To Churchil family, I think what the NT has reported today ( enclosed) has some meaning. What I can visualize is that Valanka's case for the Benaulim seat will have hurdles until it goes to the Supreme Court and by that time Parrikar will continue to remain in power and support Caitu. That means the Benaulim seat will continue with that guy. Bad luck appears to Valanka unless the SC gives their verdict expeditiously. Alemao's has simply opened the Pandora's Box.
Stephen Dias D.Paula Alemaos Open Pandora’s Box Published on: December 4, 2013 - 00:21 More in: Opinion Valanka Alemao’s legal battle to prove that Benaulim MLA Caetano Silva was a Portuguese national when he filed his nomination papers for elections is beginning to backfire on her father who had to call a press conference to wriggle out of what is becoming a political quagmire for him. When it started, it seemed like a political tussle between the Alemaos, who had suffered the worst-ever drubbing in an Assembly election, and Silva who came in from nowhere to defeat Valanka in Benaulim. The Ministry of Home Affairs letter saying that the Benaulim MLA is not an Indian national because he got his birth registered in the central registry office in Portugal has changed the equation. The order has put a lot of Goans, who have registered their births in Portugal, in a quandary. If Silva can be disenfranchised, so can they be. Now everyone seems to be blaming the Alemaos for putting them in ‘no-man’s land’. If they (Alemaos) had chosen to remain in the wilderness for five years those opting to register their births in Portugal in order to give their children the option of migrating to European countries would have been spared the heartburn. Churchill’s explanation that he has trained his guns on Silva and Aldona MLA Glen Ticlo and was not concerned with the status of other Goans might be true, but by choosing this route to disqualify a political rival, the Alemaos have opened a Pandora’s Box. There is a cloak-and-dagger element to the business of acquiring Portuguese citizenship, the first stage of which is getting one’s birth registered in Portugal. In the second stage one is granted an identity card and in the third one acquires the greatly-desired Portuguese passport. Over the years, this gift conferred on its former colony by Portugal has given rise to agents who specialize in documentation and even promise results for a price. Many Goans have taken advantage of this facility; at least 30,000 Goans now living in the state are Portuguese passport holders. It is not known how many people have chosen to retain both passports as the Indian government has not sought any information from Lisbon on the matter. Had there been a protocol in place for sharing of information there would have been more clarity on the issue. Legal experts have argued that if the Goans who have acquired Portuguese nationality opt for Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) status then they would continue to enjoy all privileges and rights due to a normal citizen, but would not be allowed to vote, stand for elections or hold a post in the government, and therein lies the rub. Those employed in the private sector and not interested in politics face no problem. However, those who are government servants, and there could be many in this category, could lose their jobs. Valanka Alemao’s petition has raised important issue regarding citizenship and the law. Till date many have done the right thing of declaring their status by surrendering their passports while others have chosen to keep it a secret. No matter how beneficial this ambiguous state might be to a citizen, it is illegal. Although one sympathises with citizens who wish to explore job opportunities abroad, keeping their status a secret cannot be condoned. One cannot have the best of both nations as long as the law does not allow it. The order of Ministry of Home Affairs has created more problems than it has solved because it could strip a lot of people who are not yet classified as Portuguese nationals of their Indian nationality, thereby leaving them as stateless people. A petition regarding Silva’s status is pending in the high court and in all likelihood this matter will go all the way to the Supreme Court which is the right forum to test something as important as citizenship. For the Alemaos, who have unwittingly raked up an important issue and ruffled a lot of feathers in the bargain, this could prove to be a difficult political obstacle to surmount.
