The controversy around Nepal’s new citizenship law

Last Updated23/08/2022

Recently, the Nepal President sent back the Citizenship Amendment Act, to the lower house of the Nepal Parliament urging the members to reconsider the Act.
This has ignited a heated debate over the question of citizenship in Nepal.

Nepal transitioned into a democracy after the end of monarchy in 2006 followed by election of the Maoist government in 2008.
The emergence of the multiparty system was followed by the adoption of a constitution on September 20, 2015.
All Nepalese citizens born before this date got naturalized citizenship.
But their children remained without citizenship as that was to be guided by a federal law which has not yet been framed.

The President's refusal to sign the Act has drawn attention to certain sections in the constitution that thrust greater responsibility on women.
The provisions of the Act go against established parameters of gender justice.
There are also many contradictions among various sections of the law like:
Article 11(2b) : a person born to a father or a mother with Nepalese citizenship can get citizenship by descent.
Article 11(5) : a person who is born to a Nepalese mother (who has lived in the country) and an unidentified father will also get citizenship by descent.
- But this section is humiliating for a mother as she has to declare that her husband is unidentified for the child to be eligible for citizenship.
- In case of a Nepalese father, such declarations are not required.
- It also states that in case the unidentified father turns out to be a foreigner, the citizenship by descent would be converted to naturalized citizenship.
- It supports punitive action against the mother if the father is found later.
Article 11(7) : a child born to a Nepalese mother and a father holding a foreign citizenship can get "naturalized citizenship" in accordance with the laws of Nepal.
- It appears to contradict Article 11(2b).
- It places a condition of permanent residency on the mother (and the child) which will determine the grant of citizenship for the child.

Concerns in the orthodox sections
As Nepalese men from the Terai region continue to marry women from northern India, they fear that Nepalese identity would be undermined.
"Beti-Roti" issue
Because of this tradition of Nepalese men marrying Indian women, many women could not become Nepal’s citizens as they were subjected to the seven-year cooling off period before they could apply for citizenship.
As such women were stateless, children of such families were also often found to be without Nepalese citizenship.

Recently, the Nepal Citizenshipless Struggle Committee held a protest in Kathmandu demanding that the President should ratify the Act.
They argue that women of Indian origin and their children will be stuck in a stateless condition if the Act is not recognised by the President’s office.