Government to advance on citizenship through consensus: Home Minister Khand

KATHMANDU: Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand said the government would move ahead on the issue of citizenship through a national consensus.

Attending today (Monday)’s meeting of the National Assembly, he stressed the need for proceeding the bill related to citizenship by forging a consensus soon as ‘its delay has deprived over 600,000 Nepali citizens of citizenship card’.

“The new bill has added the provision granting Nepali citizenship to non-resident Nepali people with their right to culture and economy as per the constitution of the country. They have been denied political and administrative rights. A decision on the matter was also taken as per a political consensus,” he said, adding that all Nepali citizens are equal and they should get Nepali citizenship certificate.

So the bill has been tabled in the parliament, he reasoned.

Putting their view on the matter in the meeting, lawmakers underscored the need for a national consensus on the issue like citizenship while suggesting that the provision to grant a naturalized citizenship card based on marriage relationship without time limit should be amended.

Lawmaker Bimala Rai Paudel expressed her concern over the new bill referring to India, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka where a naturalized citizenship certificate is granted only after seven years of residence in the respective country.

Similarly, Narayan Kaji Shrestha and Gopal Bhattarai showed their concern over the new bill reasoning that the process of bringing the bill was not proper.

Jitendra Narayan Dev viewed that any laws related to citizenship could not be made unless there is an amendment to the constitution of the country.

Discrimination in the distribution of a citizenship card should not take place, suggested Bamdev Gautam.