By registering a First Information Report (FIR) against advocate and activist Aires Rodrigues for allegedly possessing dual nationality, the police have reopened the can of worms that they had so assiduously and conveniently shut tightly some months ago. It didn’t take another activist, Kashinath Shetye, more than 24 hours to point out that the police had closed a case of alleged dual nationality that he had filed against various persons, including two MLAs, two police officers and many others for possessing dual nationality. Among the many others was Aires Rodrigues. He now wants that the case be reopened and just what is the government or the police response going to be to this?
With this, the Portuguese nationality issue is again the topic of discussion. Just last month Goans learnt that musician Remo Fernandes had Portuguese nationality and the Padma Shri he was awarded came into question. Now Rodrigues is alleged to have Portuguese nationality and the question of his having contested the elections to the Corporation of the City of Panaji has arisen. These are but two examples. There have been allegations of various politicians having Portuguese nationality and Shetye had even named two MLAs in his complaint. It is a fact that there are thousands of Goans who have registered their births in Portugal, have obtained the bilhete de identidade and some even have applied for and got Portuguese passports. They continue to remain in Goa, as Indian citizens. The government is well aware of this as this is an issue that affects not a handful of Goans, but, to repeat, thousands of the residents of Goa and there appears to be no easy solution to it. It hasn’t been long since some of the members of the government had even been justifying the act of Goans registering their births in Portugal.
But, there has to be some clarity on the issue and it has to come from the government. The State cannot postpone taking a firm decision on the issue and clearing the ambiguity that exists today on Portuguese citizenship. There has to be some finality where Goans will know whether the Portuguese citizenship they are seeking and obtaining is legal under Indian law or not. India does not allow dual citizenship, that much is clear. But, as politicians of this government have said in the past, the case of Goa is peculiar and cannot be clubbed with other dual citizenship issues. The government had even sought the Centre’s opinion on this issue, which is yet to come with some sort of conclusiveness.
That being so, the authorities in this State cannot have two different sets of rules when it comes to dealing with complaints of Goans having Portuguese nationality registered with the police. This, different rules, has become pretty obvious in the manner in which the police were quick to file a complaint against Rodrigues, but dragging their feet when there are similar complaints made against politicians, government servants and others. The complaint registered in this case against Rodrigues can now be taken as a precedent and force the police to act similarly in other cases. Before that happens the government must intervene and clarify on the issue.
The clarity that comes should be not just on Portuguese passports but on whether India considers that a Goan who is registering his or her birth in the Central Registry in Lisbon, Portugal is taking the first step towards attaining Portuguese citizenship or whether it amounts to attaining Portuguese citizenship. That is the moot question here as there are many who have not advanced further than this, content with just the registering of their births in Lisbon as it gives their descendents the opportunity to then apply for Portuguese nationality.
