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Happy New Year Twenty-Ten
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Enough of all these personal attacks and questioning who is more of a Goan then
themselves !!
OK, so Samir, born in Goa, the son of an illustrious Goan Freedom fighter,
afrer studies abroad came back to Goa, retains his Indian citizenship, cares
about Goa and is doing his best to expose corruption and other ills in Goa.
Kudos to him.
Rajan, born in Goa, moved abroad and acquired citizenship of his host country,
but loves Goa so much that he returns often, and for extended periods. When
one returns to Goa after an extended period abroad, the rot that has set into
Goa becomes depressively obvious. Bluntly and without mincing words Rajan has
raised an outcry against all the ills that have beset Goa. With his camera he
has captured both the beauty of Goa and desecration of our once pristine
surroundings. A picture is said to be worth a thousand words and with his
camera he has been eloquent. With anger welling up inside him, Rajan makes his
point in sometimes colorful language. Perhaps too colorful for our tender ears
?
On this forum we are now aligning ourselves into pro and anti Rajan forces. As
a true
Goan living in Goa, abeit with foreign citizenship, I fall into the
minority pro-Rajan camp by the very fact that I dont have Indian citizenship
and also because I too am apalled by what is happening to Goa. For long I have
silently applauded Rajans effort to open our eyes to what is happening to
Goa. .
Unfortunately, we Goans have become like the proverbial frog, who when placed
in a pot of
water on a stove top, becomes very comfortable. When the heat is turned up the
frog
rather than jump out remains comfortably esconsced in his surroundings until he
is cooked.
Similarly most Goans have become so inured to the degradation of our land,
environmentally and politically while being over-run by migrants that, except
for a few brave souls, we remain in our susegad stupor.
With our eyes being forcibly opened to what is happening in Goa, in typical
Goan fashion
we are now attacking the messenger. Instead of waking up and trying to do
something to stem the rot we are stooping low down to question the patriotism
of Rajan and others like him, (me included) who hold foreign citizenship. From
the long lines of people trying to go abroad I am willing to bet that there are
many Indians who would love to abandon ship and get a foreign citizenship.
Also here in Goa there are many Goans who have
surreptiously acquired Portuguese passports while holding on to their Indian
citizenship.
I was not born in Goa though my parents were. When India marched into Goa,
living at the time in East Africa, I decided to turn in my Portuguese passport
and applied for Indian citizenship. My case was referred to New Delhi. After
many follow-ups and typical Indian bureaucratic stonewalling I took up
citizenship of the country that I was living in at the time.
For all I know my file is still gathering dust in New Delhi ! When I retired
I chose to come and live in Goa. I live with all the restrictions imposed on
foreigners like me. I pay my taxes but I have no voice in the political
system, I cannot be gainfully employed nor can
I legally run a business or purchase agricultural land. I report regularly to
the Foreigners Reistration Office and have to get their NOC whenever I leave
India. As a foreigner I can "vamoose" to the land of my citizenship or be
booted out of Goa. Yet, with all these restrictions I came to live in the
land of my ancestors because I love Goa. I am doing my part for the betterment
of Goa and Goans in a low-key manner. Am I less of a Goan than others who were
born in Goa. ?
Think ! What have you so called real Niz Goenkars allowed to happen to our
once beautiful Goa ? All you have to offer is a lot of "xappotam" and hot air
?.
