The exodus of educated Goans continues and if acquiring a Portuguese passport is considered as a benchmark indicator then 620 Goans relinquished their Indian citizenship in the first four months of this year, which is at least five persons every day relinquishing their citizenship. Last year 1,265 Goans gave up their Indian passports, while 2,835 Goans relinquished their citizenship in 2021. It is estimated that more than two lakh Goans hold a ‘Bill of Identity’ from the Portuguese government and more than 23,000 have surrendered their Indian passports since 2015. The data is inclusive of people of all faiths and if one may add, every caste.
The data does not include the latest trends in acquiring citizenship of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, apart from the numerous other countries that have begun extending an olive branch to young, skilled as well as unskilled talent from across the globe. Post-pandemic, countries which have lost quite a sizeable population, are investing in attracting a pool of young population to rejuvenate their human resources.
It’s an open secret that those migrating take it as a ticket for a prosperous future for themselves and their families. With ever-growing unemployment numbers in the State, the latest being 15.91% for the just ended financial, it should be a cause of concern for the government that educated youth are turning outwards despite the fact that India does not have dual citizenship and by relinquishing their Indian passports, they are also forfeiting their electoral rights as well as most important rights over agricultural land. It is not that everyone is shifting to the UK with families, hundreds of old-age parents still live in Goa despite being eligible to live a better life with their children and grandchildren.
Some years ago, a former senior legislator of the Goa Assembly had made a below-the-belt remark about Goans working in the UK pointing at some of them “cleaning toilets”. The backlash that erupted also brought to light the various jobs Goan-Portuguese have embarked upon, who have made an upscale living. In return, they have been providing remittances to the State and the Country.
That’s not all, we all know the Goan roots of the Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, the Home Secretary of the United Kingdom Suella Braverman, and not to forget numerous Goans holding important positions not just in politics but across fields including economics, medicine, engineering, planning and development, etc.
However, in recent years, there has been an attempt to ‘wipe out the legacy’ of the Portuguese and the politically motivated statements have come from none other than Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. Therefore, when the government plans to promote heritage tourism will it be by skipping and demolishing the Portuguese era from Goan history? And if so, will the government then be able to wipe out the unique cultural identity that Goa carries due to the influence of Portuguese culture...can that also be crushed and wiped out? The confluence of language, food, music, traditions, rituals, etc, is an integral part of the Goan lifestyle.
The impact of the political narrative has been such that despite being part of Portugal for 450 years, the higher education courses offering Portuguese language and literature are occupied by students from other states, and the Goans attending these courses are dwindling over the years. A foreign language is an asset to an individual’s career profile, and instead of planning to demolish, the government would benefit by promoting the Portuguese language in schools. Not only that knowledge of Portuguese could help Goans gain a position in administrative services, but the government has been for decades unable to translate very important archival documents which have a treasure about Goa’s history and legacy.
Goa for decades has benefitted from the cordial relationship it shares with Portugal and by supporting the Goan diaspora and maintaining the socio-cultural Goan-Portuguese legacy, the State is only going to prosper.