Behind the News: Voices from Goa\'s Press by Various

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Gomantak's failure in the face of Tarun Bharat's
onslaught is an example of how a market leader can fail
by sitting on its laurels. The Gomantak was originally
started in Goa to advocate the state's merger with
Maharashtra and furthering the cause of the Marathi
language. Gomantak owed much of its success to its
former editor, Madhav Gadkari. By the own admission,
Gadkari gave Gomantak a Hindu face and supported the
cause of Marathi through his speeches. Mr Gadkari's
enthusiasm, foresight and hard work were instrumental
in the growth of Gomantak. The newspaper's circulation
shot up from 3000 copies per day to 15,000 copies per
day and kept growing. His successor, Narayan Athavale,
known for his inimitable style of writing, kept up
Gadkari's legacy.

Madhav Gadkari has been always accused of fostering
pro-Maharashtra sentiments, fueling the language
controversy and creating disharmony between Goa's main
Hindu and Catholic communities. Konkani protagonists
continue to level these allegations and suspect that
Gomantak is still aiming to merge Goa with Maharashtra.
Gadkari admitted that he had come to Goa to campaign
during 1967 elections. Though initially he was not the
editor, he used to write regularly for Gomantak. In all
Gadkari spent ten years in Goa.

Despite being labelled an outsider, the Marathi press
in Goa owes its professionalism to Gadkari. He turned
Gomantak into a platform for the Goan bahujan
community. He started the Shiv Jayanti celebrations in
Goa and, in his tenure of 10 years, he fought several
intellectual and political battles.

To begin with Gadkari was very close to Goa's first
chief minister, Dayanand Bandodkar. The relationship
proved profitable, with Bandodkar leaking several
stories to Gadkari that were published prominently in
Gomantak. Later on, the two fell out, and Bandodkar
stopped government advertisements to Gomantak.
Bandodkar went on to accuse Gadkari and the Gomantak of
vitiating communal harmony in Goa, in a complaint to
the Press Council of India.

Gadkari believed that in the Vishal Gomantak (a
'greater Goa' state that included within Goa areas
outside its current boundaries) he envisaged, the rift
between Hindu and Catholic communities in Goa would be
solved peacefully.

Gomantak has played a big role in the development of
Marathi in Goa, by creating two generations of writers
and journalists in the state. In contrast, the Konkani
media failed to create an intellectual constituency in
the state.

In Sunaparant

During my tenure as editor of Sunaparant, between 1989
and 1995, I strived to inject some amount of
professionalism in the newspaper. Unfortunately, I did
not receive the needed support from the stalwarts of
the Konkani movement. They never wanted the Sunaparant
to become a professionally-run publication. My efforts
faced severe opposition and I personally went through
acute stress.

Purshottam Kakodkar, Uday Bhembre and his group led the
movement against me. With the help of Congress
politician, and former chief minister, Ravi Naik, they
managed to have Uday Bhembre installed as Chief Editor
of the daily. Unfortunately, Uday Bhembre never had the
time for this newspaper. He just concentrated on how to
sabotage my attempts to professionalise the newspaper.

During my tenure, Sunaparant had the best of
supplements on Diwali and other occasions. We even
managed to bring out special evening editions during
Iran-Iraq war. Sunaparant's campaigns during the
agitations against the Konkan Railway and Nylon 6,6
projects was followed up by other newspapers in Goa.

We even started a fund raising drive during the 1990
Shiroda canoe disaster and helped restart the ferry
service. In addition, more than 20 books compiling
different articles, investigative series, fiction and a
dictionary was published during my tenure.

Only readers will tell whether during his eight years
tenure Uday Bhembre had taken up even a single issue
and fought it out till the end. Readers acutely felt
the non-professionalism of the product during Bhembre's period.

Bhembre held the position as Chief Editor for eight
years later when the newspaper had but lost all its
base. Sunaparant is owned by a mine owner and hence
protection of corporate interests, rather than the
fostering of Konkani, has played a big role in
Bhembre's continuation as Chief Editor at Sunaparant.

