01-08-2005, 10:10 AM
India should desist from granting dual citizenship: Ghorpade
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->[India News]: Pune, Jan 7 : India should desist from granting dual citizenship to overseas Indians as this concept was "flawed and dangerous" in an era of terrorism, counsel for Indian Government in Great Britain, Bhaskar Ghorpade said here today.
"People with dubious credentials would also benefit from the decision and no purpose would be served by granting dual citizenship to overseas Indians. Many among them neither have seen India nor do they have any modicum of Indianness in them having lived abroad for years," he told reporters.
Ghorpade's comments came after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced that dual citizenship would be extended to all overseas Indians who had migrated after January 26, 1950 at the three-day Pravasi Bharatiya Divas which commenced in Mumbai today.
The Barrister further said that Singh himself had opposed the concept of dual citizenship in 1994 while on a tour of that country and was of the opinion that granting of Orange Card to the overseas Indians was enough.
"It was foolhardy to believe that the overseas Indians would invest in India," Ghorpade said adding, that all they wanted were free visas and political power.
"India is what it is today not because of the overseas Indians but due to the hardwork of the one billion Indians," Ghorpade, who has been staying in London for over two decades, said.
He said the correct way to describe overseas Indians was Indian Citizens Abroad (ICA). PTI<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->[India News]: Pune, Jan 7 : India should desist from granting dual citizenship to overseas Indians as this concept was "flawed and dangerous" in an era of terrorism, counsel for Indian Government in Great Britain, Bhaskar Ghorpade said here today.
"People with dubious credentials would also benefit from the decision and no purpose would be served by granting dual citizenship to overseas Indians. Many among them neither have seen India nor do they have any modicum of Indianness in them having lived abroad for years," he told reporters.
Ghorpade's comments came after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced that dual citizenship would be extended to all overseas Indians who had migrated after January 26, 1950 at the three-day Pravasi Bharatiya Divas which commenced in Mumbai today.
The Barrister further said that Singh himself had opposed the concept of dual citizenship in 1994 while on a tour of that country and was of the opinion that granting of Orange Card to the overseas Indians was enough.
"It was foolhardy to believe that the overseas Indians would invest in India," Ghorpade said adding, that all they wanted were free visas and political power.
"India is what it is today not because of the overseas Indians but due to the hardwork of the one billion Indians," Ghorpade, who has been staying in London for over two decades, said.
He said the correct way to describe overseas Indians was Indian Citizens Abroad (ICA). PTI<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->