PANAJI: Rajya Sabha MP Shantaram Naik, in a letter to the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, a copy of which has been sent to the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, has demanded that the government immediately introduce a Bill to amend Indian Citizenship Act 1955, so that, over one lakh voters are not deprived of their voting rights in Goa in the forthcoming assembly election.
In his letter to Home Minister, Naik has said that thousands of Goans born in “Estado da Índia” that is Goa, Daman and Diu, prior to December 19, 1961, and in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, prior to August 21, 1954 and their births registered in the Civil Registration Offices of these territories before the above mentioned dates have been given a facility by the Portuguese government by issuing an order in 2006, to register their birth in Portugal.
However, he said that thousands of other Indian citizens who were residing in the erstwhile Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli got their births registered in Portugal, in the last seven to 8 years in the bonafide belief that such a registration will help them to go to Europe freely, without any hassles.
Some others believed that the facility may help them easy access to the foreign universities. There was, apparently, no intention, of the most of the applicants that, in the process, they would lose the Indian citizenship, Naik said.
The issue has taken a complicated turn as these thousands of Indian citizens are likely to be considered as non-citizens and/or there is a danger of their loosing Indian citizenship if the provisions of Indian citizenship are not interpreted by taking into this background, Naik added.
Naik also met the two ministers in the Rajya Sabha and briefed them about the issue. Rijiju informed Naik that the report on the Goa citizenship issue is ready and that the government is coming out with a solution.