Naik’s statement irks foreigners
“Foreigners do not come to change Goa, foreigners come to participate in Goa,” says Jan Bostok, a Brit married to an Indian and living here for 2 years.
The Goan minister had threatened to deport those involved in illegal dealings
PANAJI: “Foreigners do not come to change Goa, foreigners come to participate in Goa,” says Jan Bostok, a Britisher married to an Indian, who has been living here for the last two years. Bostok’s statement comes in the heels of the statement issued on Wednesday by Goa’s new home minister Ravi Naik, threatening the deportation of foreigners if their dealings are not legal.
Naik said, “Many of the foreign nationals stay back and conduct illegal business which disrupts the peace and security in the state.” “It’s sweeping statements like these that give the police the licence to be rude to us,” says a foreigner. He had applied for a visa extension of a close relative and was reportedly told, “You are British, go back.”
According to Chief Secretary JP Singh, around 150 cases of purchase of immoveable properties in Goa by foreigners have been referred by the committee appointed by the state government to the Reserve Bank of India as prima facie violation of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). Under FEMA, a foreigner can buy property here only if he/she has stayed more than 182 days. However, Girish Chodankar, youth Congress President, sympathising with the situation says, “Our fight was never with those who legally bought property here.”
PANAJI: “Foreigners do not come to change Goa, foreigners come to participate in Goa,” says Jan Bostok, a Britisher married to an Indian, who has been living here for the last two years. Bostok’s statement comes in the heels of the statement issued on Wednesday by Goa’s new home minister Ravi Naik, threatening the deportation of foreigners if their dealings are not legal.
Naik said, “Many of the foreign nationals stay back and conduct illegal business which disrupts the peace and security in the state.” “It’s sweeping statements like these that give the police the licence to be rude to us,” says a foreigner. He had applied for a visa extension of a close relative and was reportedly told, “You are British, go back.”
According to Chief Secretary JP Singh, around 150 cases of purchase of immoveable properties in Goa by foreigners have been referred by the committee appointed by the state government to the Reserve Bank of India as prima facie violation of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). Under FEMA, a foreigner can buy property here only if he/she has stayed more than 182 days. However, Girish Chodankar, youth Congress President, sympathising with the situation says, “Our fight was never with those who legally bought property here.”