Discrimination haunts Dalit and ethnic minorities in Bangladesh

Childhood wounds still hurt for a man now leading an NGO promoting the rights of the 'untouchables'.

Dalit women clean a railway station in Dhaka on Oct. 27, 2018. Most Dalits and ethnic minorities face discrimination in accessing services and rights, according to a recent study by Transparency International Bangladesh. (Photo by Stephan Uttom/ucanews.com)

Dhaka:  About 34 years ago, Milon Das faced hurtful incidents that made him think his community of Dalit Hindus were nothing less than godforsaken people.

A schoolboy in grade five, he and two Muslim friends went to a village eatery in Satkhira district of southwest Bangladesh to have snacks during a break.

The eatery owner, also a Hindu, offered his two friends snacks on plates, but Das was given his snack on a piece of torn newspaper.

The snacks were spicy, so he asked for a glass of water, but the owner refused. He was told that as he was a Dalit (Sanskrit for “trampled upon”), his touch would make the glass “unholy.”

Das grabbed a glass of water and drank from it. Then all hell broke loose in the shop.

“The owner beat me up mercilessly and forced my family to pay 2,000 taka [US$24] for what I had done. Nobody in our locality took our side as if I had committed a grave sin,” he recalled.

News of the incident spread to his school and parents of other students called for Das to be expelled, but teachers refused on humanitarian grounds.

“Students bullied me and teachers looked down on me as long as I studied there. This incident still haunts me, but I decided I would not give up and get a higher education so that I could fight for the rights of Dalits my whole life,” said Das, now 43 and a father of two.

In those days, schools would hesitate to enroll Dalit students, but not anymore. Yet negligence and discrimination toward Dalit students still prevail.

“Teachers are less interested in the education of Dalit students. Sometimes teachers ask why children of shoemakers come to school instead of learning shoemaking for their future,” Das said.

In the Hindu caste system, Dalits are considered “untouchables” and are excluded from the four primary castes — Brahmins (priests), Kshatriya (warriors and princes), Vaishya (farmers and artisans) and Shudra (tenant farmers and servants).

Dalits in Bangladesh mainly do jobs considered impure such as street sweeping, sewerage cleaning, tea garden laboring, burying dead bodies, processing oil, gardening, shoe and leather work, drum beating and washing, according to Banglapedia, the national encyclopedia of Bangladesh.

During his schooldays, Das met Father Luigi Paggi, an Italian Catholic missionary who has been working among poor and marginalized communities in the area for decades.

“Father Luigi is my mentor and he inspired hundreds of students like me to continue education with his support. He set up four separate schools for Dalits and encouraged us to work hard to develop our own community,” he said.

With Father Luigi’s support, Das earned a master’s degree in sociology and is now executive director of Poritran (Salvation), a Satkhira-based NGO promoting the rights and welfare of the Dalit community.

He also serves as an adviser to Bangladesh Dalit Parishad, a rights body fighting to end discrimination against Dalits.

“From birth to death, Dalits face many forms of discrimination. There were incidents when locals refused to allow funerals of Dalit people in the same funeral ground [where other castes were buried]. We are citizens of this country and we vote to elect governments, but nobody thinks about bringing an end to discrimination against us,” Das said.

Widespread deprivation

The case of Das is not unique in Bangladesh. Most Dalits and ethnic minorities face discrimination and deprivation in accessing services and rights, a study released on March 10 by the Bangladesh chapter of Berlin-based Transparency International revealed.

The study was carried out from February 2018 to February 2019 in 28 districts of Bangladesh. Among them, 14 districts have ethnic minority people living side by side with the mainstream Bengali community, while 14 others have Dalits living with the majority community.

“Dalits and ethnic groups are deprived of their rights due to their ethnicity and caste, which contravenes our constitution that stipulates equal rights and opportunities to all citizens irrespective of their religious faith, ethnicity and caste,” Transparency International Bangladesh executive director Iftekharuzzaman said at the report launch.

