Blog India tourist

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This document was handed to me by a disgruntled Englishman who, so I was told, has now left India for a more secure and friendly place to live.
I have copied it verbatim and have left nothing out. I shall send copies to all the concerned Agencies, High Commissions, F.R.O’s, Newspapers etc to see if we can get a credible answer as to why ‘Foreigners and British tourists in particular, are not welcome in India.’

Does India deserve to have tourists?
India, the exotic destination which many dream of seeing. The very word conjures up a vision of colourful garments and spices, palaces, the Taj Mahal, tea plantations, coconut trees, elephants in ceremonial dress leading dramatic parades through the streets, the amazing railway system, the busy noisy roads where anything goes while avoiding the cows - the fabulous beaches.
Whilst this might be a somewhat simplistic, historical view of India, given it’s rapid progress into the 21st century it is still possible to see such places like Rajistan and many tourists want to do just that, very often followed by a trip to the exotic beaches in the south where many of them fall in love with Goa and return again and again.
Some of these tourists dream of buying their own little place for retirement. Some actually achieve their dream. Forgoing the simple alternative of retirement in the sunny climes of south and east Europe they opt for India and the never ending battles with bureaucracy and bribes.

The British have a particular affinity with India due to the close relationship since the 18th century, it feels like home. We drive on the left, signs are in English and the people have always been so polite and friendly and welcoming. India has just celebrated 60 years of independence in 2007.

So why now has India become so racist?
Foreigners in India are being abused by the legal system even when, together with the services of an advocate, they have followed to a tee their understanding of it. With increasing bad feeling foreigners are being ordered to leave India.
It is not yet apparent in many of the states of India but in the more frequented state of Goa the situation is becoming very dangerous.

Government policy must have changed towards Europeans entering India, especially for any who might consider staying for any length of time. Orders have been given from somewhere; the tin pots are carrying them out but are unable to answer the questions of the bewildered foreigners. The bureaucrats of Goa are simply obeying orders and the overall feeling among foreigners is that they are not welcome

Why has the India Government ordered the destruction of homes belonging to foreigners? Is it happening all over India or only Goa?

With bulldozers and hammers, paid thugs are being sent to demolish homes purchased by foreigners. Most of these people are retired, unassuming and just want the quite life in the sun. Without notice, personal belongings are being scattered out side these properties and left to looters. They are afraid to speak out. They fear for there own lives.

This is Modern India?
Why would the Indian government discourage certain Europeans from being in India when they bring so much revenue? Over the years, retired people invite relatives and friends to stay for holidays. Their guests spend a great deal of money. This income has now gone, along with that of all the potential tourist income that will not come when they hear about this barbarism. This is not an isolated incident. Homes purchased through the correct legal channels are being destroyed.

This is modern India?
There have been some articles in the local Goan press about foreigners purchasing farm land on the understanding they could build a house. This is a different matter. It is illegal to build on farm land and if I know that, then so should the advocates who do conveyancing for this type of property and so should the previous owners! This is obviously a scam and the perpetrators should be punished using the correct procedures.
Foreigners in Goa who have perfectly legal properties, either under the 182 day residency rule or through business documentation are being asked to apply for residency renewal three months before visa renewal. Then, the officials procrastinate and delay the paper work beyond the final date of valid visa until each individual is ordered to leave as an illegal. This is a terrible stigma for perfectly honest people.
Back in UK the High Commission appears to know little more than the bewildered returning British as, I am told, the rules are being changed on a daily basis.

Total confusion but why?
New visas for India are being granted again so people are returning to Goa, but the new visas all contain a stamp stating ‘Stay during each visit shall not exceed 180 days’ Obviously a total purge is taking place until there is no foreigner in India with the right to be there for more than 180 days. This is no doubt an attempt to disengage the 182 day residency rule from the law book, thereby removing the right to purchase a property. The law still allows for the extra two days to be collected within the same financial year but at the cost of another return air fare! Of course this does not affect those born in Europe who can claim to have a pint or two of Indian blood!
So, every 180 days foreigners fly away—to somewhere—anywhere—and then return to India. This is an expensive business. India imposes some of the highest airfares in the world.
Anyone with a business in India has to spend the equivalent of an average Indian annual salary every six months just to leave the country and return - money that would be better spent on employing a local person. There is not much choice in refuge destinations either as most of the neighboring countries is at war - including Sri-Lanka a favorite place for visa renewal.

