He came, he saw, stayed on and got a ration card

He came, he saw, stayed on and got a ration card
Preetu Nair, TNN

PANAJI: German national Karl Heinz Tetzener who has managed to acquire various documents, including a ration card and a driving licence in Goa,
claims he has done nothing wrong.

“The police say that the documents I acquired in Goa are fake. I don’t know if I am right or wrong, but I definitely know that I am innocent,” Tetzener said.

“If the authorities weren’t supposed to issue me certificates, why did they? I have always been open about my nationality. I have led a straight life and I don’t cheat,” Tetzener defends himself.

Police sources said that after arresting Tetzener, they conducted an inquiry and recorded his statement and that the foreigner’s registration office (FRO) has written to the special secretary (home) to take cognizance of the matter. The FRO wrote that Tetzener, “has no Indian citizenship nor is there any record of him having applied for it”.

All that SP (PRO) Atmaram Deshpande said was: “We have forwarded the matter to home department for their consideration.”

Describing his journey to Goa, Tetzener from Itzehoe in North Germany, said that finishing his four-year service in the German army, he took a break to travel the world. With a backpack and some money, he travelled to Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and then India. “Before I entered the other countries, they insisted on valid documents, but at the Wagah border I was allowed to enter the country with others in a bus from Pakistan. No one stopped me and after travelling in various Indian states, I came down to Goa, where I met my wife, a Goan.” They were married in December 1978 and have two daughters, settled in Goa. The couple have a civil marriage registration certificate issued from Ponda.

“Goa is my home. In the last 30 years I have never visited Germany. I may have made some mistakes. But please have a heart, my home and family is here. I have no home in Germany. If I am deported, where will I go? My heart is here,” Tetzener pleads.

7 Mar 2009,The Times of India, Goa edition