“It is also contradictory to the state policy of inclusive development and removal of all forms social and economic inequality.”

The report cited that Dalits and ethnic minorities are forced to pay bribes to get treatment in hospitals, access social safety net benefits such as widow, disabled and elderly allowances, and obtain government certificates, trade licenses, land documents and electricity connections.

It stated that children of Dalit and indigenous people often face discrimination in getting enrolled in government primary schools and in studying their own religious books.

Although Bangladesh’s national education policy stipulates that all children should be allowed to get an education in their own mother tongue, it is often disregarded.

“Most children of ethnic minorities do not get the chance to be educated in their mother tongue. Their parents also speak to them in Bangla. Their mother tongue could become extinct,” the report said.

The study also made 13 recommendations including constitutional recognition for Dalits and ethnic minorities and changes to existing laws to ensure equal rights and opportunities for them.

Bangladesh’s government says there are about 1.5 million ethnic indigenous people in the country, while indigenous activists and researchers say their number is more three million.

A 2011 study by the state-run Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics said the number of Dalits in Bangladesh was more than 1.5 million. However, the Bangladesh government’s seventh Fifth Year Plan (2016-20) states there are 5.5 million.

Sanjeeb Drong, an ethnic Garo Catholic and secretary of the Bangladesh Adivasi Forum, agreed with the report’s findings.

“The major problem is a discriminatory and negligent mindset among decision-making bodies of the government as well as the majority community. In many places, land belonging to Dalits and indigenous peoples was forcibly taken, and their villages and homes burned down, but justice was not meted out,” Drong told ucanews.com.

“The government should adopt separate policies such as a separate ministry and a separate land commission for Dalits and indigenous people. The government should also recognize the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and ILO Convention 169 for the indigenous and Dalit population.”

The government cannot remain negligent to Dalits and indigenous people anymore, said Fazle Hossain, an MP from the Bangladesh Workers Party and a member of the Parliamentary Caucus on Indigenous Peoples and Minorities.

“The discrimination and deprivations of Dalits and ethnic minorities have historic roots and these must be removed. We have been working on making constitutional and legal changes so that the rights of these communities can be protected,” Hossain told ucanews.com.

Source: UCAN

Displaced Kachin hungry for home in Myanmar

Camp life becoming intolerable after seven years but refugees dare not return until militias sign peace deal.

An ethnic Kachin family pictured at the Baptist Church-run Ja Maing Kaung camp for internally displaced persons near Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, in April 2017. (ucanews.com photo)

Mandalay:  With the sound of gunfire mostly absent in Myanmar's northern Kachin State, after the army unilaterally implemented a partial ceasefire in late December to promote peace talks with local militias, those displaced by the conflict say they want to go home.

Myanmar's military paved the way for further negotiations with various rebel groups in the north during the cessation of fighting, which has a deadline of April 30.

The order covers the war-torn regions of Kachin and Shan states, which has forced thousands to flee their homes and seek refuge at camps for internally displaced people (IDP).

Bishop Raymond Sumlut Gam, chairman of Caritas Myanmar, said many of the IDPs have been at the camps for seven years or more, and are losing hope of heading home.

"The Church's stance is to encourage them to return to their villages, but only if they are deemed to be safe," said Bishop Gam, who serves as the bishop of Kachin's Banmaw Diocese, told ucanews.com.

NGOs say that any who choose to go back must do so voluntarily.

But many feel confused about what their next step should be as security remains a huge concern until the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) signs a nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA).

Caritas, or Karuna, Myanmar is the Church's social arm. It has been stepping up its resettlement plan for IDPs in both states.

Praying for peace

La Dee, an IDP in Kachin, said Christian leaders have had talks with the government as well as the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), an ethno-political group of which the KIA serves as its armed wing, about getting more people out of the camps and back into their former homes.

He said most are desperate to rebuild their lives.

"Security is our main concern," said the Kachin Baptist. "We will only go home if our security is guaranteed."

