The whole of Karnataka is rejoicing to celebrate the golden jubilee year of renaming the state from Mysuru to Karnataka, but at the same time, all other Kannadigas living in the border areas of adjoining states continue to suffer despite all these years of independence and reorganization of states on linguistic basis.
Plight no better in all other neighbouring states: The living conditions and plight of Kannadigas living in neighbouring states like Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are no better. The only difference is that the woes of Kannadigas living in border areas of Maharashtra are voiced now and then, although they hardly get noticed by the people in power resulting in any tangible solutions.
Kannadigas regime in Goa: According to the pages of history, the present region of Goa was once ruled by the Kannadiga Kadamba dynasty from the 10th to 14th century, for more than 400 years. King Shashthadeva Conquered Goa, Port Gopakpattana and Kapardikadvipa annexing a large part of South Konkan to his kingdom while making Gopakpattana his subsidiary capital. Jayakeshi, his successor went further to expand the Goan kingdom. Dvasaraya, a Jain Sanskrit text mentions the extension of his capital apart from revealing that Port Gopakapattna had trade contacts with Zanzibar, Bengal, Gujarat and Srilanka. Gopakapattana was a thriving commercial city and a trading hub for over 300 years.
Kannada, language of administration: During the four hundred-plus years of the Kadamba regime in Goa, Kannada and Sanskrit happened to be the languages of their administration. In fact, the Kadambas introduced the Kannada language in Goa, where it exercised a profound influence on the local language. Then, the Nagari, Kadamba, Halegannada, and Goykanadi scripts were quite popular. According to an inscription, Tribhuvanamalla established universities in Goa, Savoi Verem, Gauli Moula and elsewhere, and run by Brahmins imparting knowledge of Vedas, Astrology, Philosophy, Medicine, among many other subjects.
All the glory of the past: You may wonder what way all the glory of the past has anything to do with the present plight of Kannadigas residing in Goa. The only reason to peep into the history pages is to highlight the good old royal days and the contribution of Kannadigas to the overall development of Goa. The mite of Kannadigas in enabling Goa to its present days of splendour continues to keep going, even forgetting the Kadamba regime. The adjoining districts of North Karnataka have been at the forefront of supplying vegetables, dairy and poultry products to Goa for more than half a century. If people from hitherto perennially drought-prone districts like undivided Bijapur, Raichur and Kalaburgi flocked en masse in search of a livelihood transforming themselves into a formidable workforce, many hapeless young women ended up in red-light areas along the beaches just to make a living. These days, you can find any number of Kannadigas also making it in the public and private sector service in a big way.
Kannadigas constitute 4.65 per cent: Goa has a population of 15.8 lakh according to the 2023 numbers and 18.5 per cent of them are migrants. However, of late this proportion is said to have shot up to 30 per cent. Thanks to the ever-growing tourism potential migrant workers from Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the whole of North and North East India have made Goa their home. If Konkani and Marathi-speaking people are dominant in numbers, Hindi-speaking people come third with 10.28 per cent while those speaking Kannada are stated to be 4.65 per cent.
Numbers make no sense in representation: Goa is a peculiar state in whatever way you try to look at it. The number of voters in each Assembly constituency is significantly less than that of a BBMP ward in Bengaluru. Victorious candidates or Parties just pull the strings by a meagre margin of a few hundred or at the most a couple of thousand votes. Siddanna Meti, honorary president of Goa Kannada Mahasangha claims that there are 3.60 lakh Kannadigas in the state with voting rights. By such strength, there should have been at least a handful of Kannadiga MLAs' in Goa. But, to date not even one Kannadiga has been elected to the Assembly.
Devegowda makes an attempt in vain: HD Devegowda, former Prime Minister and Janata Dal-Secular party patriarch made an attempt in vain during the 2017 Goa Assembly elections. He camped for seven days and put candidates in 10 constituencies but to no avail. Unless Kannadigas become part of an alliance or have a tie-up with any regional outfit, the dream of having representation in the Assembly looks to remain like a never-ending mirage.
Migrant issues remain negligent: People of different states have been residing in Goa for many generations, yet continue to remain outsider migrants or Ghatis' by the local populace. In the early eighties, there was even a movement to uproot the Kannadigas on the pretext that the migrants were snatching their opportunities, be it employment, business or livelihood. It didn't stop there and just a few years ago many hutments of the Kannadigas were razed to the ground. All tall claims of providing alternate accommodation remained within the mouths of politicians of the ruling parties. The promise of Siddaramaih, during his first stint as chief minister in 2013 to buy land to provide housing by buying a piece of land remains unfulfilled.
No rights nor reservations: All migrants settled in Goa possess voting rights but are yet to be socially accepted as Goans apart from boasting of any other rights or reservations. On the other hand, people coming from other states have no linguistic minority rights or reservations. Likewise, no state government schemes are applicable to people residing in Goa for less than 25 years. Siddanna Meti laments-"My family has been staying in Goa for 34 years and I am the third generation, but we continue to fight for our rights as we are not entitled to any facilities from the state government".
Not even a Kannada Bhavan: Apart from many other demands the Kannadigas are struggling even to have a Kannada Bhavan of their own for their activities. Basavaraj Bommai, as BJP chief minister of Karnataka had sanctioned Rs 10 crores for the proposed Kannada Bhavan in Goa. But the directive got stuck up with the Finance Department. Now, the Kannada Sangha activists have to follow up with the new Congress government to realize their dream.
-Manohar Yadavatti
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