In the end, Bhembre had to go after running a series of
editorials against Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.
Until then, the owners of Sunaparant were oblivious of
Bhembre's lethargy, inefficiency and inactivity that
took an immense toll on the newspaper. An example:
during his tenure, Bhembre failed to call even a single
meeting of staff reporters, let alone stringers.

Once again, Dattaraj Salgaocar, owner of Sunaparant,
has recently made up his mind to re-build and re-launch
the newspaper on a commercial basis. This is a welcome
step. Whatever may be the language of newspaper -- the
language is merely a tool for communication -- its
success depends on the information provided, in-depth
analysis and its commitment to important issues.

In an effort to make Sunaparant a 'mouthpiece' for
Konkani, Bhembre seems to have overlooked all these
issues. This is precisely why Bhembre had to seek the
support of a newspaper like The Navhind Times to
counter the likes of Jaisingrao Rane, despite heading
Sunaparant himself.

Needless to add, such incidents have proved detrimental
to the cause of Konkani. Almost 45 years ago, Konkani
protagonists had to depend on the crutches of Marathi
newspapers to enhance their cause. The situation is no
better today, largely due to the apathetic nature of
the leaders of the Konkani movement.

Vital ingredients

In my opinion, the major requirements for a successful
daily newspaper are: a state-of-the-art establishment,
a steadfast commitment to the reader, comprehensive
coverage of all sections of the society, and the
ultimate aim of becoming the voice of the Goan populace.

Sadly, all these factors remained low on the priority
of Konkani protagonists. Professionalism was never on
their agenda. With an eye on the leadership of the
Konkani movement, the likes of Bhembre used the
newspaper to carry out attacks against all his
opponents during the elections to the Konkani Bhasha Mandal

Bhembre has still not given up. He is now on the
advisory board of the soon-to-be-revamped Sunaparant.
This move obviously suggests the intention of halting
the progress of the restructured newspaper.

When I took over as an Editor of Sunaparant, Uday
Bhembre, then editor, was asked to vacate his post. Not
surprisingly, this angered Bhembre. Some of his
friends, who had been pampered with free publicity,
continuously worked against me.

To illustrate how this worked, one can cite here the
example of columnist Dilip Borkar whose satirical
column "Borkari", on various ills plaguing Goa, gained
all-round popularity. Borkar had even even taken
humorous digs at me through his writings. But, that
apart the column was a masterpiece as regards its
content and the lucidity of the language was concerned.

But it hurt a number of people, and added them to my
list of enemies. Uday Bhembre, on taking charge as the
Editor, stopped this column and replaced it with
another one penned by one of his supporters. However it
did not find favor with the reader and failed miserably.

Much of my work at Sunaparant -- like a supplement on
business, in-depth analysis of important events, expert
views and analysis by experts in relation to important
events, a well compiled Sunday edition -- continues
with little change.

Dattaraj Salgaocar himself admitted that Sunaparant had
become popular with readers, but reactions from
politicians made him restless. It may be recalled that
Sunaparant had mercilessly attacked Ravi Naik for
usurping the chief ministerial gaddi (throne).

Dattaraj, being close to Naik, could not digest this
criticism. What seems to have irked Salgaocar was
Sunaparant's highlighting, on its front-page, the news
of the nomination of Vasant Pilgaonkar (a family friend
and close aide-cum-adviser of Ravi Naik) as the Goa
Public Service Commission chief.

Strongly retaliating against this, Dattaraj called for
a meeting at Pilgaonkar's residence. And Pilgaonkar, at
this meeting, lectured me on journalism. A decision to
name Uday Bhembre as the Chief Editor was finalised.
Interestingly, Bhembre is a relative of Pilgaonkar and
close to Ravi Naik.

