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Controversial
The announcement of the government to bring the new citizenship act sparks a new round of controversy over the modalities and conditions
By A CORRESPONDENT
Although it is highly controversial and issue of national debate, the government of Seven Party Alliance with support from the Maoists, has decided to table a new bill on Citizenship Act. According to the bill, the cut-off year of citizenship certificate is now 1990 or before the date of promulgation of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1990.
For the past four decades, different political forces from terai had raised the question of citizenship. According to them, large numbers of southern people are discriminated while distributing the citizenship certificate. Nepal Sadbhavana Party contested all previous three elections on the basis of citizenship but it hardly own 3 percent of total votes.
The problems of citizenship certificate are there in terai as well as in hills. Of course, the number of people in terai may be higher but it has its own way to identify the people and distribution process. How can one guarantee that the amendment of act and changing the cut off year will solve the problem forever?
The bill also includes a clause, which will open distribution of citizenship on the basis of mother’s certificate. Likewise, a person, who wants to have Nepalese certificate, now needs the recommendation of any three Nepalese to prove his eligibility for the citizenship certificate.
“It is unfortunate that all those communists and their sympathizers who have never tired of projecting themselves as nationalists are now defending the bill, which will in future make Nepal’s situation like that of Fiji,” said advocate Bal Krishna Neupane, who has already fought about half a dozen of cases regarding the citizenship at the apex court. “If two percent of population from north and south enter into Nepal , Nepalese will become minority citizens in their own country. However, migration of even 20 percent of Nepal ’s population will not make any difference to Nepal ’s neighbors.”
Nepal had its citizenship act and constitutional provisions which never hindered genuine persons born in Nepal to acquire citizenship. The act and constitution only hindered those who were born in foreign country.
Terai leaders who are pressing for the new act still believe that the proposed bill will not totally resolve the problems of citizenship. “We Madhesiyas are always discriminated by the people from hill. As long as the Articles 8 and 9 of the Constitution of Kingdom of Nepal 1990 are abrogated, the problems of citizenship will prolong forever,” said Rajendra Mahato, a member of Nepal Sadbhavana Party (NSP-Anandidevi). “This is incomplete bill. We want our genuine right to claim as citizens of Nepal .”
Nobody understands the rationale behind the sudden and mysterious consensus among the political parties to scrap the existing citizenship act and bring a new one against the spirit of present constitution.
As Nepal and India have open border and citizens of two nation move freely to each others’ country, the provision will be possibly misused since it is very difficult to distinguish who is from which country. Many believe that the proposed bill will open floodgates to those who want to acquire Nepalese citizenship certificate. Along with the people from south, Tibetan, Bhutanese and Kashmiris who have living in Nepal for the past 14 years will also be eligible for the citizenship.
If the proposed bill on citizenship is passed by the parliament, which looks definite, Nepal ’s population will surge suddenly as the proponents of the bill claim that there are more than 5 million people in terai without citizenship.
Knowingly or unknowingly, the problem of citizenship certificate has now become the agenda of consensus among the seven party alliance, RPP, Rastriya Jansakti Party and Maoists as all leaders representing terai in these parties pressed the government for this.
Surrounded by world’s two most populous nations, one of the major challenges of Nepal , a small country, is to retain its national identity. Realizing Nepal ’s geographical location, makers of the Constitution of Kingdom of Nepal 1990 had put some specific provisions and conditions for distribution of Nepalese citizenship certificate.
“All those who are busy to discredit Nepal ’s traditional institutions like army and monarchy seem to have tacit backing to this anti-national bill. The leaders of all left parties including the Maoists who claim as nationalists have been badly exposed,” said Neupane.
Whether the people living in terai, hills or mountains, all of them are Nepali and no one should be discriminated under the rule of law. “If this bill is passed as it is, Nepalese will be minority in their own country and the country may face the fate like that of Sikkim ,” said Neupane. “This is time to close the open border not to distribute the citizenship under a new act.”
Terai people, however, oppose this view as Nepalese hegemony. “We are the sons of the soil. If terai people are denied the rights of citizenship, they could take any decision including the demand for separate state,” said Mahato.
No rationale people will support any move to discriminate the people of terai but one needs to be cautious not to allow foreigners to enter into Nepal in the name of genuine people of terai. It is the people of terai who have to face consequences of any demographic change.
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