The language movement of Goa: Parochial underpinning and instrumental concerns

Abstract

One of the first challenges that threatened the unity of the newly formed Indian nation state was language. With a record of more than 1600 languages, questions of language dominance and contestations were a natural consequence. The situation got heightened with the administrative decision of the Indian State in 1957, to redraw the territorial boundaries of the Indian State on linguistic lines. This opened the floodgates for a series of language movements. The language movement in Goa was one such movement. This paper provides the trajectory of the Konkani language movement in Goa. Based on secondary sources got form books and newspaper accounts, as well as personal interviews with the various players of the Konkani movement this paper attempts to articulate the confluence of language, caste, religion and politics that converged in the language movement in Goa.