KATHMANDU, JUNE 19

The National Human Rights Commission has urged the government not to deprive Nepali citizens of their citizenship rights.

The Commission stated that citizenship was linked to every aspect, including nationality, education, profession and employment, property rights, and social justice, among others. Issuing a statement today, the Commission reminded that no Nepali citizen should be deprived of the right to citizenship.

Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 states that every person has the right to nationality. Article 10 of the Constitution of Nepal states that no Nepali citizen shall be deprived of the right to citizenship.

The Commission has drawn the attention of the government to respect, protect and ensure the right to obtain citizenship, which is connected with all aspects of the right to live with dignity, and to take the issue of identity of the individual sensitively.

Spokesperson of the Commission Tikaram Pokharel said, 'Despite the aforementioned legal provisions, the protest has continued. Agitations and self-immolation attempts to obtain citizenship is a very sad situation for a democratic state like Nepal.'

The Citizenship Victims Struggle Committee has been protesting since June 5 at Maitighar in Kathmandu demanding that the children of Nepali people who have Nepali citizenship by birth have not received citizenship.

The Commission monitored the protest physically today. During the monitoring, it was found that citizens between the age of 16 and 35 were staging the protest.

Citizens of this age group were not able to pursue higher education, go for foreign employment, work and do business in Nepal due to lack of citizenship.

President Ramchandra Paudel had approved the Citizenship Bill on May 31. However, while hearing the petition filed against the president's action, the Supreme Court had intervened in the implementation of the bill through a shortterm interim order.

The Citizenship Victims' Struggle Committee has been protesting with the demand that they be granted citizenship.

Earlier, during the protest, 25-year-old Niraj Kamat from Morang attempted self-immolation by pouring petrol on himself on June 13.

'We have received information about the health condition of Niraj Kamat, a 25-yearold youth, who attempted self-immolation by pouring petrol on his body on June 13 while agitating to raise the issue of citizenship,' the Commission stated.

A version of this article appears in the print on June 20, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.