India is on a mission to remove all foreigners, except the ones with a drop of Indian blood.

Why? Income from air fares/
This is modern India?


1 Rumour has it that certain government officials want to acquire land which is beach side. The value of land by the sea in Goa has rocketed and, as rumour has it, these bods will stop at nothing to get it.
2 Rumour also has it that properties built in recent years which are within 500 meters of the shore line are illegal and have to be removed. This cannot be the case as with the multi-national company, Pepsi have their newly built corporate villa in south Goa and it is well within the 500 meters. Not only that but they are at present (November 2006) reclaiming some of the beach to enlarge their garden. Surely Pepsi would not be allowed to do this if it were illegal?
3 Rumour also has it that the Hindu National Party want India to be totally Hindu, therefore they are starting by clearing out the foreigners from Goa because they are afraid the foreigners might support the local Goan Christian community when they start giving them problems.
4 Rumour also has it that EU law is making it difficult for Indian people to live and work in Europe so that a tit for tat ruling has come into force to place the same restrictions on Europeans wanting to be in India.

Perhaps the time has come to clear out the west and make way for the east, as India and China form an alliance to become the next super power. To lose the European link would be a tragedy, especially for the UK.

Perhaps India is afraid there are too many foreigners? They should see the UK - a country which even builds community housing with toilets not facing Mecca, so our Muslim communities enjoy maximum comfort!!
New foreign policy in India is stirring up a very dangerous racial situation.
Foreigners in India are now comparing the policies of their own countries with those of India.
Many Indian people travel to Europe regularly to earn money for families back in India. Some arrive in UK with special visas as if emissaries of religious establishments, when actually they come to find work in banana packing factories and chicken processing units to earn a quick pocket of rupees.
Very large populations of Indians have settled in Europe. They own properties, they have bank accounts, they work (or they don’t work and live off benefits) they have their own businesses; they even get elected to government and to parliament.

The Goan people in particular have special dispensation. Many are entitled to Portuguese passports, which in turn allows them access to all of Europe, to visit or stay as they please!
The unwanted foreigners of Goa are wondering why their homes can be destroyed when Indian families live in Europe without any problems. People are getting angry and there could be reprisals. To make matters worse, the Indian government offers many incentives to Europeans who can prove to have a hint of Indian blood in their ancestry, in the hope of enticing them and their money back to India. Many of these people have never even been to India and what’s more they don’t want to either! In UK this is discrimination of one British national over another and I should like to see this tested in court.

The Indian government also offers special treatment to our European cousins The Poles and the Slovaks. They don’t need visas at all. This is discrimination on the part of EU member states and I should like to see it tested in court also.
At the foreigners Registration Office in Panjim, Goa, it is possible to see, on a daily basis, grown men crying from intense frustration as the clerks display more than their fair share of Indian bureaucratic rudeness. It seems nobody is able to shed light on what it is that has made India hate so much.

What do the foreigners want with the FRO?
1 They want to know why they are summoned to the FRO on a regular basis over a period of several months only to be told they will be recalled again later. This takes on average one day a week of time and inconvenience.
2 They want to know why the FRO delays paperwork until visas run out (sometimes taking several months) then order deportation - causing serious problems when trying to board a plane.
3 They want to know why they are being told to leave India now, when previously and perfectly legally they were welcomed.
4 They want to know why documentation is being with-held from children studying at school. This prevents parents from taking their children anywhere outside Goa, even in a family emergency.
5 They want to know why their homes are being demolished and with no regard for any personal belongings inside.
6 They want to know why they are being harassed over perfectly legal property purchases where the conveyancing was done using the 182 day residency rule.
7 They want to know why foreigners are no longer allowed to be in India for more than 180 days, even when a visa is valid for a year or more.
8 They want to know why residency is granted, and then taken away while a shipping crate containing personal belongings is half way between UK and India. (A legal allowance.)
9 They want to know why, having left India and returned with a new visa they are not being allowed to register a presence in India, when the visa they hold states that they must. Then after the two weeks registration period has passed they are summoned to a police station to complete a Form C, followed by further harassment on a weekly basis.
10 They want to know who can help them because they are afraid if they speak out they will be murdered
There are no answers and there is no rule book to consult.
A short Public Notice appeared in the Goa press on 3rd August 2006.
The notice was to ‘hereby caution and warn all foreign national (except NRIs & PIOs) to abide by all RBI instructions and circulars with respect to acquisition of immovable property.’ This does not account for what is happening to foreigners in India.

