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Portuguese Passport holders will lose citizenship but Goans with birth registered in Lisbon are safe: CM

In the new development that took place in the dual citizenship issue here in Goa the Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar has finally made the statement that Goans with Portuguese passport
Portuguese consulate Goa Image courtesy JoeGoaUk
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In the new development that took place in the dual citizenship issue here in Goa the Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar has finally made the statement that Goans with Portuguese passport will surely lose their citizenship either in Goa or in Portugal while the rest of the Goans who only has their births registered in the Lisbon will be able to retain their Indian citizenship. Read the complete report here.

[su_expand more_text=”READ MORE” less_text=” ” height=”0″ hide_less=”yes” link_style=”button” link_align=”center”] The issue of dual nationality has been taking various twists and turns for the quite some time now but the Chief Minister of Goa has put full stop to all those speculations by making it clear that only the Goans who have registered their births in Lisbon are eligible to retain their Indian citizenships while the rest who are holding the Portuguese passports will have to forego their one of the citizenship.

Read: Portuguese Nationality issue – Goans registered in Portugal are likely to lose their Indian citizenship

The above statement of the CM came in the backdrop of recommendations made by the center’s inter-ministerial committee on the Portuguese passport issue. Mr. Parsekar was speaking with the reporters on this issue on the sideline of one program made it clear that those holding dual passports will lose either their Indian or Portuguese citizenship, but Goans whose births are registered in Lisbon are completely safe.

Parsekar also urged Goans to introspect on the contentious issue. “There is no scope for dual citizenship. There is a need for our Goans to introspect. They should not leave their citizenship and opt for another nationality,” he said speaking on the sidelines of an event on Thursday.

He also taunted the long queue of Goans that is usually seen at Altinho outside the Portuguese consulate saying that “I feel now it’s high time that people should retrospect, especially those who stand in big Q early morning and in the afternoon under the hot sun at Altinho. There are no restrictions on going abroad and working but they need to think twice before surrendering their Indian citizenship.”

Read: Dual Citizenship for Goans center to endorse one-time amnesty on the cards

While speaking with the reporters he also made the statement about the two MLAs who supposed to have their births registered in Portugal. “There are names of two MLAs have flashed in this issue but I believe that they are just having their birth registered in Portugal and as far as my knowledge goes both of them have not surrendered their Indian passports,” he added further saying that “but there are allegations, not only these two but there are public representatives who had opted for the dual citizenship.” Although when reporters asked him about the action his government is going to take on this issue he said “No action. What action I will take?”

According to the recent development in the dual nationality issue it had been made clear by the Indian government that the people who are holding the Portuguese passport will have to retain either one of their nationality at the end. The central home ministry has accepted all the recommendations made by the center’s inter-ministerial committee on the Portuguese passport issue.

Based on the above the people who holds the Portuguese passport and who still wants to remain, the Indian citizen will have to give up their Portuguese BOI (Bill of Identity). According to the available statistics, more than 4 lakh Goans claimed have held dual citizenship and they are in a big dilemma at the moment.

Read: Registration of birth in Lisbon does not amount to Portuguese citizenship

The Centre set up the panel following a letter of the then Governor of Goa, BV Wanchoo, and then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar (currently Defence Minister) informing that around four lakh Goans have registered their names in Portugal’s Central Registry of Births, Marriages, and Death.

Till date, most of the Goans were carefree about the Portuguese passport issue considering that it is their birthright but now the changing trends in the Indian law and government intervention in this has made the issue serious. This is the high time that Portuguese passport holders may have to reconsider their dual nationality and give up one of the two. What do you feel about these new developments? Please do leave your comments and suggestion on this.

Source: Various sources

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