KATHMANDU: Twenty-nine-year-old Bhawana Poddar had gotten her application for a job approved. She was very happy when her application form went through since she had just left her job as an non-governmental organisation (NGO) employee. Bhawana had explicitly mentioned her lack of citizenship in the form and had hoped that she would get the job despite that. Later, after she had a conversation with the manager there, they realised that she had no citizenship certificate.
After the interview, she didn’t get called back despite meeting all the qualifications.
Bhawana who was in cloud nine because they had accepted her application plummeted back down to earth.
She didn’t have a citizenship certificate even though she was born in Nepal and had even made various attempts at obtaining one previously.
“I had made several attempts to obtain citizenship with the laws implemented by the government but I always faced difficulty in each and every step,” Bhawana expressed her grievances.
The method to obtain a citizenship certificate was hard but the troubles she went through after not obtaining it even after facing such difficulties were even harder.
In the absence of a citizenship certificate, Bhawana faced and is still facing several challenges while opening her own bank account, pursuing further education in other countries and in terms of job opportunities. She might as well be bound without a certificate of citizenship.
“There are much more issues like taxes too.” Bhawana said, “But I think these three are the major ones.”
Even as these issues have been classified as major and minor, these issues must be acknowledged for what they are.
With Nepal’s current indecision regarding citizenship laws, cases like Bhawanas are only increasing throughout the nation. This indecision came from the recent Nepal Citizenship (First Amendment) Bill, 2079 BS. Though it was endorsed with a majority vote to be sent to the president’s office for authentication, President Bidya Devi Bhandari returned the bill to the lower house after 14 days.
A bill passed by both of the houses becomes a law after the president’s approval. In this case, the President sent it back along with 15 concerns and suggestions so that it may be reviewed. The bill did not become law but was instead sent back for correction.
Presidential approval of the first amendment would have made life for Nepali people with no citizenship much easier but there were controversies and loopholes that President Bhandari herself raised concerns over.
The bill stated that the applicant’s mother must make a self declaration that the father is not identified. President Bhandari said that this provision contradicted Article 39 of the constitution related to fundamental rights of children and Article 38 which guarantees safe motherhood and reproductive rights. Bhandari claimed that requiring self declaration from such mothers would both compromise their identity and their self respect.
It also clashed with Article 16 of the constitution which ensures the right to live with dignity.
Due to these contradictions, the bill kept getting delayed and with the delay hung the hope of people like Bhawana. The amendment bill was first brought up in 2020 in the House of Representatives, but it failed to be endorsed at the time due to differences among political parties over certain provisions; mainly the provision that allows foreign women quick naturalisation in comparison to foreign men.
It would be highly astute to prioritize providing citizenship certificates to people who are actually Nepali before bringing up naturalisation of foreign people.
Phanindra Mani Pokharel, spokesperson for the Ministry of Home Affairs, said, the government has estimated that there could be approximately 400,000 people who have been deprived of citizenship by descent despite their parents possessing citizenship by birth.
The bill has remained neutral on the provision which says foreign women married to Nepali men can get naturalised citizenship once they renounce citizenship of their previous homeland. The main opposition, Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist (CPN-UML), had demanded a cooling off period of seven years for the naturalisation of foreign women after the president returned the bill.
Foreign men married to Nepali women have to abide by provisions applied to any other foreigners for naturalisation, i.e, they must have contribution in science, philosophy, arts, literature, world peace, human welfare, industrialisation, economic or social sectors and have lived for 15 years continuously in Nepal, they must renounce the citizenship of their country of origin, and be able to speak Nepali or other languages spoken in Nepal to qualify for naturalisation.
This double standard incited questions and demands from the opposition.
Debates like these do nothing but exacerbate the issues lying within the nation. Even if the provision of citizenship for foreign spouses is admittedly a very important part of the bill, this delay will only further hamper the future of many other Bhawanas.
“Even if I could get my mother’s citizenship, I would get my citizenship in her name, but I do not know when she will be fine. I do not even know about her birthplace,” said Sabina, another person victim to the clunkiness of the government. “Mummy is illiterate. But, my father could not fulfil his responsibilities either. He did not tell his family about us or us about them.”
In a country like Nepal where guests are considered to be Gods, to be treated like an outsider despite being born on this very land is the highest offence a person can face. It’s what the current state of this nation is doing, and it’s what’s going to continue doing if the bill doesn’t get amended and passed into law soon.
Due to the nation’s unsteady decisions, many lives of Nepalis have come to a halt in terms of education, employment and identity in general.
“I just hope this bill gets passed soon.” Bhawana said, adding, “I was born here, I should have the right to demand citizenship. If the bill passed quicker, I would be open to a world full of opportunities.”
This tug of war between the President and the houses is fraught with patriarchal ideologies and ethnic issues. Until the government prioritizes granting citizenship to people who are Nepali more than it prioritizes restricting who aren’t, the stateless state of the country is going to forever remain a stretched out problem.
“I admit I’m not aware of everything about the current citizenship bill issue,” Bhawana confessed during the concluding part of the interview. “I have no personal suggestions towards the bill other than to hurry it up.”