Poudel 1

Anupama Poudel

Mr. Suman Mandal

Current Debates in International Relations and Nepal’s Foreign Policy

550.15

20 September 2022

Citizenship Dimensions of Nepal-India Relations

The term citizenship denotes the relationship between a state and an individual, where the

individual owes allegiance to the state and in turn is entitled to its protection. Citizenship is a

political concept associated with individual liberty since this concept has evolved parallel to the

idea of nation-state (Bellamy). The value of citizenship varies from state to state. It may include

the right to vote, right to hold governmental offices, right to receive old age allowance and so on.

One element important to distinguish citizen and potential citizens from aliens is physical

borders. These borders protect the citizen of a country from the illegal migrants or aliens who

harm, whether by imposing burdens on taxpayers, taking jobs from the citizens, challenging

social norms and practices of the state, or by causing physical harm to the citizens (Staeheli 394).

It was in towns and city-states of ancient Greece that the concept of citizenship first came

into being. In Greece, the notion of citizen was applicable to male property owners, whereas

female, slaves, and people with lower economic status were ruled out from its conceptualization.

Moreover, a Greece citizen was authorized to vote and was entitled to taxation and military

service. Whereby Rome first used citizenship to distinguish the inhabitants of the city of Rome

to that of the people from the states it colonized, which was later extended to the people residing
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in the entire Roman Empire ("Citizenship | Definition, History, & Facts"). Citizenships are given

on the premises that include birth within a certain territory, parental nationality, and marriage to

the citizen.

Mostly there are two factors to determine the citizenship: jus soil and jus sanguinis. In jus

soil, the citizenship is provided to anyone who is born within the territory of a state despite their

parentage. Whereas in jus sanguinis, a child born in any part of the world is given the citizenship

of the state that his/her parents are citizen of. In states like USA and British Commonwealth, jus

soil is adapted whereas in many parts of the world, including Nepal, jus sanguinis is the major

factor in determining citizenship of the country ("Citizenship | Definition, History, & Facts").

Nepal introduced the citizenship law in 1952, as the nation transitioned from feudal era to

the democratic one. The term “Subject” (Praja) used to determine the inhabitants of a kingdom

was then replaced by “Citizen”. Since its establishment, the citizenship act of Nepal has gone

through various dissent, debates, and amendments. Madhesi community, living in the southern

belt of Nepal, has shown the greatest dissatisfaction to the citizenship law of Nepal. The Madhesi

people, having their ancestral root closer to the south Indians have not been seen as true Nepali

by the hilly people. Also, the Hilly-origin inhabitants of the Terai region are blamed as

encroachers of their land by the Madhesis (Pandey 60). The open border of Nepal with India to

the south is the reason for such resentment among the people of Hilly and Terai regions of Nepal.

Nepal is geographically and demographically located between two giant nations: China to

the north, which is the country with the highest population in the world and India to the south,

east and west, the second highest populated country. The population of Nepal represents the

waves of migration from the southern and northern parts at different times in the history. Nepal,

as a country existed before the international boundaries had been fully established. The present
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border of Nepal has come to existence since the “Sugauli Treaty” signed between Nepal and

India in 1816. The border of Nepal with China became closed for free movement of people since

1950 but it has remained open with India till today (Kansakar 85). Even today, the people from

Nepal and India can freely cross borders and conduct trade and business within each other’s

territory. This open migration of people from one of the largest populous nation is a serious

concern on the part of Nepal.

During the first world war, many Nepalis migrated to be recruited into British army and

Indian army. But after the war, they settled in those countries because they were lured by the

comfortable lifestyle and higher living standards within these countries. Later in the second

world war, even more Nepali warriors were recruited as Indian army. The state of Panjab took

many Nepali people as armies, so that the term for people going to foreign country for

employment came to be called Lahure, for many people went to Lahore, the capital of Panjab.

In 1923, Nepal was declared a sovereign state. The then prime minister, Chandra

Shamsher Rana, cleared out many trees of the Terai region, preparing agricultural land in the

fertile surface of Terai. Also, the fell down Sal trees were used in railway construction in India.

However, the people from Hilly region did not migrate to Terai out of fear of malaria and

extreme heat of Terai. The clearance of forest for agricultural land, although was meant to

resettle the landless people of Hilly region, eventually benefitted the immigrants of India. Also

the developmental programs like railway construction from Amlekhjung to Raxaul, Janakpur to

Jayanagar, and Chandra canal attracted many Indian immigrants into Nepal (Kansakar 87).

In 1861, the British government returned some of the land of the far western region to

Nepal. In 1862, prime minister Jang Bahadur made the provision in first civil code of Nepal that

buying and selling the land of Nepal by foreigners residing in Nepal was lawful. This flooded the
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entrepreneurs and businessman of Indian nationality into Nepal. The provision in the Nepal-India

Treaty of 1950 in the Article VII encouraged large-scale immigration of the Indians into Nepal.

The article states, "The Government of India and Nepal agree to grant, on reciprocal basis, to the

nationals of one country in the territory of the other the same privilege in the nature of residence,

ownership of property, participation in trade and commerce, movement and other privileges of a

similar nature." In 1951 after the installation of democracy, a large number of people politically

exiled in India and apprehensive of the persecution by the Rana regime returned to Nepal

(Kansakar 93, 94).