La Dee fled his home in 2011 due to fighting between the military and the KIA and took refuge at a camp run by the Kachin Baptist Convention in Kachin's Momauk township.

In the last eight years over 100,000 people have taken shelter at 167 IDP camps in both states, parts of which are variously controlled by government and non-governmental forces.

Conflict has plagued this mountainous northern region since Myanmar gained its independence from Britain in 1948. Most of Kachin's 1.7-million people are Christians, including 116,000 Catholics.

The Kachin Humanitarian Concern Committee (KHCC), comprising several Christian churches, has met with the KIO to determine which areas the IDPs can be safely returned to.

Rev. Hkalam Samson, head of the committee, said the group has compiled a list of 200 "safe" villages that will be presented to the government's National Reconciliation and Peace Centre in April for consideration.

"We won't know the final plan until a month after our meeting with the government officials," said Rev. Samson, who also serves as president of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC).

During a meeting with the KBC in February, Myanmar's military chief Min Aung Hlaing said the army would cooperate with the KIO to clear landmines in the region to literally pave the way for their return.

Peace elusive

The KIA has around 4,000 active soldiers, mostly near the Chinese border. It has yet to join a nationwide ceasefire agreement signed by 10 of Myanmar's 20 biggest armed groups.

Talks have broken down repeatedly since the previous ceasefire in 2011.

On March 21, government negotiators met delegates from armed ethnic groups including the Arakan Army and tried to persuade them to agree to the deal. Little headway was made save an agreement to hold more talks.

San Awng is a Kachin Catholic and a member of the Peace Talk Creating Group in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State. He said the main goal of the talks at this point is trust building.

The KIO has proposed two more meetings in April but has yet to receive an official reply, he said.

"Their first priority is signing a bilateral ceasefire with the military and then implement the return of the IDPs. After that, they can focus on the NCA," he said.

The government of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi is trying to end the decades-long conflict in the country but has not yet found a way to quell the bloody outbreaks in ethnic regions of Rakhine and Shan states.

Source: UCAN

Mandalay ,Displaced Kachin

Filipinos tell of 'miracles' in wake heart relic visit

Church leaders hope relic will also heal 'a country confronted by social ills'.

People pray for healing of the sick before the heart relic of St. Camillus de Lellis during its visit to the Philippines in February and March. (Photo by Maria Tan)

Manila:  Emelinda Magtibay claims she was healed of her ailment after she prayed before the heart relic of St. Camillus de Lellis during its 2013 visit to the Philippines.

She said it was her faith that healed her after she was diagnosed with breast cancer, which she described left her feeling "like heaven and earth had collided."

Magtibay, Emy to her friends, confided that she was "ready to face the creator if it was his will," but she wanted to live for her 12-year-old son "who still needs a mother."

"Cancer did not weaken my faith. It made me more prayerful," she said.

"I solicited prayers from people I knew. I texted my relatives, friends, some priests to pray for me," recalled Emy.

One of those who responded was a priest who informed her of the visit of the heart relic of St. Camillus de Lellis.

"I did not know anything about the saint but his name was familiar," said Emy.

"I went to the exposition of his relic, I touched it, and asked him to help me," she said.

When she submitted to treatment her body became so weak, but prayers helped her survive. "It was really a miracle for me," she said.

When the heart relic came to the country the second time around this year, Emy was there to welcome it.

"I whispered to the relic again, but this time to thank him," she said.

Another "miracle" occurred during the relic’s visit at the Heart Center of the Philippines in February.

Eliza Viray was at the center to check the condition of damaged veins in her legs due to a rare disease.

"I could hardly walk and climb the stairs. I cried almost every night because I felt I could not walk again," she said.

Her mother told her that the relic was at the hospital and convinced Eliza to pay a visit.

"I went to look for the relic. I prayed in tears while touching his heart, went to confession, and attended Mass," she recalled.

She continued her prayers even after she went home.

Days later, Eliza and her doctors were in for a surprise. Her veins were normal and all were as good as if she was never sick.

