Dear Antonio,
How are you?
If the Portuguese government can take the trouble of proving Goan ancestry even
three generations back and awarding us Portuguese citizenship based on that,
surely the Goa government can offer us the same courtesy. It is not at all
difficult to prove Goan ancestry, thanks to the Catholic Church which kept
excellent baptismal records (now archived by the Mormons - thanks Roland, I
will definitely be following up that link as it seems Nuvem is one of the
churches they archived. I understand - maybe incorrectly- the Mormons later ran
into resistance from the Church authorities in Goa).
I am all for the preservation of Goan land and heritage. But all the
stakeholders must be consulted before any decision is taken.
I am also of the opinion that the preservation of land can only come through
classifying it as agricultural, conservation, heritage, etc. At the moment
people are buying agriculture land and building on it. I have seen with my own
eyes huge mega-projects coming up on what were previously paddy fields. These
people are mostly Goans and have gotten permission in connivance with Goans.
Bringing into effect a law that says non-Goans cannot buy agricultural land
makes no sense. We actually don't need more laws. What we need is effective
implementation of the laws in existence. And unfortunately the ones who
contravene laws are more often than not our wonderful politicians.
Best,
selma
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