MARGAO
Ahead of the Azad Maidan interactive Goans for OCI meet on January 9 at 10 am, the Goans For Goa on Sunday said the BJP government in Goa and Delhi must consider a host of solutions suggested by people from all walks of life to give immediate relief to the hardship faced by people caused by the unwarranted revocation of the Indian passports and subsequent denial of the right to apply for OCI.
Asserting that an amnesty period must be given to these people to choose between Portugal or Indian citizenship as part of a solution, the Goans for Goa has pointed out that since Goans enjoy a unique position to Portuguese Citizenship law, dual citizenship specifically for Goa must be granted to resolve the problem for all three categories of people, and will be the ideal solution.
Saying that the GFG has been interacting with various affected people, Convenor Kennedy Afonso has said the NGO has identified three segments of people that are affected due to this circular, and these three segments each need specific solutions, that have to be addressed by the government immediately.
“This issue must be immediately resolved to give relief to the affected, by somehow making it possible for the revoked passport holders to obtain OCI status by (a) giving a one-time amnesty to the affected people, by issuing a surrender certificate with penalty as was done before the circular. If the Passport Office cannot issue a penalty, the passport office could issue a Surrender Certificate to the revoked passport holders, and the FRRO office could issue a penalty when the person applies for OCI. The normal fee for OCI is Rs15,000. This could be raised to Rs 25,000 for passport holders, whose passports have been revoked”, he said.
He added: “The Tanavade Solution wherein the Indian government must declare that mere registration of Assento in Portugal, will not attract Revocation, till they obtain their BI and Portuguese Passport, within a specific time frame. Then there are people who have registered their births in Portugal, but don’t want to go abroad , and hence have not applied for BI or Portuguese Passport, but are now looked upon as Portuguese citizens. Mostly senior citizens fall in this category, as they registered their birth only to give better education/ job prospects to their children”.
He said these people need to be given a time frame to cancel their Portuguese Nationality, so that they could retain their Indian Citizenship. This group of people are those who have registered their birth (Assento), hold the BI, but have not applied for Portuguese Passport, Afonso said.
He said the objective of Goans for OCI “ Open Mike Event is two-fold: To highlight the hardship and the trauma faced by the people whose Indian passports have been revoked, so that the government takes serious notice of the problem. And, to discuss various issues caused by the MEA circular which was executed without putting it up on any public domain, without any thought and application of mind, and to find solutions to the various difficulties faced by the people due to this circular. People affected with Revocation of Indian passports, and subsequent non issue of surrender certificate, without which one cannot apply for OCI status, he added.
Afonso said many activists, politicians , advocates and intellectuals have pledged their support to the movement, and over 26 key personalities have reserved their time to speak on the issue , to show their solidarity towards the people, who have been denied OCI, due to the unwarranted revocation of Indian passports, and denial of OCI status.