Citizenship and immigration have been an issue of national concern for a long time in

Nepal. In 2000, a major amendment to the Citizenship act of 1964 was passed by the house of

parliament and was sent to the king, which was not brought into force. The amendment was

aimed at passing the provision of jus soil as a criterion for getting Nepalese citizenship. This

would profit the people who were born in Nepal (mostly Madhesis) to get the citizenship. Also,

the lower house of representative, in 2006, substituted the Citizenship Act of 1964 with the new

Act along with a more liberal jus soli proviso. Although this act was applauded by the Madhesi

community, the non-Madhesi people saw it as a provision that would bolster Indian interest

(Pandey 61). Additionally, in 2015, United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) protested against

the restrictions imposed for the political rights of the naturalized citizens and the procedures to

be set in the Citizenship Act to acquire naturalized citizenship by marriage. However, the hill-

people dominated and majority dominated concept of national identity has caused the people

from hilly region to see the citizenship agenda as a perpetrator of Indian interest. While the non-

Madhesi politicians and activists claim that the provision of jus soil based citizenship and

naturalization benefits Indian immigrants rather than Madhesis from Nepali origin.
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The question of citizenship has always been related to that of national integrity and

sovereignty of a nation. Indian being the major immigrants to Nepal, the fear of non-Madhesis

living in Terai that their interest and rights would be pushed to the margins in the long run could

be logical. On the other hand, Madhesis claim that their familial ties- because of cross-border

relationship and cultural exchange- where there is the relation of “roti beti” between Nepal and

India would have significant impact because of the citizenship law. There is no official

mechanism to record cross-border marriages, however, it has been frequently reported that large

number of Madheshi males get married with Indian women annually and are brought to Nepal.

Likewise, another large number of Indians immigrate to Nepal in search of employment beyond

official records (Sharma). Thus, the citizenship controversy mostly rested on the difficulty to

differentiate between Madhesi in their real sense and the Indian immigrants (Pandey 62).

Although the cross-border marriage often takes place in different parts of the country, the

hill-origin nationality often sees it as a threat to national integrity and sovereignty. Also, the

definition of national identity calls all the Madhesis as immigrants and the non-Madhesis as the

indigenous people regardless of their ancestral heritage. In Nepal, the notion of citizenship has

been derived as a civic form of nationalism and thus the hill-centric nationalism of the country

has alienated the Madhesi community from its essence. The crux of the citizenship problem in

the Terai lies not in the concept of citizenship per se but on the political rights of the naturalized

citizens having different cultural roots and national blood. Even in India, the controversial

amendment of the Citizenship Act of 1955 in 2019 to accommodate non-Muslim immigrants

only from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan resulted in systematic exclusion of Muslim

immigrants from those countries as well as Hindu Tamil immigrants from Sri Lanka

(Veeraraghav).
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The constitution of 1963 stated that the immigrants aspiring for naturalization after the

Act came into force must: have had knowledge of the Nepali language; have engaged in any

occupation; have domiciled in Nepal for a period of not less than 2 years in the case of a person

of Nepali-origin; have renounced the citizenship of her country in the case of a female married to

a Nepali citizen; and have domiciled for a period of not less than 15 years in the case of other

persons (article 8). The state, in this case, conspicuously favored ‘Nepali-origin’ immigrants and

remained suspicious of non Nepali speaking Indian immigrants, stipulating two unequal

conditions for naturalization. The reasons for this was the antagonism between Nepal and India

and the promotion of hill-based nationality in Nepal. Later, Article 8(5) of the Interim

Constitution and clause four of the Citizenship Act of 2006 both state that “a person born within

the territory of Nepal until April 13, 1990, and has been permanently domiciled in Nepal shall be

the citizen of Nepal by birth”. The Madheshis wholeheartedly welcomed this provision, asserting

that it at least addressed the statelessness of the Madheshis, whereas the non-Madheshis

remained reluctant to welcome it, claiming that there was an Indian interest behind this.

Moreover, Article 11(6) of the 2015 Constitution stipulates that “if a foreign woman

married to a Nepali citizen so wishes, she may acquire naturalized citizenship of Nepal as

provided for in a federal law” but it required a minimum of 7 years domicile in Nepal after the

marriage. This amendment is similar to the Citizenship Act of India 1955 (clause 5[c]), which

states ‘a person who is married to a citizen of India and is ordinarily resident in India for seven

years before making an application for registration’ can proceed the application for citizenship.

