Kathmandu. Nepali Congress General Secretary Bishwa Prakash Sharma has said citizenship should be ensured on the basis of identity of one of the parents as citizenship is a birthright. Sharma said this while speaking at a meeting of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee on Tuesday.
Stating that the bill to amend the Nepal Citizenship Act, 2063 has respected the identity of the mother ignored by the previous law, he stressed the need of bringing a bill so that it could connect emotional relations with nepalis living abroad in accordance with the spirit of the constitution.
He said it was necessary to empower the citizenship given to non-resident Nepalis.
“There was a problem in the past that our citizenship bill did not recognize the mother easily known by the society. Our law easily recognized the father who had to be identified by his mother. It has presented the essence of not depriving anyone of their right to citizenship while getting guardianship. This Act should give a message that this Act has ensured the birthright of the people. What can be the arrangement to emotionally engage Nepali citizens outside Nepal for nepal’s progress? Nepali citizens from outside the country should also be able to join after discussing this in depth. ’
CpN (Unified Socialist) senior vice-chair Rajendra Pandey said the citizenship granted to non-resident Nepalis was ineffective in practice and should be empowered.
Stating that even the government machinery does not recognize non-resident citizenship, he demanded the Home Minister to issue circulars in all 77 districts. He also demanded recognition of non-resident citizenship for registering companies and buying real estate in Nepal.
“The citizenship bill can solve the problems that have arisen till date. The Nepali citizenship granted to non-resident Nepalis is not working to register companies and buy land in Nepal. What will be wrong if we send a circular to the CDO offices of all the 77 districts and say that non-resident citizens will be allowed to do socio-economic things on the basis of citizenship given to them? I think we need to solve such things. ’
Nepali Congress lawmaker Dilendra Prasad Badu said that although it was positive to give citizenship in the name of the mother in the absence of the identity of the father, one should be careful not to misuse it. He stressed the need for making arrangements to clearly mention the self-declaration made by the mother in the record book to prevent the misuse of citizenship.
“This bill has been brought to give citizenship in the name of the mother in case the father’s identity is not known. This objective is perfectly fine. But it should not be misused in any way. We all need to keep in mind that no one can afford it. We cannot write a self-declaration in citizenship to be careful so that it is not misused. It should be clearly kept in the record book. This needs to be written in the bill. ’
Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal lawmaker Prakash Adhikari said the problem of citizenship has taken a serious form and the state machinery needs to be vigilant in this regard.
He also stressed the need to bring a bill to address the problems of Gurkha soldiers and non-resident Nepalis. He also said that special provision should be made in the bill to solve the problems of non-resident Nepalis and Gorkha soldiers.
“It seems that the bill has come in general to address the issue of citizenship in the name of the mother, which has been amended, how to address this problem as much as possible,” he said. But now the problem of citizenship has come in a dangerous way. And in the context of Nepal, the problem of citizenship is also sensitive. Now there is a problem of British Gurkhas and Non-Resident Nepalis. We should all work towards resolving the problems of Gurkha soldiers and non-resident citizens and addressing their demands. ’
Nepali Congress lawmaker Hridayram Thani said the bill has been brought in a liberal manner and urged the government to pay attention to the problems that may arise in the future. He said that while giving citizenship in the name of father and mother, one should be careful not to raise disputes related to share or upbringing.
“The Ministry of Home Affairs has been very liberal this time on the Citizenship Bill. You have brought the bill as if there were no questions anywhere. Our country is small compared to our neighbours. In the north and south, there are countries with huge populations. Therefore, we have to consider many things while formulating the Citizenship Act. Do you want to look for a little fatherhood when you give nagkita in the name of father and mother? Tomorrow, it’s about the part, it’s about nurturing. Tomorrow, there should not be a situation to amend another act for this. I am of the opinion that the Home Minister should pay attention to this. ’
Most of the lawmakers who spoke at the meeting stressed that Gorkha soldiers should not be given citizenship of descendants. However, they stressed the need to make the citizenship obtained by the NRNs rights-friendly.
प्रतिक्रिया दिनुहोस्