MP Karki raises issue of ‘stateless’ Nepali speaking people in India

Kathmandu, September 23

Ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) lawmaker Surendra Karki raised the issue of National Register of Citizens of India in the International Relations Committee of the Parliament today, saying the final list of NRC published on July 30, had made many Nepali speaking people there stateless.

NRC is a document prepared in 1951, following the population census of 1951, that contains the names of the Indian citizens residing in the state of Assam in the northeast part of India.

On January 1, the Indian government had released an updated list that contained 1.9 crore people out of a total 3.29 crore applicants. A final list with 28,983,677 names were released on July 30, 2018. The Indian government says the main purpose of the upgradation was to weed out illegal Bangladeshi and neighbouring immigrants.

“The updated list makes thousands of Nepali speaking people in India stateless. We should raise this issue with the Indian government through diplomatic channels on humanitarian grounds,” said Karki.

NCP (NCP) lawmaker Bhim Rawal said the panel should play a vital role in forming common views on national interest. He said the panel could play a significant role in upgrading national pride in the international arena.

Lawmaker Deepak Prakash Bhatta said more than 10,000 Nepali youths had joined foreign security forces without the consent of the government. He said the issue, along with other interconnected issues, should be discussed in the committee.

NC lawmaker Dibyamani Rajbhandari said the panel should discuss issues related to economic diplomacy, and tourism and culture promotion.

Newly elected chairperson of the panel Pabitra Niraula said she would take suggestions from all members of the panel while carrying out her duties.