuing educational opportunities (preferably in
Goa itself). The result may simply mean that more and more Goans are being
unable to pursue educational and employment opportunities of their choice or
liking.
In his talk, Naik also made the
suggestion that the impact of language policies is similar for Catholic
communities as it is for the Bahujan Samaj. Baceira’s revelation that almost
60% of the applicants of Portuguese passport from Goa are Christian, allows us
to return to Naik’s suggestion and evaluate its merit. It is no secret that
within the current linguistic regime in Goa – of privileging Devnagari Konkani
– most of the Catholics are seen as outsiders; even demanding equal status for
Romi Konkani led to Catholics being labeled as ‘anti-national’. The demand for
English as MoI was projected as antithetical to Indian culture; the detractors
of English as MoI even went to the extent of communalizing the issue, calling
it an explicitly Christian demand. In many ways the labeling followed a similar
script of betraying the national culture as those obtaining a Portuguese
passport were believed to have been doing.
Thus, along with a skewed language and
education policy, this aggressive nationalism propagated by these votaries of
Indian languages and culture also contributes to pushing people out of Goa. It
comes as no surprise, therefore, that almost 60% of those who apply for
Portuguese passport in Goa are Christian, and most of them are unskilled,
without a university degree.
In many ways it can be argued that most
of us already knew the facts that Baceira revealed. It is common knowledge that
in Goa it is the Christians that move out in large numbers, especially on a
Portuguese passport. Rather than stressing a lack for one’s own culture whenever
controversies flare on issues such as Portuguese nationality and the language
questions, it would do us a lot good to think about the internal systemic
problems contributing to the migration of Goans. If these internal problems are
not addressed immediately, one will only witness more Goans leaving the shores
of their homeland.
(First published in O Heraldo, dt: 27 September, 2017)
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