PANAJI
Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar on Monday hit out at Nigerians who are involved in drugs and other illegal activities in the State calling for their immediate deportation.
Reacting to accusations of rape and kidnapping against two Africans levelled by a woman at Mapusa police station on Sunday and in the light of the overall tense atmosphere in the wake of the killing of a Congolese national in Delhi, Parulekar minced no words in saying “Nigerians create problems not just in Goa, but in the entire country.”
“Nigerian students come to Goa and India to study, they get an FIR filed (against them), make it a judicial matter and try to stay in India or Goa and indulge in drugs and other unwanted things,” Parulekar said.
He also said that a strict pan-India law should be enacted to deport them within one month.
“Two years ago I had heard they had blocked the (national highway 17) highway. India should have a strict law, where they can be caught and deported. But that law does not exist in India at the moment, therefore it is a weak point in matters of governance,” Parulekar said, adding that those who have been “black-listed” or have committed crimes should be deported within a month.
Later in the day, Deputy Chief Minister Francis D'Souza took a more cautious stance saying that the case was ‘sensitive’ in nature.
“I don't know the facts. It is a very sensitive issue, when we talk of rapes. How can I comment, who has done what. I cannot have a media trial. Only court should react to this,” D’Souza said.
Commenting further, D'Souza said, “If you want to hear a little bit of extra news, then one of the MLAs was heard saying that she was his girlfriend".
"It is very sensitive... for the girl as well as the boy. These things happen throughout India and Goa", he said.
