INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Kathmandu, September 11
The State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the House of Representatives today failed to forge consensus on
issues of marital naturalisation as lawmakers of the ruling and opposition parties are sharply divided on the issue.
Nepal Communist Party
(NCP) lawmaker Jhapat Bahadur Rawal told the panel that foreign women married to Nepali men should be made to wait for 10 to 15 years to
obtain Nepali citizenship
&We should not grant foreign women married to Nepali men naturalised citizenship the moment their marriage is solemnised,& he said
Rawal told THT that he was in favour of at least seven-year waiting period for foreign women married to Nepali men to obtain Nepali
citizenship as was the provision in India.
&Laws of other countries in this region are not as liberal as ours
Even in Bangladesh, foreign women married to Bangladeshi men get naturalised citizenship only after two years,& he added.
Nepal Workers and
Peasants Party lawmaker Prem Suwal said there should be a waiting period of 15 years for foreign women married to Nepali men before they
could obtain naturalised Nepali citizenship
He said citizenship laws should be enacted keeping in mind Nepal open border with India.
NCP Brij Kumar Gupta, Samajwadi Party-Nepal Ram
Sahay Yadav and Nepali Congress lawmakers Devendra Raj Kandel, Meena Pandey and Dila Sangraula demanded that the existing provision that let
foreign women married to Nepali men obtain naturalised citizenship immediately after marriage should not change.
Kandel said if the
provision of allowing foreign women married to Nepali men to obtain naturalised citizenship immediately after their marriage was changed,
lawmakers representing Tarai districts, where such marriages were common, could take to the streets
He added that Nepal and India enjoyed cultural relations from time immemorial and hence change in the provision of marital naturalisation
could also harm Nepal ties with India
He handed over a written letter to panel Chair Shashi Shrestha, saying he opposed changes in provisions related to marital
naturalisation.
&In India, foreign women married to Indian men can immediately get their name registered in the voters list and get Aadhaar
They can contest elections and enjoy all other rights on par with citizens,& Kandel told the panel.
Samajwadi Party-Nepal lawmaker Ram Sahay
Yadav said he demanded to know the ill effects of the current provision relating to marital naturalisation, but the naysayers did not reply
&Some people are looking at the constitutional provisions of the entire world, but they should know that we make our laws keeping in mind
our own situation and peculiarities,& he added.
Chief Attorney of Province 2 Dipendra Jha backed Kandel
He told THT that those citing the example of Indian nationality law to justify the incorporation of a waiting period for marital
naturalisation in the citizenship bill lacked clear understanding of Indian citizenship law
&In India, foreign women married to Indian men get their names enrolled in voters list and get Aadhaar card immediately
On the basis of voters list, they can easily get passport,& he said.
He added that lawmakers who were trying to change the provisions
related to marital naturalisation were trying to make an argument that did not have constitutional sanction
&Had the framers of the constitution thought of such a restriction for marital naturalisation, they could have stated this in the
He added that those advocating restriction for marital naturalisation wanted to pursue the flawed concept of nationalism.
Home Secretary
Prem Kumar Rai told the panel that the Parliament could think positively about giving all rights other than political rights to those who
were born to Nepali mothers and foreign fathers but were later abandoned by their fathers.
The post Lawmakers continue to debate marital
naturalisation in Parliament appeared first on The Himalayan Times.
