Since this column is written before the Revolution Day, I assume the usual tributes will be paid to Ram Manohar Lohia and the freedom fighters. The socialist leader’s march into Goa at the invitation of Dr. Juliao Menezes and his subsequent arrest, though there are conflicting reports whether he spoke at the now-renamed Lohia Maidan or not, it did raise the cry for the social civil disobedience movement that rocked the Portuguese.
The movement set into motion events that ultimately resulted into armed conflict between Indian military forces and the Portuguese forces. For those who fought for driving the Portuguese out, it was a victory while for those who wanted the Portuguese to stay it was a bitter pill to gulp. A debate on this course of history has been going on in recent years. I think, its mixed — good and evil.
Freedom comes with a price, and perhaps Goa is paying the price. However, one thing that has come about now is how the Portuguese presence in Goa has helped today’s generation to access Portuguese passport and go to Europe in search of a better future.
The fate of Portuguese-passport holders is at stake. The dual-citizenship issue is sweeping the land. Political parties are thrashing the issue, each party wanting to gain votes when the next Assembly election comes. The political leaders are on tenterhooks, and those whose fate is in the balance are looking at the political masters to save them from this turmoil. They wait for a court decision on the MLA Caitu Silva’s case.
Thanks to the governing BJP and his support to the party from outside, Caitu has been able to prolong the case for such a long time. He has even been at loggerheads with his GVP boss. The ex-CM Manohar Parrikar and the current CM, Laxmikant Parsekar has weighed in on the case. Even a union minister has opened his mouth and putting his foot into it. Little did this smart minister know that it’s a Constitutional issue and that the local government has no say in deciding what dual-citizenship is and who gets it.
Not only are ordinary Goans caught on the horns of a dilemma but also other MLAs and public servants. Even lawyers are shooting allegations against each other of possessing Portuguese passports or having their births registered in Lisbon.
I read the report of the high-level committee constituted by the Vajpayee government to offer recommendations on issues concerning diaspora Indians. Dual-citizenship was a vital one. I also met some member of the committee, headed by Dr. L.M Singhvi, one-time Indian ambassador to UK, and covered the meeting with Indians groups, held in the basement of a Hindu temple in a suburb of Toronto. The committee did recommend dual-citizenship but, I believe, the idea was shot down by bureaucrats. The fear was that it would create a nightmarish scenario to manage the expected demand for it. It would also create logistic problems of a magnitude that the government may find hard to handle.
The Person of India (PIO) card was the alternative, but it was found unsatisfactory to many Indians. A fierce lobbing by overseas groups of Indians made the next government of Dr. Manmohan Singh think of offering a better deal — Overseas Citizenship Card (OCI).
I was present at the Pravasi Divas in Mumbai when the PM said that the PIO would be merged with the OCI. It was thought that the OCI was the ideal substitute for dual-citizenship. Most vociferous of the overseas groups was the US-based GOPIO, which is an acronym for Global Organization of People of Indian Origin. It’s a powerful body, with representatives in many countries. Headquartered in New York, I once attended its convention. It’s 27th Anniversary Celebrations & Global Convention will be held from June 24 to 26 in New York. The theme: Strengthening Global Connections of India and Indian Diaspora Through Business and Technology. It held its silver jubilee convention in Trinidad & Tobago, which has a large Indian population. Indo-Caribbean people were miffed that OCI is limited to those whose parents or grandparents once had or were eligible for Indian citizenship on January 26, 1950.
Another thing that should be of concern to Goans holding Portuguese passport is the Brexit issue, where the people of Great Britain will decide through a referendum on June 23. It was interesting to hear Goan-origin Conservative MP, Suella Fernandes, speak on the Brexit debate where she was called ‘zenophobic.” She has been bold enough to go against her leader, PM David Cameron, who wants Britain to stay in the European Union. I found her forthright when she lashed back saying she’s a child of immigrants and was an immigration lawyer before becoming an MP.
On her website, she says that she has spoken to the PM on the issue and that it was “not an easy decision for me to reach…” Suella is one of the many Tory MPs who are supporting the Vote Leave campaign that has created a rift in the Conservative Party.
In another respect, the venerable and long-serving Goan-origin MP, Keith Vaz, has hit back at Indian-origin Tory minister Priti Patel, a supporter of Vote Leave, who said that getting out would save the “curry houses”, as some have closed down. Patel was obviously playing “curry” politics while campaigning in Vaz’s constituency of Leicester East. Now comes the shocking shooting of Keith’s Labour colleague in Parliament, Jo Cox, and the whole tumult of the Brexit is getting scarier. Is UK going the way of Indian politics?
As I began with the word “revolution”, now is the time for Goa to have one of both heart and mind. The idle talk of Goenkarponn or Goaness doesn’t hold water any longer. As they say, it’s time now for all good men to come to the aid of the party. But which party?
(Eugene Correia is a senior journalist who worked for The Hindu and The Free Press Journal)
