This refers to – Herald May 27, 2020 regarding notices issued to some persons for raising the topic of Portuguese passport in a Class X English paper .
It looks like we are cultivating a culture of making the wrong noises whenever we are confronted with an uncomfortable subject. Indeed the persons who raised the subject of Portuguese passport should be appreciated for bringing a real issue to the fore front. An issue that concerns many youngsters today – lack of jobs. If the state cannot provide the right infrastructure and atmosphere to create opportunities for a decent living, what are the locals supposed to do? Today many youngsters want to leave the country in search of greener pastures. For the people from the erstwhile Portuguese territories it is through a Portuguese passport. The surprising thing is when the Portuguese were actually in Goa, hardly anyone thought of going to Portugal. But today we see thousands of citizens not only from Goa but also from Daman & Diu have left India through the Portuguese passport. While we’re talking about taking action against those connected with the question paper, are we also thinking of taking the various agencies and others to task for helping people to leave India? Or are we turning a blind eye to the reality and going about making mountains of mole-hills?
Instead of showing some signs of pseudo Nationalism it is time that our political big-wigs do a little introspection to determine the cause of people leaving a beautiful country like ours and go to work or migrate to alien lands despite all the hardships. Basically they are not leaving their land. They are not leaving their people. They are leaving an environment in which they cannot survive. No human likes to part from their home land. The current exodus of millions of migrant workers walking home within our own country is a true proof of this fact.
The trend of the Indian Diaspora is an indication that our people in a way are forced to leave India. As per the available data, about 70,000 Goans, Gujaratis and a few Punjabis have migrated to Portugal. Indians living in the US increased by 49% from 17.8 lakhs in 2010 to 26.5 Lakhs in 2018. Over 3,420,000 Indians are estimated to be in the UAE, which is over 27 percent of the total population of the UAE. Indians comprise about 1.4 million people in the UK , accounting for 2.4% of the UK’s population . Indians in Canada increased from 30,915 in 2012 to 85,585 in 2019. As per the 2016 Australian census, 619,164 were of ethnic Indian ancestry- i.e.2.8% of the Australian population. Among those, 592,000 were born Indian.
Be it refugees from war-torn countries, Asylum seekers from intolerant and oppressive nations, job seekers from poorer countries, they are leaving as they have lost faith in their own country. As Shakespeare has said “The Fault dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings”. Yes we do not see citizens from Scandinavia, Japan or S.Korea migrating the way people do from our country. In the present case, taking some well meaning humble teachers to task, is like trying to drive away the flies instead of cleaning the crap.