–P.R. Pradhan

Chief Editor, The People’s Review weekly, Nepal

What will be the long-term impact of the present citizenship bill ratified by the House of Representatives, all the political parties in the country are aware.

Moreover, the intellectuals, academicians and even the commoners are well aware of the impact of the present citizenship law amendment process.

Unfortunately, even knowing the negative impact of their actions, the five parties in the ruling alliance ratified the citizenship law amendment bill from the lower House on 22 July through a fast-track move.

The parties in the alliance government didn’t wish to bring into discussion the proposed bill in parliament.

Besides, the five-party alliance government rejected the previous bill well discussed in the parliament committee for four years, another bill was presented by Home Minister Balkrishna Khand. All the parties associated with the government and the main opposition party UML made an informal agreement to pass the controversial bill through a fast-track process.

Addressing Delhi’s concern:

For decades, Delhi was lobbying for granting Nepali citizenship to the Indian citizens staying in Nepal. The secret strategy of Delhi is to encourage its people to migrate to Nepal.

In different periods, Indians came to stay permanently in Nepal under Delhi’s design. Year by year, the migrated population of India has increased, according to the population census. For this purpose, India has wished to keep open its international borders with Nepal.

The Nepali kings were facing Indian pressure for granting Nepali citizenship to the migrated Indians.

When the Nepali monarchs denied responding to Delhi especially on the citizenship issue, Delhi decided to declare Nepal a republic. After the country declared a republic, those political leaders sponsored by India, have started the race of pleasing the power centers in Delhi for making personal gains and also for power in Nepal. They, in the process of serving the Indian interests, have finally endorsed an anti-national move.

All are Delhi’s men:

Either they are the Congress or the Communists, or those in other political parties, except for some exceptions, all of them are Delhi’s men. Even when such a controversial bill was going to be ratified by Parliament, they all gave a green signal for its endorsement. We have no scarcity of those foreign puppets and traitors whose mission is to serve the foreigners’ interests. Now, they have paved the way for obtaining Nepali citizenship by foreigners instantly.

One should not wait for a certain period for obtaining Nepali citizenship. Just marry a Nepali citizen and get the Nepali citizenship certificate immediately. The new bill ratified by the Lower House on Friday, 22 July, has introduced the new provision for obtaining naturalized citizenship by foreigners. Accordingly, those kids who were born in Nepal to those parents holding Nepali naturalized citizenship can get citizenship by descent.

Also, those kids born in Nepal but unknown about the kid’s father can also get Nepali citizenship under the mother’s citizenship certificate.

Nowhere in the South Asian nations, have such easy provisions for obtaining citizenship been introduced. In India, only after seven years of marriage with an Indian national, one can start the process of obtaining the Indian citizenship certificate.

Understandably, to serve the Indian mission of Fijjisation to Nepal, i.e. increasing the Indian migrated population in Nepal by declining the original Nepali population, the House of Representatives dominated by the five ruling political parties has endorsed such an anti-national provision for collapsing Nepali identity in the long-run.

To note, there is the practice of cross-border marriage in the Tarai districts.

The Indian strategic plan is to fill its citizens in Nepal and empower them with all the rights enjoyed by Nepali citizens.

India has been using the Nepali political parties for this mission since 1990- the year a people’s movement solely sponsored by India was launched.
After the introduction of the multiparty democracy in Nepal, both the Houses of Parliament tried to amend the existing citizenship law with the plan of providing Nepali citizenship to the Indians. The Bill covered under the finance bill was sent to the Palace for the King’s final approval, however, the then King Birendra had sent the Bill to the Supreme Court seeking legal advice on whether the said bill was a finance bill or not. According to the 1990 constitution, the King was bound to compulsory approve the finance bill. The Court later informed the Palace that it was not a finance bill and the bill was kept on pending. In reaction, within one and a half months, the Royal Palace bloodbath was witnessed.

The present bill, after ratification from the National Assembly and final approval from the President, will replace the existing citizenship law.

Now, it has become clear that one of Delhi’s missions for political change in 2006 has been accomplished, in the meantime, the real face of the leaders of the revolutionary Maoist Center and also the face of leaders of the parties in the government has surfaced. The reason why Nepal was declared a republic has also become clear.

Annoying China also?

Former Province Chief of the No 2 and now Madhesh Province, Dr Rajesh Ahiraj has raised the issue of the present citizenship amendment bill. Once the Bill becomes the citizenship law, many kids of the Tibetan refugees will also be eligible to get Nepali citizenship by descent.

This may create a serious objection for Beijing, Ahiraj has stated.

Ahiraj, also an academician from Tarai, has remarked that the present citizenship provision is only for rewarding the Indian migrated citizens with all the rights enjoyed by the Nepali citizens. This is an act of exploiting those sons and daughters of the soil (genuine Nepali people from Tarai) by those migrated Indians.

Meanwhile, other Tarai people have raised the issue of those Dalit people who are staying in Nepal for their ancestors’ time but have no citizenship certificate. They lack the necessary evidence to obtain Nepali citizenship. The present provision has not explained providing citizenship for them except for instantly providing citizenship to those foreigners married to Nepali citizens.

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# Text courtesy: The People’s Review weekly, Kathmandu.

# Our contact email address is: editor.telegraphnepal@gmail.com