In 2015, India imposed a blockade in support of the Madhesh Andolan regarding the

citizenship amendment. During the embargo, media reports were filled with India–UDMF

connections with regard to the Nepali state and the newly declared Constitution. The Indian
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Ministry of External Affairs had been releasing several press notes and media briefings directly

or indirectly expressing concern over the contents of the 2015 Constitution and protests of the

UDMF. The Nepal Parliament passed a minor amendment on the two articles (42[1] and 286[5])

of the 2015 Constitution without touching the provisos stipulated for naturalized citizenship as a

token merely to appease India. Then the government of Pushpa Kamal Dahal, on 29 November

2016, proposed an amendment of the bill to replace article 11(6) but withdrew after the protest

from the opposition (PTI). Then in 2017, the same government after making some changes to the

bill with “if a foreign woman married to a Nepali citizen so wishes, she may acquire naturalized

citizenship of Nepal as provided for in a Federal law” right after she initiates the process of

quitting the citizenship of her country, proposed it to the parliament. The government tried to

gather two-thirds of the Parliament for the ratification of the bill twice but eventually failed.

Again, in August 2018, the amendment was registered in the parliament. Since the house

of representatives couldn’t find an agreement among the members despite discussing for a long

time, it was withdrawn from the parliament and registered a new one on July 9, 2022. It was

endorsed by the lower house on July 22, 2022. The Act allowed everyone born within Nepal’s

territory before April 12, 1990 to acquire citizenship by birth. However, their children haven’t

got citizenship by descent in the absence of a law as the constitution said the provision to grant

them citizenship would be guided by a federal law. Some 190,000 persons have acquired

citizenship by birth so far in Nepal (Ghimire). Also, the new amendment says foreign women

married to Nepali men can obtain naturalized citizenship once she starts the process to renounce

her citizenship of the country of her origin. However, the provision doesn’t apply to foreign men

married to Nepali women.

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The CPN-UML, and other fringe parties had long been demanding certain years of

cooling-off period for foreign women married to Nepali men to acquire naturalized citizenship.

However, the ruling coalition of the Nepali Congress, the CPN (Maoist Centre), the CPN

(Unified Socialist), the Janata Samajbadi Party and the Rastriya Janamorcha, along with the

Loktantrik Samajbadi Party, are in favour of the bill (Pradhan, and Poudel). Although the

national assembly passed the bill, it didn’t get the presidential seal from the president Bidhya

Devi Bhandari.

Moreover, the citizenship act has been turned into the election agenda to gain the favor of

public for the election to be held on November 20, 2022, as it is concerned with public sentiment

and even the citizens are divided on the issue. The coalition parties in the government are in

favor of the act while the opposition party, CPN UML, is against the act, even though it was the

one who brought the bill to the parliament back in 2018. It seems like this amendment has been

used as the political parties also in order to gain the favor from Indian government and be in its

good books. Furthermore, the party CPN UML seems to be using this issue to champion the

nationalist agenda that it continually uses to gain the public support. Whereas the pro-Indian

parties like Nepal Congress and CPN (Maoist Centre) may be acting to get the support of India,

since this amendment has been a major concern in the Indian politics as well.

Finally, after the rejection of the amendment by the president, the citizens are divided

even more; a group of people is demanding the resignation of the president for the violation of

the constitution, while other people applaud this step claiming it to be in favor of national

integrity and sovereignty. The direction that it will take is yet to be witnessed, however, there is

no question that the Citizenship Act of Nepal has been a major political issue for both Nepal and

India.
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Works Cited

Bellamy, Richard, “What is citizenship, and why does it matter?”, Citizenship: A Very Short

Introduction, Very Short Introductions, Oxford, Sept 2008.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "citizenship". Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 Sep. 2020,

https://www.britannica.com/topic/citizenship. Accessed 20 September 2022.

Ghimire, Binod. "Everything You Need To Know About New Amendment To The Citizenship

Act". Kathmandupost.Com, 2022,

https://kathmandupost.com/national/2022/07/25/everything-you-need-to-know-about-

new-amendment-to-the-citizenship-act.

Kansakar, Vidya Bir Singh. "International migration and citizenship in Nepal." Population

monograph of Nepal 2 (2003): 85-119.

Pandey, Krishna Prasad. "Ethnic Politics, Madheshi Uprisings and the Question of Citizenship in

Nepal." Millennial Asia 13.1 (2022): 60-82.

Pradhan, Tika R, and Purushottam Poudel. "President Rejects Citizenship Bill, Tramples On the

Constitution". Kathmandupost.Com, 2022,

https://kathmandupost.com/national/2022/09/21/president-rejects-citizenship-bill-

tramples-on-the-constitution.

PTI. “Nepal Tables New Constitution Amendment Bill to Address Madhesis’ Demands.” The

Hindu, 11 Apr. 2017, https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/nepal-tables-new-

constitution-amendment-bill-to-address-madhesis-demands/article17930473.ece.

Accessed 22 Sept. 2022.

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Sharma, Bhuwan. "अगं ीकृ त नागरिकता लिनेको सख्ं यामा वृद्धि". Nagariknews.Nagariknetwork.Com, 2022,

https://nagariknews.nagariknetwork.com/politics/114877-1484640480.html.

Staeheli, Lynn A. "Political geography: Where’s citizenship?." Progress in Human

Geography 35.3 (2011): 393-400.

Veeraraghav, T. "CAB & Sri Lankan Tamil: Creation Of The Politically Useful

‘Hindu’". Thequint, 2022, https://www.thequint.com/voices/opinion/cab-hindu-

citizenship-sri-lanka-tamils-aiadmk-tamil-nadu#read-more.