The criticism of State RSS chief Subhash Velingkar by the Goa BJP, over the latter’s backing of English as the medium of instruction in primary schools here, has not gone down well with Goa’s environment and Forest Minister Rajendra Arlekar, who has expressed regret at the public criticism of the Goa Sanghachalak, one of the most respected members of the Sangh Parvivar here.
Arlekar’s expression of regret comes at a time when there is bitter acrimony between BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh over the issue of which language should be used as medium of instruction in the state’s primary schools, English or regional languages like Konkani or Marathi.
“Subhash Velingkar is head of the Sangh here and if he has to say such a thing then we must also think where have we erred,” Arlekar said.
Two groups, Forum for Rights of Children to Education (FORCE) backed by the influential Roman Catholic Church and the Bharatiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch (BBSM) supported by the RSS have been at loggerheads in Goa over the last few years, over the choice of language of instruction in junior schools.
While the former group backs English, the RSS-led faction prefers indigenous languages. The BJP which win won the 2012 State Assembly elections, thanks to a strategic alliance with leaders of the Catholic community – Roman Catholics account for nearly 26 per cent of the state population – is now caught between promises the party made to the minority community and the BBSM over the MoI issue.
In the run up to the 2012 state assembly elections, the BJP promised an amicable solution to the problem.
After winning the polls, then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, via an ad hoc decision in 2012, decided to give grants to only existing minority educational institutions that were using English as a medium of instruction, with new schools being denied the privilege, before the BJP Government formally endorsed the decision in 2014.
Velingkar calls this decision political suicide for the party ahead of the 2017 state assembly elections. He also threatened to come up with a new political option to electorally defeat the BJP.
“If BJP leaders believe that this party is the only option for us. They are mistaken. There are other options before us. If they do not cancel grants to primary schools teaching in English, we will bring that political option out in the front,” Velingkar said.
The BJP’s response was equally scathing, even questioning the metal balance of the state RSS chief and daring him to quit the RSS join electoral politics if he wanted to pursue a political agenda.
“The kind of accusations made by Velingkar, who is a top Sangh leader, that the BJP is a liar, the party has cheated people, his comments about India’s Defence Minister, Goa’s former chief minister Manohar Parrikar, are sad and unfortunate. We did not have this expectation from him,” South Goa MP Narendra Savoikar had said.