By Our Reporter
The government is now in haste to endorse the citizenship amendment bill, which has been tabled in the parliament by replacing the old bill which had been pending in the parliament since 2019.
Moreover, the government has applied all its strength to endorse the controversial bill before the term of the present House of Representatives expires in the next four months.
The bill is introduced solely targeting foreign nationals who marry Nepali nationals and their offspring. Once the bill gets endorsed, anyone marrying a Nepali national can immediately get citizenship cards.
While presenting a proposal on the amendment bill in the House of Representatives on July 8, Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand said that the bill needs endorsement to end the statelessness of the youth born to Nepali men who had married foreigners.
However, the intention behind all the moves for the endorsement of the amended bill is to please the southern neighbour and woo the voters of the Terai as the general elections are just four months away.
If endorsed, the bill could be a tool to make the Nepali people in minority within a decade, especially in the southern plain where the practice of tying the nuptial knot with Indians is a common practice. If all the daughters-in-law and sons-in-law are provided citizenship instantly, the number of Indians holding Nepal’s citizenship and enjoying the facilities of Nepali citizens could multiply, depriving many of the genuine citizens of the facilities.
There is also a risk that the approved bill could turn Nepal into Fiji. Moreover, not only the ruling alliance, but even the main opposition UML is reportedly positive about the bill, only because the party also needs votes in the Terai. Home Minister Khand and Law Minister Govinda Bandi have been frequently meeting the UML leaders as well as those in the ruling alliance to convince them of the bill. And it would not be a surprise if the government succeeded to endorse the anti-national bill in the hope of getting a few more thousand votes in the upcoming elections.
Prachanda’s India visit dragged into controversy
The recent India visit of CPN (Maoist Centre) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda was dragged into controversy after he and Arzoo Rana, spouse of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, held a breakfast meeting at Nepal’s embassy in New Delhi.
It was rumoured that Dahal and Arzoo reached an agreement to become prime minister turn by turn after the upcoming general elections, and they tried to receive support from the Bharatiya Janata Party. Even a controversial statement claiming that the two issued to convince the Indian government that the government will not raise the issue of Kalapani was circulated in Nepal. However, Dahal and his secretariat strongly refuted the claim.
When Dahal reached Delhi for a three-day India visit at the invitation of the BJP, Arzoo reached Delhi a few days before Dahal for medical treatment. But many suspected that Arzoo had reached India to meet the BJP leaders together with Dahal and convince them that they would act as per their wish.
Dahal, who had flown to India with the hope of meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was unable to meet the latter. It was reported that Modi cancelled the meeting citing his busy schedule. However, media reports have it that Modi denied meeting Dahal after the latter raised the issue of amendment to the 1950 treatment during his talks with other BJP leaders.
Anyway, Dahal tried to win the trust of the Indian establishment four months before the general election so that he could receive support to become the PM for the third time after the November polls.
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