High Spirits in Hong Kong
Aravind Vidyadharan in Hong Kong
With just two days to go before Hong Kong reverts to Chinese rule on July 1, Indians and other ethnic minorities are among the most upbeat groups in the territory. For, early this month, it became clear that an estimated 7,000-odd ethnic Indians and other minorities in Hong Kong would receive full British passports.
Previously, minorities like Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, Nepalese
and others were only eligible for a form of second-class British
citizenship called British National Overseas, which gave them only
the right of visa-free access to the UK, and not the right of abode. And
the BNO passports cannot be passed on by holders to their descendants.
At the same time these minorities are not eligible for Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region passports either. Under Chinese nationality laws
non-ethnic Chinese are not eligible for Chinese citizenship. In effect
the minorities faced the prospect of statelessness after July 1.
The Indian ethnic minority in particular, which largely consists of
traders and other businessmen, have made Hong Kong their home for
generations. And a sizeable number of these people of Indian origin are
from Sind, which is now a part of Pakistan. So they have not known any
home other than Hong Kong for generations.
So, these hardy, enterprising ethnic Indian businessmen spearheaded a
desperate campaign for full British nationality for themselves and
similarly affected minority groups. All along, their efforts had been
stonewalled by unsympathetic and parochial British Home Office mandarins
and ministers, despite finding a broad cross-section of support in
Westminster.
However, they found a worthy champion for their cause in Chris Patten,
the last British governor of Hong Kong. Patten successfully
lobbied the former Conservative Party led government of John Major to
grant full citizenship to all ethnic minorities who held BNO passports
as of February 4 this year.
Under this scheme about 3,000-odd ethnic minorities became eligible for
full British citizenship. However, this opened up another grey area as a
lot of other ethnic minorities were also holding BNO passports as well
as the passports of their own countries. In the instance of Indian
passport holders, it is illegal to hold another citizenship and passport
as India does not recognise dual nationality.
This created a particularly unique dilemma for the outgoing British
administration of Hong Kong. They felt that Indian passports
holders were not eligible for BNO passports and in turn full British
citizenship. So, they forwarded a list of all ethnic Indians who are BNO
passport holders to the Indian government, to ascertain if any of them
were Indian passport holders as well, and if so, to disqualify them from
holding either BNO or full British passports under the new scheme.
However, this move boomeranged on the British, as the Indian
consulate-general of Hong Kong said in a statement that Indian
citizenship is automatically terminated once a passport or authentic
travel document of another country is acquired by an Indian passport
holder.
Similarly, the Pakistani consul-general of Hong Kong too clarified that
all Pakistani citizens who hold BNO passports would have to surrender
their Pakistani citizenship.
So the UK has now been forced to grant full British passports to an
estimated 7,000 ethnic minorities.
Triumphantly hailing this victory is Ravi Gidumal of the Indian
Resources Group. The IRG had been specifically formed to champion
the cause of all ethnic minorities for full British nationality.
Gidumal said that with full British nationality these minorities could
now put aside their worries about the future and get ahead with their
own businesses, adding that he himself would be celebrating the return
of Hong Kong to China with confidence.
And in typical workaholic Hong Kong fashion Gidumal chafed about the
long holiday, from July 28 to July 2, straddling the handover period.
Reflecting the general mood in Hong Kong, Gidumal said the transition
from the UK to China would bring Hong Kong closer to the motherland in
every sense, and in turn bring continued prosperity.
This sentiment is echoed by Raj Sital, the president of the influential Indian
Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong. One of Hong Kong's oldest and
premier chambers of commerce, the ICCHK had also been in the forefront
of the campaign for full British nationality for the ethnic minorities.
He said the Indians of Hong Kong can now look to the future with
confidence, as they can now set aside worries about statehood, and
concentrate on what these successful Indian businessmen and
professionals are good at like the rest of Hong Kong: making money.
''We do not have any fear at all,'' say Hong Kong Indians
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