"I am sharing this to make St. Camillus de Lellis famous to all people, especially the sick," she said.

Father Dan Vicente Cancino, executive secretary of the Commission on Health Care of the bishops’ conference, said his office has received many reports about healing from patients.

"We’ve lost count of the miracles we heard about and were reported," the priest told ucanews.com.

"We believe that through the intercession of St. Camillus, these sick people have received healing from God," he added.

Father Cancino, however, expressed hope that the heart relic visit will not only heal sick people, but also "a country confronted by social ills."

He called on Filipinos to look at the life of St. Camillus and learn the value of "dignity of life."

"The journey of the heart relic of St. Camillus in the Philippines is a reminder that we need to revive whatever humanity there is left in us," said Father Cancino.

He noted that people are getting killed every day "but most of us do not care anymore."

"If we do not have compassion for those who are living, what more to those who are dying?" said the priest.

On April 2, the heart relic of St. Camillus left the Philippines, but Emy said she would never tire from telling her "miracle story."

"I might never see the heart relic again but I will pray as long as I am alive and I will make St. Camillus known to other people," she said.

The heart relic is contained in a crystal glass in the shape of a heart. It was removed from the saint’s body an hour after his death on July 14, 1614.

St. Camillus, who was a priest from Italy, established the international Catholic congregation Ministers of the Infirm or the Camillians, which is dedicated to caring for the sick.

Source: UCAN

Blasphemy cases rise sharply in Indonesia

Number more than doubles in year due to use of religion in politics and hate speech crackdown, rights group says.

Bonar Tigor Naipospos, deputy chairman of the Jakarta-based Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, speaks to journalists about the politicization of religion as the main factor in the sharp rise in blasphemy cases. (Photo by Katharina R. Lestari/ucanews.com)

Jakarta:  Blasphemy cases in Indonesia more than doubled last year, according to a human rights group.

There were 25 reported cases as opposed to only nine cases in 2017, said the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, which attributed the rise to a hate speech crackdown and an increase in using religion as a tool in politics.

Prior to that, Indonesia only saw a single-figure number of cases per year on average dating back to 1965 when the blasphemy law was introduced.

Probably the most prominent case was Meliana, a 44-year-old Buddhist woman who was sentenced to 18 months in prison by the Medan District Court in North Sumatra in August, Setara’s research director Halili told ucanews.com.

The Chinese-Indonesian mother of four was accused of blasphemy after she complained to the daughter of the caretaker of a nearby mosque that the call to prayer on loudspeakers was too loud.

Muslims in her hometown of Tanjung Balai took her comments to mean she wanted the call to prayer stopped. Mobs attacked her home and ransacked more than a dozen Buddhist temples, said Halili, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

Halili said misuse of the 1965 blasphemy law which recognizes only six religions — Buddhism, Catholicism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam and Protestantism — and bans others as well as prohibits alternative interpretations of recognized religions including Islam contributed to the increase.

The 2016 Electronic and Transactions Law, which outlaws the spread of so-called hate speech against ethnic groups, religions and races, had also played a significant role in bringing about blasphemy charges and also other acts that were considered acts against religious freedom.

“Both [laws] are often used to repress others,” Halili said.

Setara’s deputy chairman Bonar Tigor Naipospos also pointed to the politicization of religion as a main factor in the sharp rise in blasphemy cases.

“If polarization [along ethnic and religious lines] continues and the politicization of religion is used by competing political parties, we will see what we call ‘the generation of the reporter’ in which people will file blasphemy reports to overcome their political opponents,” he said.

The defeat of Christian former governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama in 2016 after being accused by hardline Muslims of blasphemy potentially opened the floodgates, he said.

Source: UCAN

Pope Francis calls for a listening Church in latest exhortation

'Let us ask the Lord to free the Church from those who would make her grow old'.

File photo.

Vatican City:  Pope Francis in his April 2 document on the youth, Christus vivit (Christ is Alive) calls for a listening Church.

