“I don´t understand this law. If my father was Nepali they would easily have provided me citizenship but why am I been denied it when my mother is Nepali?” [break]
His question is certainly straightforward and justified and he never expected such categorical rejection from officials concerned.
Umesh Kumar Dhakal, Assistant Chief District Officer of Kathmandu, says that the government simply has no intention of providing citizenship through the mother´s name. “It was only government propaganda that Nepali mothers could secure citizenship for their children through their (mother´s) own names, for in reality there is no clear provision,” he said.
Dhakal has been with the citizenship department of the District Administration Office since three months and he has not issued a single citizenship to anyone on the basis of the mother´s identity. The office provides over 10 citizenships in a day through father´s name.
“I joined the office only three months ago, but at least one woman a day come here to make out citizenship papers for her child on the strength of her own citizenship. How can I help these women when no such citizenship has been issued since the last one and half years. Why would I court risk by helping out in such cases now?” Dhakal argued. “Although I feels sad saying sorry to the pleadings of such mothers, I have no choice.”
According to Dhakal, the existing provision is that in the case of a Nepali father (who does not want to provide his name to his child), the officers concerned can issue citizenship if they are ´able to ascertain´ that the father is indeed a Nepali national. “But when the mother has the least knowledge about the person (father), how could we find any confirmation about him? So we straightaway deny help to such women,” he said, adding that the loopholes only allow corrupt officials to take bribes for ´making sure´ about the father´s nationality.
Similarly, when asked how many children of Nepali mothers and non-Nepali fathers have so far gotten citizenship, he was simply not aware about such a provision.
The Citizenship Act of 2006 clearly states that "any person born at the time when his father or mother was a citizen of Nepal, shall be a citizen of Nepal by descent."
The government had introduced this Act after repealing the Act of 1964 in order to end gender discrimination. However, the conditions and sub-clauses attached to the new Act clearly show that the government is still not ready to treat male and female citizens equally.
On top of that, lack of awareness and willingness to cooperate on the part of officials concerned at local and higher levels are simply making matters worse.
Secretaries Ganesh Khatri of Naikap Naya Bhanjhyang VDC and Lekhnath Paudel of Tinthana VDC said all they knew about the provision concerning citizenship through the mother´s identity was that it was very vague and ´risky for them if they issued the citizenship´.
“If they had directed us to provide citizenship to children when either the mother or the father is Nepali, there would be no problem at all,” said Khatri. “But it is not like that, it´s very vague, we simply do not deal with such cases,” he added.
Similarly, Paudel, recalling women who made the rounds of his office seeking citizenship for their daughters, said it was not fair at all that "the government did not want to provide citizenship to them". “Even if we send such mothers to the CDO office, they would not be able to make out the citizenships. No one to my knowledge has so far received such citizenship except for a case covered by the media.”
Commenting on the problem, advocate and founder of Forum for Women, Law and Development (FWLD) Meera Dhungana said it is sheer disregard of the Supreme Court order that mothers are still struggling for the fundamental right to ensure citizenship to their children through their (mothers´) own identity.
“The problem arose because officials in responsible positions are not aware of the Citizenship provisions, they did not care about the gravity of the Supreme Court order and why it ought to be followed,” she said.
According to her, officials have failed to look upon it as a national issue. “They think it is a problem of the individual and not of the nation. Some CDOs with sensitivity and daring have issued such citizenships in some places though this is very rare,” she informed.
Dhungana further informed that on June 26, 2009 the Supreme Court had issued an order to CDOs to implement provisions in the amended Act of 2006 requiring them to issue citizenship through maternal lineage. However, the home ministry has not circulated the court order to District Administration Offices across the country.
Related story
Refusing to grant citizenship in name of mother is unconstituti...
