KARWAR: Karwar has turned into a hotbed of protests with Konkani-speaking people demanding that road signboards in the town be written in Kannada as well as Devanagari scripts. The trigger was provided by the Karwar Municipality, which first painted the road signboards in both languages but then deleted the Devanagari script to retain Kannada letters after protests from Kannada organisations.
This in turn angered the Konkani-speaking population, which has demanded that the Devanagari script be brought back on the signboards. Protests have now spread across the town and hundreds of people took out a rally and protested in front of the deputy commissioner’s office recently, saying the municipality buckled under pressure from Kannadigas and it was an insult to Konkani language.
“The municipality should reinstall the boards in Devanagari script within 15 days, otherwise we will start a movement,” the agitators warned. A few organisations, like Konknani Kalavidara Vrinda, warned that if their demand is not met then people of Karwar will identify themselves with the Vishal Gomantak movement or be part of Goa. Vrinda members led by Dattareya Naik said Karwar, which was in Bombay Presidency, was included in Karnataka when states were divided on linguistic lines.
“If Konkani is neglected, people will prefer to be with Goa. Then, it will be a big blow to Karnataka,” he warned. Many like Janardhan Gaonkar, who is part of the Konkana Parishath, said, “It is a question of the sentiments of Konkani speakers. Let the boards display Devanagari too. Though we speak Konkani, we are Kannadigas. There is no question of us becoming part of Goa or Maharashtra.”
Sanjay Salunke, a Konkani Maratha Mandali representative, said there should be no third party interference in the issue. “The Mahajan report is final, and there is no question of joining Goa or Maharashtra. Karwar is an integral part of Karnataka. But the signboard should have Konkani too,” he argued.