“A Church always on the defensive, which loses her humility and stops listening to others, which leaves no room for questions, loses her youth and turns into a museum," he says.

Pope Francis on March 25 signed his apostolic exhortation to the world's young people representing the fruit of the October Synod of Bishops' special assembly on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment.

Addressed to young people and to "the entire People of God" it was released to the public April 2, the anniversary of the death of St. John Paul II.

The document is composed of nine chapters. The following are excerpts from each chapter.

Chapter 1: What does the Word of God have to say about young people?

Pope Francis recalls that "in an age when young people were not highly regarded, some Biblical texts show that God sees them differently."

For him age did not establish privileges and being young did not imply lesser worth or dignity.

Chapter 2: Jesus, ever young

The pope addresses the theme of Jesus' youthful years and remembers the Gospel story that describes Jesus "as an adolescent, when he had returned with his parents to Nazareth, after being lost and found in the Temple."

Pope Francis then speaks of the youth of the Church and writes: "Let us ask the Lord to free the Church from those who would make her grow old, encase her in the past, hold her back or keep her at a standstill."

He presents "Mary, the young woman from Nazareth," and her Yes as that of "someone willing to take a risk, ready to stake everything she had, with no more security than the certainty of knowing that she was the bearer of a promise.

Chapter 3: You are the 'now' of God

We cannot just say that "young people are the future of our world," says Pope Francis.

"They are its present; even now, they are helping to enrich it." For this reason, it is necessary to listen to them even if "there is a tendency to provide prepackaged answers and ready-made solutions."

"Many young people are taken in by ideologies, used and exploited as cannon fodder or a strike force to destroy, terrify or ridicule others" hence the pope invites young people to learn to weep for their peers who are worse off than they are.

Referring to "desires, hurts, and longings," Pope Francis speaks about sexuality and its "essential importance" for young peoples' lives and for their "process of growth in identity."

The pope writes that: "in a world that constantly exalts sexuality, maintaining a healthy relationship with one's body and a serene affective life is not easy.”

The exhortation then turns to the theme of the "digital world" which has created "a new way to communicate", and which can "facilitate the circulation of independent information."

In many countries, the web and social networks "already represent a firmly established forum for reaching and involving young people."

But they can also be a place of "loneliness, manipulation, exploitation and violence, up to the extreme case of the 'dark web.' Digital media can expose people to the risk of addiction, isolation and gradual loss of contact with concrete reality.”

The pope goes on to present "migrants as an epitome of our time" and recalls the many young people involved in migration.

He also speaks of child abuse, makes the Synod's commitment to the adoption of rigorous measures of prevention his own, and expresses gratitude "to those who had the courage to report the evil they experienced."

Pope Francis reminds young people that "there is a way out" in all dark and painful situations. He recalls the Good News given on the morning of the Resurrection.

Chapter 4: A great message for all young people

To all young people the pope announces three great truths. A "God who is love."

The second truth is that "Christ saves you."

The third truth is that "He is alive!"

"We need to keep reminding ourselves of this… because we can risk seeing Jesus Christ simply as a fine model from the distant past, as a memory, as someone who saved us two thousand years ago.”

Chapter 5: Paths of youth

"The love of God and our relationship with the living Christ do not hold us back from dreaming; they do not require us to narrow our horizons. On the contrary, that love elevates us, encourages us and inspires us to a better and more beautiful life."

Pope Francis invites young people not to observe life from the balcony, not to spend their lives in front of a screen, not to be reduced to abandoned vehicles and not to look at the world as tourists: "Make a ruckus! Cast out the fears that paralyze you… live!"

He invites them to "live the present" enjoying with gratitude every little gift of life without "being insatiable" and "obsessively seeking new pleasures.”

The pope, speaking of growth and maturity, indicates the importance of seeking "a spiritual development," of "seeking the Lord and keeping his Word," of maintaining the "connection" with Jesus... since you will not grow happy and holy by your own efforts and intelligence alone.”

