off from a common Prakrit parent. Konkani versus Marathi The roots of the Konkani Language agitation lay in the denial of Konkani as an independent language and the attempts to merge Goa into Maharashtra. Konkani was not taken seriously as a potential official language except by a few Goans. By 1960, pro-Konkani and pro-Marathi groups started a propaganda war through distribution of pamphlets. In 1962, the All India Konkani Parishad held its eighth session for the first time at Maḍgā̃v (Margao) in post-liberation Goa and passed a resolution urging the Kendra Sahitya Akademi to recognise Konkani. The then Chief Minister of Goa, Dayanand Bandodkar, appointed a committee in 1966 to examine the feasibility of declaring Marathi as the sole official language of Goa. Attempts were made by some members of his Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), to pass a Goa, Daman and Diu Official Language Bill in 1966 which failed. Simultaneously, the 1967 Goa status referendum thwarted the MGP's planned merger of Goa into Maharashtra. On 22 August 1970, Bandodkar declared Konkani, written in the Devanagari script, as the official language of Goa along with Marathi. Dayanand Bandodkar died in 1973, and his daughter Shashikala Kakodkar became the new Chief Minister of Goa. Under Kakodkar, government policies favouring Marathi were framed. Marathi was made compulsory in all schools in Goa whilst Konkani was excluded. This policy was met with severe criticism from Konkani organisations within Goa and outside. Although promises were made by Kakodkar in 1977 and thereafter by then Congress Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane in 1980 to treat Konkani at par with Marathi, the matter was kept in abeyance till 1986. Koṅkaṇī Prajētso Āvāz In their election manifesto, the Congress party had stated that once statehood was achieved Konkani would be recognised as an official language and demands would be made to include it in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. In 1980, the Congress came into power under Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane. Rane, despite the promises made, procrastinated on the issue. This led to an agitation in 1986 on the streets popularly called koṅkaṇī prajētso āvāz (voice of the Konkani people). Goa witnessed the bloodiest agitation ever, the Language agitation, in which seven pro-Konkani agitators lost their lives and several were injured. The civil disobedience only halted when the Goa, Daman and Diu Official Language bill was presented to the legislative assembly. Government action The Goa, Daman and