Another strange matter is the issue of x-visas.
An x-visa, granted for up to five years, appears to be some arrangement between charities and charity workers and as far as I know is also offered to ‘persons of Indian origin’.(the ones with the few pints of Indian blood).

From what I have seen of the of the non-PIO x-visa recipients, these visas must have been given out randomly to unsuspecting visa applicants just to fulfill the expected quotas. Some people have no idea why they have one! This was obviously wrong and a fault of the visa employees who did not understand what x-visas were for, or they gave them out to friends, or they gave them out for cash.
Now the non-PIO x-visa holders are being given two weeks to get out of India, even if they have a valid visa with many months to run.

If this is all politics, then Indian and European people should show solidarity, especially between India and UK.
Can anyone give a good reason for all this?
India is not quite the place it was. A lot of people are hurt and afraid and we don’t understand.
As an addendum.
North Goa has a completely different flavour from that of the south.

In the south we find Indian people on honeymoon, family picnics on Sundays, package holidays at very grand hotels, independent travelers who want peace and quiet, empty beaches and ayurvedic treatments. Also found are Indian and foreign oldies taking what they hope to be a happy retirement.
The north grew up out of the hippie culture of the 1960s, a time when young adventurous Europeans discovered a freedom on Goa's northern paradise beaches that reflected perfectly their colourful lifestyles, flower power and sexual freedom, all under the mantra greeting "hey! Peace man". North Goa still has some of these original pioneers, still colourful, still in awe of beautiful Goa but now mostly retired grandparents. Around these people formed small business, bars, restaurants and discos. Then came the package holiday companies, flying in tourists who were already familiar with the raves and good time all night parties of Ibiza and Ayia Napa.
Businesses sprouted everywhere as more holiday makers wanted to let off steam in Goa.
Many of the businesses are run by foreigners. They know what foreigners want out of this type of holiday and they provide it.
Interestingly, Goans complain about 'outsiders' coming in to do business, bringing with them their criminal activities - and they are not talking about foreigners. They are talking about people from other states in India.
Having seen North Goa recently, it is not the sort of place I should like to stay but it fulfills a purpose and it is great for the day/night out from south Goa. The beach chairs are in three lanes rows all along the beaches and it is teeming with happy holiday makers.
For anyone wanting a 'party' holiday with copious amounts of cheap alcohol, north Goa is the place to be. India could be a million miles away from North Goa. Surprisingly, but true, many foreign tourists in north Goa do not even know they are in India.

Due to the influence of Portuguese, Dutch and British occupation, Goa feels European.
Even the Goan people talk about India as though it were somewhere else.
Other beach states have tried to encourage tourism but they don't deliver that same relaxed feeling and comfort the foreigner requires in a beach holiday.
India has a long way to go before it can attract foreign tourists they way Goa can.

It's fun, but it is getting out of hand - and this might be the reason why Goa is being so aggressive towards its life blood - the foreigner. It is understandable but not sensible.
I would suggest that it should contain what has evolved in the north, indeed add to it with fairgrounds. Put a demarcation line round it and do not allow similar growth in the south.
This 'party tourism' area would deserve a name akin to Blackpool in the UK and Las Vegas in America.

Goa is only a small state. It can't take much more!
At the same time Goa needs to encourage tourism to pull in the revenue.

I asked if he had come to clean the windows and he said no he had come to demolish the house.
The plans have been available in the local planning office for the last nine months ...you found the notices didn't you? "Yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying beware of the leopard".
Douglas Adams
Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy

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