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One of the major concerns expressed by the people during the two-day public consultations on the draft constitution was in relation to the citizenship

provisions.

According to Article 12 (1) of the proposed draft, a person can receive citizenship certificate only after they can prove that both their mother and father holdNepali citizenship. It does not provide citizenship status on the basis of theNepali citizenship of only one parent. The new provisions are retrogressive in nature, since both the Citizenship Act (2006) and the Interim Constitution (2007)allow the child of a Nepali mother or father to get citizenship by descent.

The draft is discriminatory even while granting naturalised citizenship. Any foreign male married to a Nepali woman can become eligible for citizenship only after staying in Nepal for 15 years. But in case of a foreign woman married to a Nepali male, she can secure it right after she starts the process of relinquishingher current citizenship. Further, both men and women will be affected by the and(as in mother and father) citizenship provision. For example, consider a woman from a developed country who marries a Nepali man and chooses not to take Nepalicitizenship. But even if her children are interested in becoming Nepali citizensthey will be denied citizenship under the current provision.

Irrational fear

Supporters of such discriminatory provisions have a misconception that Nepal will be flooded by Indians possesing fake Nepali citizenship. But they should understand that a discriminatory citizenship provision is not a solution to the problem of fake citizenship. The implementation of existing laws is the key, which isdirectly associated with the integrity of the bureaucrats and the local bodiesinvolved in the verification and recommendation process of the citizenship card.Loopholes and backdoor channels have always existed. And by using these backdoor channels, many Tibetans have received Nepali citizenship and flown to Europe and America. Likewise, not only Indians but many Bangladeshis have also acquiredNepali citizenship.

So the argument that bhanja-bhanjis(nephews and nieces) and jwains(son in-laws) wll misuse the equal rights of citizenship rings hollow. If a person wants to mis

use Nepali citizenship, one need not be related to Nepalis at all.

More importantly, we should not forget that India is the fourth largest and currently the fastest growing large economy in the world. Indias average growth ratefor the past 10 years has been about 7.5 percent against Nepals four percent. Interms of social safety net such as food security and unemployment benefits, Indians have it a lot easier than Nepalis.

The economic status of Indian states, particularly Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (UP),which border Nepal, has also impressively changed in recent years. Earlier, these states did not appear too appealing to the Nepali populace due to the paucityof economic opportunities and criminalisation of politics in the past. But theeconomic growth rates of Bihar and UP for the fiscal year 2014-15 stand at 10 an

d nine percent respectively. Given this backdrop, it is unlikely that people from Bihar and UP would head north to get Nepali citizenship.

Multiple realities

Moreover, one should not forget that beside Indians, Nepali citizens also get married with numerous other nationalities. There is an increasing trend among Nepalis, especially youths, to go abroad for studies and employment. And, they possess the inalienable right of choosing their life partners from any part of the world. Even so, a significant number of people do not want to give up their citize

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nship just because they are married to foreigners. How can Nepal neglect this phenomena?

The misuse of citizenship is not only confined to Nepal. One can easily find many Nepalis holding fake Indian citizenship in as well. Actually, this number could be substantial, as there are hundreds of thousands of Nepalis working there, and Indian citizenship provides them better access to social safety nets.

An analysis by Pew Research Center shows that there are only 27 countries in theworld (including Nepal) that preclude women from granting citizenship to theirchildren and spouse. Majority of these countries are undemocratic North Africanand Gulf nations. What kind of message does Nepal wants to deliver by standing by their side?

Political failure

A study conducted by the Forum for Women, Law and Development states that 28.5 percent people in the hills and 34 percent in the mountains do not have citizenship certificates. This figure is comparatively smaller in Tarai/Madhes, ie, 17.5percent. This also shows that the citizenship problem is not specific to the Madhes.

The Supreme Court of Nepal has also recognised the rights of single mothers manyyears ago. But our lawmakers have totally disregarded this fact with regards to

citizenship. Whether it is the democratic Nepali Congress or progressive CPN-UML or revolutionary UCPN (Maoist), all the parties are prejudiced towards granting equal rights to citizenship for women. The Madeshi parties have also ignored the gender aspect of citizenship, despite the citizenship issue being a key agenda for all of them.

Although, women lawmakers constitute nearly one-third of the seats in the constituent assembly, they have failed to incorporate womens concerns including right to citizenship in the draft constitution. Most of the time, these women leaders act as a rubber-stamp for their respective parties. They should come up with concrete plans to put pressure on the leadership to rethink the discriminatory provisions of the constitution.

---Maina Dhital