Padma Shri awardee and Goa's eminent author Maria Aurora Couto who was accused of hypocrisy over only speaking about recent communal issues but disregarding ones happening in the state, has spoken about the controversy.
Several Goa Sahitya Akademi and Padma Shri awardees including Couto had joined authors and poets from other parts of the countries to express their concern about the Dadri killing and murders of Hindutva dissenting rationalists. But they were blamed of only protesting against the recent communal violence but not speaking up for the Romani script used in Konkani language and the use of English language as medium of instruction (MOI) in schools.
Also read: The hypocrisy of Goa’s protesting Sahitya Akademi awardees
She and other awardees were said to have turned a blind eye when their associates Uday Bhembre and Nagesh Karmali "engaged in the most vicious hate speech against the Catholic community in the course of the Medium of Instruction controversy".
Responding to the above charges, Couto has said in her letter that she has never been against Konkani in Romi script. She wrote, "My position has been that children from the Goan Catholic community would be enriched by the knowledge of the Devanagiri script as it would enlarge their understanding and awareness of Indian literature, culture as well as political discourse, sometimes viciously anti-minority which is published in a script they cannot read."
Here is the full text of her letter:
Regarding the MOI issue, she had said in her Press Note that MOI issue should not be turned into a communal one."I am deeply saddened by the spiralling descent into communalism in Goa among my friends who have valiantly fought for secularism and liberal values all their lives. I pray they do not get derailed into converting their stated position on MOI into an ugly polarisation between Goa’s two major communities. Intolerance which is vitiating the air nationally will do irreparable damage to Goa’s legendary secular ethos," she said.
