-------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Add your name to the CLEAN GOA INITIATIVE | | | | by visiting this link and following the instructions therein | | | | http://shire.symonds.net/pipermail/goanet/2005-October/033926.html | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- from Antonio
The following are some excerpts from a long article by Mr. Paulo Colaco Dias on Portuguese nationality which appeared recently on goanvoice.org.uk<http://goanvoice.org.uk>. They deal mostly with long history of Portuguese citizenship as it affects former Portuguese Indians i.e. Goans Please note this information is for the benefit of Goanetters as a matter of historical curiosity. Paulo Colaco Dias ( PCD) writes: Under the government of the Prime Minister , Marques de Pombal, around 1757 by a Royal Decree signed by King D. Jose I , all Portuguese Indians ( Goa, Daman and Diu ) were granted Portuguese Citizenship , and equal status under the law , with the Metropolitan Portuguese. It is to be noted that Portuguese citizenship was not granted to the inhabitants of other colonies from Cabo Verde islands to Macau, in cluding Angola and Mocambique. [ my note: Around 1757 , Goa under the portuguese rule, consisted only of Ilhas, Bardez and Salcete.The remaining seven talukas joined Goa between 1760 and 1790, It can be suggested that around 1757 the population of Ilhas Bardez and Salcete was 99% catholic ] PCD: When Portugal became a republic in 1910, the new constitution granted the Portuguese Indians ( not so to African colonies ) exactly the same prerogatives and status as Portuguese citizens. The racist Colonial Act of 1930 passed under the dictatorship of Salazar discriminated Portuguese Indians who became sort of second class citizens from 1930 onwards/ In 1975, after the Portuguese Democratic Revolution, full Portuguese citizenship was extended once again to Goans under Decreto-Lei n. 308 - A /1975 dated 24th June, 1975 Article 1 Clause (e) which clearly states that all those born in the Antigo Estado da India before 19 December, 1961, who declare their intention to retain the Portuguese Nationality, are entitled to do so. The Portuguese Nationality Law also granted citizenship to descendants of Portuguese citizens . Therefore, a person even if born after 19 dec 61 and anywhere else in the world , had a father or a mother / a grandfather or a grandmother who was born in Portuguese India before 19 December, 1961, this person can apply for the Portuguese Nationality -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | 1st Young Goans International Essay contest 2005 | | | | Theme: WHAT CAN I DO FOR GOA | | More details at | | http://shire.symonds.net/pipermail/goanet/2005-October/034190.html | --------------------------------------------------------------------------
