There’s so much discussion and debate, in person and in cyberspace, on the ongoing turmoil in the country triggered by the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens.
Although the CAA talks of granting citizenship to members of minority communities from Muslim-majority countries of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and it seemingly appears that people in Goa are unlikely to face any major issue, it’s the law or the related NRC regime which has left many worried.
The Goan spoke to several citizens of Goa, many of who, were born in the British colonies of Africa where their parents had migrated to take up high-paying administrative jobs. If and when the NRC regime is implemented in Goa, they are worried they will be left running from pillar to post to collect their documents such as birth certificates, to prove before Foreigners’ Courts that they indeed are Indian citizens.
Here, we reproduce our conversations and the apprehensions expressed by such Goans. Their identity has been withheld at their request:
Example 1: My brother and I were born in Tanzania in the 1950s. My father was working for the East-African railway, so he could be transferred to any of the three countries i.e. Tanzania, Kenya or Uganda. He later got transferred to Kenya, and the rest of my siblings were born there.
We returned to Goa in the early 1980s, by which time I had already completed my A levels, and registered to do my Bachelor’s here through Bombay University. I still have my birth certificate. I don’t know whether dad registered our births at the Municipality, but we were registered with the Church here in Goa. Now I will have to find out whether I’ll have to register my birth here in light of the NRC.
Example 2: I was born in Campala, Uganda in the 1960s. On my birth certificate, it is written that my parents were “Portuguese subjects.” I’m not sure whether my birth was registered in Goa or not, upon our return, but till now, I’ve never had a problem with my birth certificate from Uganda, and have used it to get admission to school here.
Example 3: My siblings and I were born in Dar-Es-Salaam in Tanzania. I was born in the 1930s. I have a Tanzanian passport, and was never really in Goa for many years at a stretch until a few years ago, when my aged sister who was living alone took ill and I was needed to come down to Goa from Dar-Es-Salaam to keep her company and look after her. I went through hell at the time to get my OCI card, as till then I only had a PIO (person of Indian origin) which allowed me to stay in India for upto three months. But since I needed to be here for a longer stretch, I had to go from one government office to the next till I got my OCI done. While my ancestors did have property in Portuguese-ruled Goa, the property now does not have one clear title, and in-principle belongs to all us cousins who are spread out over the world.
My nephews and nieces are also all based and settled in Dar-Es-Salaam and do come down to Goa once in a way.
Example 4: My father was working for the British police in British East Africa and my siblings and I were born in Tanzania. However, when my father visited Goa in 1960, I know for a fact that he registered our births in Goa.
We moved around a lot in East Africa due to my father’s frequent transfers and I remember there being a substantially large Goan community back there. After my father superannuated in the 1970s, he chose to come back to Goa, but many others moved to other parts of the world, and some stayed on there itself.
Example 5: My kids (who are now in their 30s) were born in Austria, and we did not register their births here, because they have Indian passports and we managed entirely with these ‘Indian passports’ thus far. We were on diplomatic status (different from being a diplomat) there, so they had the diplomatic status pass in addition to the Indian passport.
We never used their birth certificates here, when they had to join school when we came back to Goa, the passport was accepted.
I have no idea what the government expects from us now, they have not made it clear whether we need to register their births here, or their passports are enough.
Example 6: My parents were not in Goa at the time of our births, and we were born in Brazil. The problem with a whole generation of people currently living in Goa is that when their parents went abroad before Goa’s liberation in 1961, they did not go as “Indian” citizens, but as Portuguese citizens.
In 1961, the government gave Goans six months to decide whether they wanted to be Portuguese or Indian citizens. Most chose one of the two, except one or two high profile cases like Fr Chico Monteiro who said he wanted neither, and that he was ‘Goan’. He was put under House Arrest.
Many Goans who chose Portugal, later came back when they realised their property holdings here were at risk and under threat.
Now there’s a gray area for the people whose parents were not in Goa at the time of liberation, and returned to Goa much after liberation, because Goa’s status had changed from Portuguese territory to Indian territory.
Many of my friends who had cases like this, in the past had a problem to get Indian citizenship, but it was not so strict. But whenever you say you were born outside India, immediately, the government’s alarm bells go off.
The worst off are the Goans in Karachi, who went there much before the 1940s, not for political, but economic reasons. The NRI commissioner, Narendra Sawaikar, is playing it down saying that NRC won’t affect them, but it’s not a question of the NRC. They have been facing hell all these years to get even a visa to visit Goa. Even if they own land in Goa it is being called “enemy property” but how can you call it “enemy’? Karachi was a part of British India, just like anywhere else in India was!
It is a systemic problem and the Catholics have faced the brunt. The only way in which they allow Goans from Karachi to come to Goa is if they say they’re coming for a pilgrimage in a group. They are allowed to come for St Francis Xavier’s feast and then have to report to the police every couple of days.
Goans in general have all kinds of nationalities on account of migration. Goa is a migration-oriented State and the NRC is practically unimplementable here.
Another set of Goans, and a fairly large number of them likely to be affected under a CAA-NRC regime are the ones who, again for economic reasons, have opted for the Portuguese citizenship and migrated to European Union states. Many are expected to return to their native Goa to retire and they are expected to face the brunt of the CAA-NRC if they want to reclaim their Indian citizenship.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant is on record that Goans need not worry. Why is it that they should not worry about how the CAA-NRC regime will affect them, however, Sawant did not spell out when he made a mention of it at the official Liberation Day function at Parade Grounds in Campal-Panaji. All he said is: “Special arrangements have been made to ensure the issue does not affect Goans.”
Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party ideologue Narendra Sawaikar on the other hand suggested that the NRI Commissionerate which he heads will step in to insulate Goans from the difficulties they may face.
“Per-se the CAA and the NCR will not affect Goans,” Sawaikar had told the media when he was fielded by the party leadership to counter the opposition to the twin Central legislations. He however admitted that Goa too will have to implement NRC, if and when the Centre instructs the State to do so.