Bhembre got a dose of his own medicine when Manohar Parrikar
took over as chief minister. On realizing that Bhembre
refused to toe his line, Parrikar publicly blasted him,
and, in turn, Sunaparant. The age-old tradition of
industrialists supporting the government came into play
here. By the same token, Salgaocar unsurprisingly
supported Parrikar.

Most importantly, the group of journalists close to
Parrikar is now getting attracted to Sunaparant.
According to the grapevine, the government is doling
out a largesse of Rs 50 lakhs (five million rupees) by
way of advertisement revenue to Sunaparant. How can a
newspaper which expects revenue in the form of
advertisements from any incumbent government remain
loyal to its reader?

I believe, a Konkani daily has to follow an independent
line to succeed. It has to protect the interests and
self-respect of all Goans. In the process, a newspaper
like Sunaparant should not hesitate in stepping on the
toes of a section of the Konkani protagonists. Whoever
edits the newspaper should realise that a news item
killed by Sunaparant would be grabbed by the Marathi
and English-language press.

Any sort of defalcation, even if it pertains to the
darling of Konkaniwadis meaning the Goa Konkani Academy
or Asmitai Pratisthan, should necessarily find an
important place in the pages of this newspaper. And
that too, before any rival publication vigorously
pursues the issue. Various issues like the efficiency
of the teaching community, the state of education
institutions, or the pathetic condition of Konkani in
schools, have to be taken up with missionary zeal. Only
a relentless pursuit of such issues will take Sunaparant
to the masses.

Lessons to be learnt

It could probably draw on the lessons from the Marathi press
. It holds Marathi dear to its heart, without in any
way making reference to the Marathi movement. At a time
when veteran journalists like Gadkari and Athavale
forcefully argued the cause of Marathi, it was done
without prejudice to other issues of social and
political importance which continued to find place in
their newspaper.

Gomantak was always on the forefront in fighting
alongside Goans on vital issues that cropped up from
time to time. In my opinion, although Tarun Bharat has
a greater circulation than its immediate rival
Gomantak, I would still give full marks to the latter
for its vigorous fighting spirit.

During my involvement in the student agitation, despite
it being ideologically oriented towards our policy and
mindset, Rashtramat did not entertain us. On the
contrary, Gomantak, while holding diametrically
opposite views, gave us wide publicity. Further support
was found in the editorials. It has been the policy of Rashtramat
and Sunaparant to always be on the side of the Establishment.

The roots of the decline of Sunaparant lies precisely
in this same policy. It has always given a wide berth
to any agitation. Given the fact that Sunaparant is a
Konkani daily, it does not necessarily mean that all
literature pertaining to and written by Konkani
litterateurs has to find a mention in it.

Sunaparant has to nurture, cultivate and discover new
journalistic talent. I was instrumental in encouraging
Marathi protagonists to write for Sunaparant. As a
resultantly, Sunaparant found readers among the
supporters of Marathi as well. Such efforts have to be repeated.

To live long, Sunaparant has to sell. The issues
highlighted by the newspaper have to be discussed, and
a conducive atmosphere in favor of the newspaper needs
to be created. Is this too much to expect?

Chapter 18:
Romi Konkani, hanging on a cliff

Peter RaposoPeter Rapose considers himself "just a five-year-old
priest" given the responsibility of editing a
seventy-year-old Konkani weekly. Says he modestly: "The
only thing I have besides my priestly studues is a
Diploma in Journalism from Xavier's Mumbai and a lot of
enthusiasm to do the best I can." The enthusiasm shows;
recently the publication he edits put up its website
(something other larger publications in Goa don't take
seriously) at http://www.v-ixtt.com. He has earlier
worked for three years in Bombay Archdiocese.

To say that Roman-script Konknni journalism did not
make a mark would be a fallacy. However, that it did
not maintain and live up to the challenges of modern
day journalism is a fact that caused its very decline.

