Ease citizenship thru mother provision: MPs

Kathmandu, November 25

Lawmakers, who took part in the clause-wise discussion on the citizenship bill in the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the House of Representatives today, said there should be easy provision for mothers to transmit Nepali nationality to their children.

Lawmakers Krishna Bhakta Pokharel, Ganesh Pahadi, Indu Kumari Sharma and Tulsi Thapa are among the lawmakers who   have registered their amendments to the bill seeking flexible provisions in the bill to enable people to obtain citizenship on the basis of their mother’s Nepali nationality.

Pokharel said women who wanted to transmit Nepali nationality to their children abandoned by fathers should be able to do that.

“We have stated in our constitution for the first time that it is every citizen’s right to obtain Nepali citizenship and therefore, mothers should be able to transmit Nepali nationality to their  children,” he added.

He also cited a precedent set by the Supreme Court in a case filed by Sabina Damai against the government wherein the court said that Sabina should be given citizenship even if her mother did not reveal the name of her father.

“But our administrators think that verdict is only for Sabina, not for others who have similar cases,” Pokharel said adding that  the  government should direct all its agencies to give citizenship cards on the basis of  mothers’ Nepali nationality. He also said that there should be stringent punishment for those who obtained citizenship fraudulently.

Most of the lawmakers were absent during the clause-wise discussion on the bill. The SAGGC called 16 lawmakers, who had registered amendment to the bill, but only six lawmakers — Asha Kumari BK, Rajendra Prasad Shrestha, Krishna Bhakta Pokharel, Ganesh Pahadi, Indu Kumari Sharma and TulasaThapa — were present in the meeting