Velingkar: Govt under archbishop's rule

Panaji: The first meeting of the Bharatiya Bhasha Surakha Manch (BBSM) supporting the mother tongue at Mandrem in chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar's constituency on Sunday warned the government to stop grants to English-medium schools before the academic year starting June 2016 or face grave repercussions in the coming general elections. The speakers also came down heavily on former chief minister and defence minister Manohar Parrikar for being a puppet in the hands of the archbishop of Goa.
BBSM will hold public meetings in all constituencies. The first meeting saw over 3,000 people in attendance.
BBSM leader Subhash Velingkar applauded the people for their attendance saying that ministers have no time for BBSM but they have two and a half hours to discuss the MoI with FORCE's for Savio Lopes.
"The Goa government is under the archbishop's rule. Parrikar on his last day at office as chief minister on November 7 signed the demands of the archbishop on the MoI...the same day that the applications were moved," Velingkar said.
Konkani writer Pundalik Naik said that it was the Congress government that created a mess in the education system. The present situation is the same as that of 1990 under Shashikala Kakodkar as education minister and it's a time for Parsekar to create history as Kakodkar had by supporting primary-level education in the mother tongue.
"BJP leaders have lost their balance. I encourage and support the one who burnt effigies of Narendra Sawaikar," Naik said. "Our society should not be decided by the 30% minority. If the government had stopped grants to English-medium schools four years ago then the question of 29,000 students being be in trouble if the government follows the BBSM demands would never have arose," advocate Swati Kerkar said.
"The government agrees to support the mother tongue and on the other hand gives grants to English-medium school. Whose mother tongue is English?" Bhemre said. Arvind Bhatikar attacked Parrikar saying that every weekend "narad" (a character in Hindu mythology known to create rifts) comes to Goa and prompts the BJP.
"I call him Parrhitlar. We should praise Rajendra Arlekar for not fearing narad," Bhatikar said.