The total number of Konknni-speaking people spread in
India (Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala) and
scattered across smaller pockets across the world is
five million (or, 50 lakh). This population of
Konknni-speaking people is further divided between
people who write the language and read it in four
different scripts: Devnagri, Roman, Kannada, and the
Malayalam script. While the Konknni people of Kerala
use the Malayalam script and Konknni people of
Karnataka use the Kannada script, the Devanagiri and
Roman divides the Konknni people of Goa and coastal Maharashtra.

Among the four scripts, the population that understands
or follows Roman script (RS) Konknni would be around
300,000 to 400,000 approximately. (This is a rough
calculation based on the 1991 census.) However, going
by facts and figures of Konknni journalism on the
whole, we could definitely put Roman script Konknni journalism
as the fore runner.

A Brief History of Roman Konknni Journalism

The first Konknni weekly Udentichem Sallok was
published in Pune by Edward Bruno D'Souza in 1899. It
started as a monthly periodical which later became
fortnightly. In 1894 it was closed down. It came out in
Konknni-Portuguese. In 1891, O Luzo-Concanim was
published. It was a bilingual weekly in
Konknni-Portuguese. Aleixo Caitano Jose Francisco was
its editor.

From 1892 to 1897, A Luz, O Bombaim Esse, A Luo, O
Intra Jijent, O Opiniao Nacional Konknni-Portuguese
weeklies were published. In 1907 Sanjechem Nokhetr was
born. B F Cabral was the editor of this paper. Since it
was published from Mumbai, this paper carried Mumbai
(then called Bombay) news in detail. We can say that
this periodical is the first newspaper in Konknni.

Soon after this Roldao Noronha started a monthly named
Katolik Sovostkai, which later became a fortnightly and
then ceased publication. In 1907, Honarato Furtado and
Francis Xavier Furtado published a weekly named O Goano
from Mumbai. This weekly was independently divided into
three parts: Portuguese, Konknni and English. In 1912
Konkan Magazine a monthly magazine was started by
Joaquim Campose. In 1914, a monthly named Dor
Mhoineachi Rotti came into existence in Karachi. Fr.
Vincent Lobo and Fr. Ludovic Pereira were instrumental
in starting this magazine and it had a circulation of
8,000 subscribers. Today, the same Rotti is published
and printed in Goa; Fr. Moreno de Souza is the present
editor.

In 1916, Sebastiao Xavier Vaz started Amigo do Povo, a
Konknni-English weekly. In 1919 O Goano and O Amigo do
Povo were combined and named O Amigo do Povo Goano,
which continued as a Konknni-English weekly. Manuel
Fernandes was the editor. It stopped in 1926. In 1919,
three more periodicals were stated in Mumbai -- Ave
Maria (Konknni-English-Portuguese), edited by Antonio
D'Cruz, Goa Mail, a Konknni-English periodical edited
by Dr. Vasco da Gama and F X Afonso, and Popular
Magazine (first as monthly and then as fortnightly)
which was edited by Joaquim Jose Silvestre.

Amcho Sonvsar, a weekly, was started in 1927 by Jose
Caitan Francis De Souza. It was purely in Konknni. In
1930 Agnus Dei, a Konknni-English monthly was started
and went on being published for 13 years. Fr. Alarich
Pereira and Joaquim Felix Pereira looked after this
periodical. In the same year, Respecio Alfonso and
Roque Pereira started a weekly called Goa Times. It
came out first in Konknni-English and, then, only in
Konknni. Dr Simon C Fernandes was the editor of Goa
Times.

In 1932 Antonio Vincente D'Cruz started a small-sized
daily named Konknni Bulletin. This was published from
Mumbai and it too continued for 13 years. In 1933, Joao
Lazarus De Souza started the Goan Observer, a
Konknni-English daily. In 1934 Inacio Caitano Carvalho
started Emigrant, a weekly which later on turned to a
daily.

In 1930, Luis de Menezes started a weekly from Goa
named Amcho Ganv. In 1932, two other Portuguese-Konknni
periodicals came into existence: Porjecho Adhar, which
was started by Jose Baptist Vaz, lasted for 30 years
and Padri Jose Vaz, which was started by Francis Xavier
D'Costa.

