LANGUAGE IN INDIA

URDU IN GOA

A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.

Area: 3,702 sq. km.
Population: 11.6 lacs
Capital: Panaji
Principal Languages: Konkani and Marathi

Historical, Geographical and Linguistic Sketch of the State

Goa is situated on the western coast of the Indian Peninsula. On its north runs the Terekhol River, which separates Goa from Maharashtra, and on the south lies North Canara district of Karnataka. On the east lies the Western Ghats, and in the west the Arabian Sea. Goa, known in the bygone days as Gomanchala, Gopakapattam, Gopakapuri, Govapuri, Gomantak, etc., abounds in rich historical heritage. On 19 December, 1961, Goa was liberated and made a composite union territory with Daman and Diu. On 30 May, 1987 Goa was conferred statehood and Daman and Diu were made a separate union territory.

The population of the State is 11,69,793. The regional language of the State is Konkani, whose speakers are 61.21 per cent of the State’s population.

The major linguistic minority groups in the State constitute the speakers of Marathi (27.12%), Kannada (3.41%), Urdu (2.81%), and Hindi (2.09%).

The minority language speakers who constitute less than 1 per cent are the speakers of Malayalam (0.77%), Telugu (0.56%), Tamil (0.39%), Gujarati (0.32%), and Punjabi (0.13%).

The minority language speakers who constitute less than 0.09 per cent are the speakers of Bengali (0.08%), Sindhi (0.04%), Gorkhali/Nepali (0.03%), and Telugu (0.03%).

The State Government has announced that there is no area in Goa where any linguistic minority group constitutes 15 percent or more of the local population.

 The names of the District along with the actual percentage of population, districts headquarters and the total Urdu population are given below in Table 1.

Table 1: Area, Population and Headquarters of districts

District	Area in sq km	Population (Lacs)	Headquarters	Total Urdu Population (Lacs)	%age (Between 3 & 5)	Muslim Population (Lacs)	%age (Between 3 & 6)	%age (Between 5 & 6)
1	2	3	4	5		6
North Goa	1736	6.6	Panaji	0.2	3.0	0.3	4.5	66.7
South Goa	1966	5.0	Margao	0.2	4.0	0.3	6.0	66.7
Total		11.6		0.4	3.4	0.6	5.1	66.7

Urdu in Goa

Konkani is the official language of the State. Marathi native speakers who constitute 27.12 per cent of the population, enjoy equal status via-a-vis Konkani.

Since there is no area in the State where any linguistic minority constitutes 15 percent or more of the local population, the question of establishing Translation Bureau and issue of orders for publishing important rules, regulation, notices, etc., in any of the census-based minority languages does not arise.

A detailed district wise break-up of the total Urdu population in Goa is shown in  Table 2.

Table 2: District-wise Break-up of Urdu Population in Goa

S. No.	Districts	Total Population (Lacs)	Total Urdu Population (Lacs)	Total Male (Lacs)	Total Female (Lacs)	Rural (Lacs)	Urban (Lacs)
1.	North Goa	6.6	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.07	0.1
2.	South Goa	5.0	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.04	0.2
		11.6	0.4	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.3

In the light of the figures given above, we may draw the conclusion that Urdu is basically an urban based language in Goa. Urban Rural division of Urdu population is presented diagrammatically below. The graph presented below exhibits the rural/ urban division of Urdu population in Goa.

Chart 1: Rural and Urban Division of Urdu Population

The numerical strength of speakers of Urdu shows an uneven distribution over different districts in Goa. The difference in numerical strength of Urdu speakers varies from a few hundred to thousands.

Concentration of Urdu Population in Goa

All the districts of Goa have a concentration of below 5% of  the population of Urdu speakers in Goa.

Table   3: Concentration of Urdu Population in Goa

S. No.	Districts	Total Population (Lacs)	Total Urdu Population (Lacs)	%age
1.	North Goa	6.6	0.2	3.00
2.	South Goa	5.0	0.2	3.95

On the basis of the figures presented in the table above, the following observations can be made.

All the districts have a concentration of Urdu speakers of below 10% of the total population.

Chart 2: Total Population and Total Urdu Population in Urdu Populated Areas

Urdu as an Icon of Muslim Identification

To assess the validity of the claim that “Urdu is an icon of Muslim identification,” I give below the figures relating to the distribution of Muslim and Urdu population in Goa. The table given below provides a district–wise distribution of Muslim and Urdu population.

Table 4: District-wise Break up of Muslim/Urdu Population Ratio

S. No.	Districts	Muslim Population (Lacs)	Urdu Population (Lacs)	%age
1.	North Goa	0.3	0.2	69.18
2.	South Goa	0.3	0.2	61.29

Decennial Growth of Muslims and Urdu Speakers

Identification through a particular Linguistic association is very much a matter of social awareness on the part of an individual. Change in Linguistic Identification does not signify change in linguistic behaviour. Oscillation in mother-tongue declaration reveals a shift in social identification under changed circumstances. The table given below presents the decennial growth of Muslims and Urdu speakers reported in 1971, 1981, and 1991 census reports.

Table   5: Decennial Growth

S.No.		1971	%age	1981	%age	1991
1.	Muslim	26480	35.91	41317	32.77	61,455
2.	Urdu	18910	31.74	27703	30.62	39927

The Table indicates a considerable fall, ranging from 31 to 30 percent among Urdu speakers in the state during 1971 to 1981 and 1981 to 1991. In other words, Urdu Population falls from 31% in 71-81 to 30% in 81-91.

The decennial growth of Muslims in Goa show a slightly slow decrease ranging between 35 to 32 per cent during 1971 to 1981 and 1981 to 1991. The graph given below displays a steep fall in case of Urdu. However, the figures of Muslim decennial growth shows a steady decrease.

Chart 3: Decennial Growth in Muslims and Urdu Speakers

Bilingualism Among Urdu Speakers

The Urdu population is mostly scattered throughout the country, hence a large proportion of Urdu speakers in many regions tend to have bilingual control over the respective language of the region along with Urdu. The table below presents figures of bilingualism among Urdu speakers.

Table   6: Bilingualism Among Urdu Population

			Total	%age	Male	%age	Female	%age	Rural	Urban
Total No. of Urdu speakers			39944	(3.4) 0.09	20997	52.5	18947	47.4	10565 (26.4%)	39379 (73.5%)
Monolinguals			10934	27.3	5250	48	5684	51.9
Bilinguals			29010	72.6	15747	54.2	13263	45.7
S. No.	Languages	Speakers	%age to col. 2	Male	%age to col. 4	Female	%age to col. 6	Rural	%age to col. 8
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1	English	6242	15.6	3779	60.5	2463	39.4
2	Hindi	10406	26	5669	54.4	4737	45.5
3	Kannada	2397	6	1260	52.5	1137	47.5