Goans Holding Portuguese Passport may not be able to Reclaim their Indian Citizenship Post Citizen Amendment Bill, Claims a Law Expert in Goa

Goans Holding Portuguese Passport has always remained in controversy, and different people have a different opinion about it. Some say Goans are dual citizens by privilege while others say that dual citizenship is not allowed in India and Goa is an integral part of India it is also applicable to Goans. Now the new issue of Citizen Amendment Act is haunting the Goan Portuguese passport holders. While the ruling party members are praising the passing of CAB in Parliament the legal professional from the opposition has a different opinion about the Goans holding the Portuguese Passport. According to them Portuguese passport holder Goans will not be allowed to return back to Goa post CAB comes into the force. What is right and which one is wrong, let us take a look at it in this article.

There is a visible split of opinion between the ruling and opposition over the issue of CAB (Citizen Amendment Bill) the ruling party leaders are rejoicing the bill while the opposition calling it to treat to the integrity of the nation. Coming to Goa, there is a difference of opinion on Portuguese passport holders especially those who are migrated from Goa and settled down in other countries.

According to the report published in the local daily The Goan, the ruling party leaders have assured that there won’t be any ill effects of the CAB on Goans holing Portuguese passport while some opposition leaders who are on legal profession have a different opinion about the entire thing.

The chief minister of Goa Pramod Sawant claimed that there will be no repercussions of CAB on Goans. “There will be no repercussions of the bill for Goans,” Sawant said while speaking at the event to commemorate the late Manohar Parrikar’s first birth anniversary post his death earlier this year.        

While the Senior Lawyer and former union Minister Adv. Ramakant Khalap believes that Goans holding Portuguese passports and want to return home will be “stranded” unless restrictions to vote or hold and buy agricultural land on Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) are removed. “They will be stranded. They will not qualify in the ‘religiously persecuted’ categories so how would they reclaim their citizenship?” he asked.

How & why will #CABill divide India? It will not affect the rights of Goan passport holders before or after the #CABill. @INCIndia & @GoaCongress should stop playing divisive politics. India had it enough. Such tricks will not work.@BJP4India@BJP4Goa.https://t.co/vYZiev32iK pic.twitter.com/pDNRRR3IUb

— Narendra Sawaikar नरेंद्र सावईकर (@NSawaikar) December 12, 2019

Meanwhile, the Commissioner for NRI Affairs in Goa and former Lok Sabha MP Mr Narendra Sawaikar had twitted on Thursday that there are is negative impact CAB on Goan Passport Holders. “How and why will #CABill divide India? It will not affect the rights of Goan passport holders before or after the passage of the #CABill,” Sawaikar who served a term as South Goa MP, tweeted on Thursday. Although he did not give clarity on whether he is talking about the Indian or Portuguese Passport.

The opposition leaders are leaving no stone unturned to convince the Goans holding Portuguese passport and living abroad will have to face the consequences of the Citizen Amendment Bill which is recently passed in the Parliament. They are conferring the CAB on religious front citing persecution by foreign States, could pose problems for the many thousands of Goans holding Portuguese passports and who want to reclaim citizenship to retire in their homeland.   

According to the records, there are several thousands of Goans who have opted for the Portuguese Nationally and travelled to European Union countries, particularly the United Kingdom in search of work. One estimate pegs as many as 30,000 Portuguese passport holding Goans to be living and working in the UK. Many of them would be left struggling in their quest for reverse migration by reclaiming their Indian citizenship with the Citizenship Law itself amended to link the privilege to religious persecution in their country of residence.      

The whole fate of the CAB is just like Brexit, there is no clarity as what will happen the next so till something concrete does not comes out of this the Goans holding Portuguese Passports will have to keep guessing as what will their fate post CAB. do you have a different opinion on this issue? Please do share with us in the comments section and we will try our best to revert back to you.