In 1933 Vauraddeancho Ixtt, a Konknni weekly was
started by Fr. Arsencio Fernandes and Fr.Graciano
Moraes. It is still run by the Pilar Society till date.
This writer is its present editor. In 1934 Gova Nova, a
Konknni-English-Portuguese weekly, was started by
Venktesh Alvekar.

From 1936-50 Mhojem Magazin, Catholic Indian, Amcho
Sonvsar, Novem Jivit, Goenkrancho Ixtt, Gova Kamgar,
Gomantak, Porjecho Ulas, Gova, Chabuk, Golden Goa,
Konkan Times, Sontos, Aitarachem Vachop, O Heraldo,
Konknni Journal, Tujem Raj Amkam Ieum, all from Mumbai
were in existence. Besides these, Udentechem Nekhetr,
Niz Goa, Jai Gomantak, Gomant Bharti, Voice of Goa,
Azad Goem, Sot Uloi, Porjecho Avaz, Ghe Uzvadd, all in
Mumbai, and Uzvadd from Africa were published.

After the Liberation of Goa, Felicio Cardoso started a
weekly named Goencho Sad and later changed it to Sot.
1963 saw a weekly named Uzvadd stated by Ameterio Pais.
In 1967, the two weeklies Sot and A Vida were combined
and Divtti, a daily, was brought into existence by
Felicio Cardoso. Hugo Souza was the managing director
of Divtti. Later, Felicio Cardozo turned Divtti into a
weekly called Loksad. During this period, Goa saw a
lots of other periodicals like Gomant Suria, Goencho
Fuddari, and the like. During the same period, Mumbai
witnessed the birth of Goan Express, Goan Sports
Weekly, Porjecho Ixtt, Vavraddi, and Cine Times. Today
none of these publications are in existence.

In 1970, Gomantak Private Limited Society started a
daily called Uzvadd. Evagrio George was the editor of
this paper. Later he started two of his own weeklies
and named Novo Uzvadd and Prokas.

In 1970, periodicals such as The Blade, Goencho Mog and
Goenkar were started. In 1980, Fr. Planton Faria
started Goencho Avaz which was later changed to
Goenchim Kirnnam. In the same year, Dionisio D'Souza
started a monthly and called it Goenchem Ful.

In 1982, following a people's initiative, a Konknni
daily called Novem Goem was born. Gurunath Kelekar, Dr
F M Rebello and Felicio Cardoso served as its editors.
In the same year, Prabhakar Tendulkar stated his own
publication called Goenkar. In 1983, Fr. Freddy J da Costa
started a Konknni colour-printed magazine named Gulab,
which still continues. In 1989 Fr. Freddy Da Costa also
started a daily called Goencho Avaz which became a
fortnightly after one and a half year. However, it had
to be stopped due to financial burdens. Today he comes
out with occasional issues of Goencho Avaz.

Currently, the Goan Review is the only Konknni-English
bi-monthly magazine published from Mumbai. It is edited
by Fausto V. da Costa. In 1996 an English-Konknni
fortnightly called the Konkan Mail was started from
Panjim. Cyril D'Cunha and Jose Salvador Fernandes
edited the English and Konknni section respectively.

The past of Roman Konknni Journalism is perhaps
unprecedented in the history of vernacular languages of
India, where umpteen numbers of periodicals -- not
proportionate to size of the population of speakers and
readers of the language mushroomed to meet the needs of
the readers in Roman Konknni. At the same time, it is
equally disheartening to note the sharp decline it
underwent. Today Vauraddeancho Ixtt is the only weekly
and Gulab is the only monthly that exists as complete
periodicals in Roman Konknni journalism.

Several reasons could be pointed out for having
contributed to this downfall:

* Publishers failed to unite and join forces to meet
the wider scope and greater market they could have realised.

* Publications failed to exploit the then existing
journalistic demand of the people in a systematic and
collective way.

