TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: The Congress obsession in Goa to settle personal scores by exposing their rivals’ Portuguese citizenship has opened a pandora’s box for over one lakh Goans who now risk losing their Indian citizenship, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar highlighted on Friday.
Claiming ‘political chicanery’ by Congressmen in Goa on the Portuguese citizenship issue, Parrikar categorically stated that the decision of Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is wrong and that he will write to Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde about the uncertain future of these Goans.
“This is an order issued without any thought process. This is political chicanery by Churchill Alemao and few Congressmen in the Union government,” the chief minister said while addressing a ‘leadership clinic’ organized by Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK).
“The activities of Churchill and his party has opened up pandora’s box for around one lakh people, who have their birth registered in Portugal,” Parrikar commented adding that several Goans have registered their birth in Portugal not to get the citizenship but for other purposes like visa for European countries.
Chief Minister said that he would urge BJP Member of Parliament Sripad Naik and Rajiv Pratap Rudy to raise the issue in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively as there is a need for an amicable solution in the matter.
Parrikar also said the government will place its viewpoint on the matter before the Delhi High Court, where Legislator Caetano Silva has obtained a stay on the MHA order that has stated that Silva had ceased to be a Indian citizen.
“There are times when the birth could have been registered in Portugal without the knowledge of a person. There are some travel agents who do it,” Parrikar claimed.
MHA in a November order, said Silva is no longer a citizen of India as he has registered his birth with the central registry of births, marriage and deaths of Lisbon as Portuguese national on July 21, 2010. The order was passed in a application filed by John Fernandes of Varca. The case is currently pending in the Supreme Court.
The Home Ministry order cites Section 9(1) of the Citizenship Act that one ceases to be a citizen of India if he or she “by naturalization, registration or otherwise voluntarily acquires, or has at any time between the 26th January 1950 and the commencement of the Act in 1955, voluntarily acquired the citizenship of another country.”
On an average 2500, people opt for Portuguese citizenship every year as per Foreigners Registration Office. The Chief Electoral Office has already deleted names of around 6000 people since 2008 from the electoral roll.
