It may have been Dictator Antonio Salazar's last revenge on the Indian authorities. Either that, or his love for Goans (and Damanese and Diucars) was so overwhelming, that he did something for them that no colonial government anywhere had ever done for the people it once governed. In fact, even the Portuguese themselves had never done any such thing for its other subject people whether Africans, Brazilians, Timorese or Macanese.
I am talking about the granting of Portuguese citizenship to people even of the third generation. Take my own example; my parents who were born in Goa, left the land when young to search for and find employment in British Bombay. I was born in Indian Bombay and also when about their age, left India's shores for overseas climes, ending up as a Canadian citizen. My children were born neither in Goa nor in India nor anywhere remotely connected to Portugal, yet because their grandparents were born in Portuguese Goa many decades earlier, they become entitled to Portuguese citizenship (it's another matter that they may never want it). The surprises don't end there. >From the mountains of Kashmir in the west to the plains of flood prone Bangladesh in the east, down southward to the Gujaratis living in the areas outside of Daman and Diu, to the coasts of Kerala, people in India, dishonest or enterprising, depending on whichever way you look at it, pass off false documents showing themselves of Goan origin and fool the Portuguese passport-issuing authorities into giving them their citizenship. The reasons for getting another nationality vary. Most want it so they can work in the rest of Europe, others want it for tax purposes to launder away their untaxed money (India has generous tax advantages for non-resident Indians and foreigners of Indian origin), still others use it as rainy day protection if the Indian economy collapses (not a far-fetched possibility given the extreme corruption there) and a few others want it to escape Indian justice. An example of the latter is a well known top Muslim gangster of Bombay who fled to Portugal before the long arm of the law could catch up to him and then gave the Indian Police a hard time before they could get him legally extradited to India. I don't know why Portugal gave him its citizenship protection considering he had quite obviously fraudulently obtained it. I was quite amused with the story of my cousin in Toronto who told me about his recent visit to Lisbon. He was looking out for Scotch Whisky and when stepping into a convenience store was told by the Bangladeshi owner that he could give it to him for a few Euros less since he was a fellow Indian (irony is my cousin is Canadian and the Bangladeshi storekeeper is Portuguese). Anyway when asked how he came to Portugal, he said he went to Goa and easily obtained false documents showing his ancestors were from there. I see the hand of St. Francis Xavier in keeping the Portuguese nationality route available to this day for Goans who want it. It must take the extraordinary power of a saint to resist the protests from the European Union to make Portugal change the law to make all those 'job-taking Indians' enter England where they usually end up, adding to the 'trouble-making Pakistanis' already there, not to mention the Poles, Slavs and the Arabs. One of those who will not see eye to eye with the Patron Saint, will be successful and well-known musician and entertainer Remo Fernandes who has recently landed himself in hot water in Goa and must be cursing his decision to take Portuguese nationality. Our Remo had styled himself as a political activist poking thorns into the sides of Goa ministers' misdeeds while being a foreign national taking formal part in politics and official positions, clearly afoul of his legal status. Make no mistake. All the accusations of his verbal abuse against a minor girl who was injured in a car accident where his son was a driver and he a passenger, are just a smokescreen. Remo is not out of his mind to have done that since he has enough to lose from the negative publicity fallout he would have foreseen. But now, he must face the music of his illegalities. It is ironic that he of all people would need to opt for being a Portuguese citizen. But, the law must triumph even in a country that has little respect for it. Wish all readers a happy and healthy New Year. Forwarded by Eddie Fernandes