Pope Francis proposes "paths of fraternity" to live the faith, remembering that "the Holy Spirit wants to make us come out of ourselves, to embrace others… That is why it is always better to live the faith together and to show our love by living in community."

Chapter 6: Young people with roots

Pope Francis says that it hurts him to see "young people sometimes being encouraged to build a future without roots, as if the world were just starting now."

Fundamental is "your relationship with the elderly," says the pope, which helps young people to discover the living richness of the past.

Speaking of "dreams and visions" Pope Francis observes: "When young and old alike are open to the Holy Spirit, they make a wonderful combination. The old dream dreams, and the young see visions."

Chapter 7: Youth ministry

The pope explains that youth ministry has been affected by social and cultural changes and "young people frequently fail to find in our usual programs a response to their concerns, their needs, their problems and issues."

Youth ministry has to be synodal, that is, capable of shaping a "journey together" and this involves two broad lines of action: the first is outreach, the second is growth.

For the first, church institutions should therefore provide "suitable environments," "places young people can make their own, where they can come and go freely, feel welcome and readily meet other young people, whether at times of difficulty and frustration, or of joy and celebration."

Pope Francis then describes "youth ministry in educational institutions," affirming that schools are in "urgent need of self-criticism." He said that "some Catholic schools seem to be structured only for the sake of self-preservation."

Among the areas of "pastoral development," the pope indicates the "importance of the arts," the "potential of sports," and "care for the environment."

Young people need to have their freedom respected, "yet they also need to be accompanied," he says.

Chapter 8: Vocation

"To respond to our vocation, we need to foster and develop all that we are. This has nothing to do with inventing ourselves or creating ourselves out of nothing. It has to do with finding our true selves in the light of God and letting our lives flourish and bear fruit."

As for "love and family," the pope writes that: "Young people intensely feel the call to love; they dream of meeting the right person with whom they can form a family."

Pope Francis concludes this chapter by talking about "the vocation to special consecration."

"In discerning your vocation, do not dismiss the possibility of devoting yourself to God… Why not? You can be sure that, if you do recognize and follow a call from God, there you will find complete fulfilment."

Chapter 9: Discernment

The pope recalls that: "Without the wisdom of discernment, we can easily become prey to every passing trend."

"A particular form of discernment involves the effort to discover our own vocation. Since this is a very personal decision that others cannot make for us, it requires a certain degree of solitude and silence."

Three sensitivities are required of those who help young people in their discernment.

"The first kind of sensitivity is directed to the individual. It is a matter of listening to someone who is sharing his very self in what he says."

"The second kind of sensitivity is marked by discernment. It tries to grasp exactly where grace or temptation is present."

"The third kind of sensitivity is the ability to perceive what is driving the other person", discerning "the direction in which that person truly wants to move."

The exhortation concludes with "a wish" from Pope Francis:

"Dear young people, my joyful hope is to see you keep running the race before you, outstripping all those who are slow or fearful. Keep running, "attracted by the face of Christ, whom we love so much, whom we adore in the Holy Eucharist and acknowledge in the flesh of our suffering brothers and sisters. The Church needs your momentum, your intuitions, your faith… And when you arrive where we have not yet reached, have the patience to wait for us."

Relic of St Camillus de Lellis arrives in Indonesia

Heart of patron saint of sick and health workers will spend about a month in country.

The heart relic of St. Camillus has arrived in Indonesia and will be in the country for about a month (Photo is supplied by Servasia Luciana)

Jakarta:  The heart relic of Camillus de Lellis, patron saint of the sick and health workers, arrived in Indonesia on April 2 for a month-long visit.

The saint’s heart relic, which is in Indonesia for the first time, arrived after having been in the Philippines for the last two months.

Visit organizer, Camillian Father Cyrilus Suparman Andi, said the relic was immediately taken to Ruteng, capital of Manggarai district in the predominantly Catholic province of East Nusa Tenggara.

“It will be kept in turn in some parishes and hospitals there until April 12 in order to give an opportunity to local Catholics to pay homage to it,” he said.