* Publications failed to meet the demands of modern-day
journalism.

* Many of the publications didn't work because of
internal bickering and lack of patronage.

* Financial problems were a common factor of most of
these publications.

* Elders failed to inculcate of love for reading
Konknni among the younger generations.

* The western influence, along with the popularization
of the English language in Goa, was highly
detrimental to the growth of Konknni.

* After Devnagri script was granted official status,
Roman script was looked down upon.

The Why of Roman script Konknni

Goa consists of two major religious communities, the
Hindus and the Christians. Due to historical
developments, especially after the religious
persecution and the destruction of Konknni literature
by the Portuguese, the Hindu community had to depend on
the neighboring Marathi speaking areas to meet the
needs of their cultural, social and religious life.
Marathi, which is akin to the Konknni language, was
adopted by the Hindu community as a medium of their
expression or communication and fulfillment of
spiritual, cultural and educational needs.

The Catholic community, however, had to face bitter
experiences. At first the Portuguese ruler imposed
Portuguese as their medium of communication. In the
course of time, the Portuguese Bishops of Goa and the
Portuguese missionaries realized that this was not
viable. And so in order to educate the Christians and
strengthen their faith, the Church authorities had to
take recourse to Konknni, which was spoken by the people.

Due to the existing political situation, under which
the Church of Goa lived, it was unthinkable to have
religious literature in Devnagri Konknni. Already the
medium of education was the Portuguese. The Goan clergy
was being trained in the seminaries through an
extensive use of Latin, Portuguese and other Western
languages. Therefore the only solution to impart the
Christian Doctrinal teachings to the masses in Konknni
was by using the Roman script.. It was against this
background that Roman (or Romi) script made inroads in
Konknni literature.

In the course of time, the Portuguese language could
not meet the bare economic needs of the people and
gradually they had to learn English in order to get
access to jobs outside Goa. Thus the Catholic community
was completely cut off from the Devnagri roots.

With the advent of Liberation and after the official
status was granted to Konknni with Devnagri as its
official script, the younger generation is now coming
in increasing touch with the Devanagiri script. If the
trend continues successfully, we hope that after 25 to
40 years or so, we will have a new generation to whom
reading Konknni in the Devanagiri script will be easy.
Till then, the present generation will need the
services of Roman script Konknni for at least another
30 to 40 years. This is a foregone conclusion.

However this is not to water down the bright chances
Romi Konknni journalism has in the future. If, in the
course of coming 25 years it makes large strides in
terms of excellent literary, scientific and religious
publications and keeps abreast with modern journalistic
trends, then Romi Konknni will not easily die but will
survive for a long time to come.

Present-day Romi Konknni media

The weekly Vavraddeanchi Ixtt and the monthly, Gulab
are the only complete Romi Konknni publications of Goa
today. Recently, in early October 2003, Ixtt celebrated
its 70th annual day and Gulab has completed 20 years of
existence. Today Vauraddeancho Ixtt (Worker's Friend)
is the only weekly that has survived (since 1933) and
is thriving to meet the present day challenges of the
fast moving media. Started in 1933 in the backdrop of
the spread of Communism, the weekly was to reach out
the working class and people at the grassroots to
educate, inform and educate them on Communism vis-a-vis
religion. However, over the years, and as it gained
wider popularity, the scope extended to the coverage of
social, political, cultural and religious themes. Ixtt
can boast of a glorious past as one weekly that
provided news and views that satisfied the reading
appetite of a large readership in Goa and Mumbai.
Having run by priests and the Society of Pilar, its
credibility and respect always remained consistent.

Ixtt's contribution to the freedom movement of Goa is
worth the mention. Ixtt under the aegis of the Society
of Pilar followed a line of thought closer to the
aspiration of the freedom movement of our Motherland
India and Goa. It was on the Vespers of the
independence of India that Ixtt began to publish from
the precincts of the old Monastery of Pilar, where its
editorial office and press was housed.

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