Tag: Portuguese citizenship

Al-Zulaij Exclusive

60 Years of ‘Liberation’: The Pressing Need for a Constitutional Contract

By THE AL-ZULAIJ COLLECTIVE

Introduction

The 19th of December 2020 marks the commencement of the sixtieth year since Goa was annexed to the Indian Union, ending Portugal’s sovereignty over the territory. To celebrate this moment, the current government of Goa has planned a 100-crore celebration, even while the pandemic, and decades-long mismanagement of the Goan economy, along with corruption and communal politics, have pushed the Goan people to the edge. Against such a backdrop, it is critical that we look beyond the celebratory rhetoric, and focus on the structural problems that were written into India’s relationship with Goa right from the start. It is our argument that Goa’s ‘liberation’ may have ended Portuguese sovereignty over the territory, but, due to the manner through which the integration with the Indian Union took place, it has produced a condition of lawlessness that is in no small measure responsible for the unfolding chaos in Goa. (more…)

Popular Essays

Citizenship Amendment Act – What about Goans?

By ALBERTINA ALMEIDA

The December 2019 amendment of the Citizenship Act, 1955, once again brings the issue of citizenship of Goans (with Portuguese passports) to the fore. The new amendment provides for citizenship to be granted to persecuted minorities (read in the Act as Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain, Parsi and Christian) from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, who have been residing in India from before 31st December, 2014, and it also allows the Government to cancel the registration of the Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder ‘in case of violation of any provisions of the Act or any other law for the time’. Already much has been said of the Act, about the Government’s selective ‘humanism’ by which only certain persecuted communities, and that too from certain nearby countries which the ruling dispensation refers to as theocratic states, are being considered for citizenship. (more…)

Scholarly Articles

Deve Ser Português Quem Nasce em Portugal? A Reforma da Lei da Nacionalidade

DEBATE: DEVE SER PORTUGUÊS QUEM NASCE EM PORTUGAL? A REFORMA DA LEI DA NACIONALIDADE.
no âmbito de Congresso “MIGRAÇÃO, CIDADANIA, DIREITOS HUMANOS” 27 Nov 2017
organizado pelo
Universidade Nova De Lisboa
Intervencão pelo Jason Keith Fernandes

 

Antes de começar gostaria de agradecer aos organizadores deste evento, e em particular à Professora Cristina Nogueira, pelo o convite para participar neste debate. Enquanto os meus interesses de pesquisa se focam na área da cidadania, estou mais centrado no assunto relacionado com a cidadania dos Goeses especialmente em Goa, uma antiga província de Portugal. Mas, é precisamente com este local, talvez um bocado deslocado que gostaria de contribuir para este debate.

 

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Scholarly Articles

Deve Ser Português Quem Nasce em Portugal? A Reforma da Lei da Nacionalidade

DEBATE: DEVE SER PORTUGUÊS QUEM NASCE EM PORTUGAL? A REFORMA DA LEI DA NACIONALIDADE.
In the ambit of the Conference “Migration, Citizenship, Human Rights” 27 Nov 2017
Organized by
Universidade Nova De Lisboa
Intervention by JASON KEITH FERNANDES

 

Before I begin I would like to thank the organisers of this event, and in particular Prof. Cristina Nogueira, for having invited me to participate in this event. While my research interests are focussed on citizenship, they have more to do with the citizenship of those in Goa, a former province of Portugal. It is precisely from this somewhat displaced location that I would like to contribute to this debate.

 

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Popular Essays

Portuguese Passport and the Language Issue

By DALE LUIS MENEZES

 

Rui Carvalho Baceira, who has recently completed his 3-year stint as the Consul General of Portugal in Goa, made some very interesting comments about his stay before moving onwards to head Portugal’s diplomatic mission in Palestine. Of his many observations, his statistics on the people applying for Portuguese nationality can offer some insights on the problems Goans are facing vis-à-vis education and employment. In an interview to a prominent national daily in Goa, Baceira said that most Goans seeking a Portuguese passport “are male, between 20 and 30 years old, and are not skilled. Few have a university background”. He further added, “In Goa, Portuguese passport aspirants are roughly 60% Christian, 30% Hindu and 10% Muslim”. While it is not exactly clear what Baceira meant by “unskilled”, the reference, perhaps, could be to a lack of professionals, such as doctors or lawyers, seeking the Portuguese passport.

 

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Popular Essays

Portuguese Citizenship and the Debugging of Indian Imaginations

By JASON KEITH FERNANDES

 

I read with interest the recent opinion piece “The Portuguese nationality bug”  on the vexed issue of the rights of Portuguese Indians to Portuguese citizenship and was disappointed by the author’s refusal to see the larger picture. I suspect that this is because the author seeks to resolve the question within the narrow frames of Indian nationalism. As a result, the argument forwarded in the op-ed seems to buttress the rights of the state over those of citizens. Such legality will only strengthen the growing authoritarianism of the Indian state over subjects who, while formally citizens, increasingly lack the space to realize this condition.

 

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