CAA won't impact Goans with Portugal passports

Panaji: Goans who have obtained Portuguese passports through a unique law enacted by the Portuguese government for its formal colonials in Indian territories, will not be impacted by the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) state Commissioner for NRI affairs, Narendra Sawaikar said on Wednesday.

"In fact, they should not worry. The Citizenship Amendment Act should not have any impact on those people. They have registered as Overseas Citizens of India. They should not have any problems," Sawaikar told reporters at the state Secretariat here. The Goa NRI Commissionarate serves as a liaising agency between the state government and the thousands of Goan expats, primarily living in Europe and the Middle East.

A Portuguese colony for over 450 years, the coastal state of Goa gained independence from foreign rule in 1961. The departing Portuguese, however, offered Goan natives the choice of Portuguese citizenship. The privilege of availing of Portuguese citizenship was later granted to Goans who had lived in Portuguese-ruled Goa, as well as their off-springs up to three generations down the line.

Rough estimates suggest that up to 30,000 Goans are living in the UK, using the Portuguese citizenship route. The Uttar Pradesh Police arrested 25 members of the Popular Front of India (PFI) from various districts in connection with the violent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Lucknow

Bangladesh has reversed its decision of shutting down mobile networks along the country's over 4,000 km-long borders with India, two days after asking telecom operators to block the services citing "security" reasons, according to media reports on Wednesday.

The government's directive to the telecommunication operators came days after India's Parliament passed the controversial CAA, causing much concern in Dhaka that it could lead to an influx of migrants from India. In a seemingly bizarre development, the IIT in Kanpur has set up a panel to decide whether the poem "Hum dekhenge lazim hai ki hum bhi dekhenge", penned by Faiz Ahmad Faiz, is anti-Hindu.

The panel has been set up in response to complaints filed by a faculty member who claimed that the students, during a protest, sang this poem which was anti-Hindu.