St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral Church and St. Raphael Hospital are two-such venues.

The priest said relic would later be taken to Maumere, in Sikka district, and displayed in the chapel of St. Camillus Major Seminary as well as several other locations until April 21.

The relic will spend the rest of its time in Indonesia at various locations in Jakarta, including St. Carolus Hospital and St. Matthew the Apostle Church.

“We are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the St. Camillus order being in Indonesia. It came to Maumere in 2009. So this is a chance for us to welcome the visit of the saint’s heart relic,” he said, adding that there are 72 Camillian seminarians and four Camillian priests in Indonesia.

He hoped the relic visit would inspire Catholics, particularly health workers to live the spirituality of St. Camillus who served the sick.

Servasia Luciana, one of the organizers for the relic’s stay in Jakarta, suggested that Catholics register before paying homage to the saintly heart relic.

“This is to gauge the number of people coming to pay homage,” she said, adding that an registration form is available online for each venue where the relic will appear.

During his lifetime, St. Camillus fell ill, and while in hospital he realized that God was calling him to serve the sick.

It led him to establish a religious congregation, the Order of Servants of the Sick, or Order of St. Camillus, in 1582 in Rome to serve the sick and poor. The order was recognized in 1586.

St. Camillus’ heart was removed an hour after his death on July 14, 1614. It was later enshrined in the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Rome.

Source: UCAN

AAP promises to explore dual citizenship for Goans

The state will go to polls on April 23.

Elvis Gomes. (Photo: Twitter/@ielvisgomes)

Panaji:  Claiming strong support from NRIs and OCIs, the Aam Adami Party (AAP) convenor of Goa Elvis Gomes here on Tuesday said a section of the populace in the former Lusophonian colony are Portuguese by birth and Indian by adoption, a fact that "nobody can take away from us".

Gomes, contesting the South Goa Lok Sabha seat, said the AAP would seriously examine the issue of "dual citizenship", which would enable Goan non-resident Indians (NRI) to identify more with the state of their origin.

"We have been saying that we have been Portuguese citizens by birth. Nobody can take it away from us. Those who were born, were born in a Portuguese land, before liberation. How can you take that away? They are Indians by adoption," Gomes said, stating the case of Goa and its residents, generations of whom were born during the Portuguese rule, was unique.

"It's a unique case. They were born in a Portuguese nation. They could not do anything about it and they are okay with that," he said.

Goa was one of the oldest colonies of the Portugal and was liberated by the Indian forces in 1961, after 451 years of colonial rule. After the liberation, Goan natives were granted Indian citizenship via a common notification.

However, the departing Portuguese preferred not to snip the umbilical cord with it and allowed those living in Goa during the Portuguese regime to register their birth in Portugal and avail citizenship and Portuguese travel identity documents.

The privilege was later extended to two more generations.

Over the years nearly 200,000 Goans, a large chunk of them Christians in religious orientation, are estimated to have opted for a Portuguese citizenship and several thousand have continued to retain their Indian citizenship, creating a unique situation.

The South Goa Lok Sabha constituency, especially Assembly segments like Velim, Navelim, Nuvem, Benaulim, Curtorim and Cuncolim, comprises a sizeable Christian expat population for whom the issue is significant.

Gomes claims no political party had the will to address the dual citizenship issue, a demand of Goan expats, especially those who have migrated to Europe.

"I don't think this kind of will is there among the traditional parties, which have been taking our votes and not even bothering to look into the issue. But the AAP will definitely examine this," said Gomes who quit the government service to join the AAP ahead of the 2017 Assembly polls. The AAP failed to win a single seat in the elections.

The AAP leader said, "NRIs, OCIs (overseas citizens of India) have their roots and hearts here. They may be physically elsewhere, but feel the pain more than even Goans, when they hear about the state going downhill."

Gomes takes on Narendra Sawaikar (BJP) and Francisco Sardinha (Congress). The state will go to polls on April 23.

IANS