Discussions on a proposal to withdraw the Nepal Citizenship Bill, 2075 BS (First Amendment) are in progress in the House of Representatives (HoR).Minister for Home Affairs Bal Krishna Khand had presented the proposal in a meeting of the Lower House of the Federal Parliament today. The opposition party lawmakers took part in the deliberations urging not to pull out the bill.
CPN (UML) lawmaker Krishna Bhakta Pokhrel, presenting a protest note against the proposal to withdraw the bill, said the government’s decision to take back the bill has overlooked the discussions and the efforts of the parliamentary committee, instead of passing the bill at the earliest. He said the bill originated in the HoR two years back was under the parliament’s consideration and it had to be passed at the soonest to comply with the constitutional provision which says that no Nepali citizen should be deprived of his/her right to citizenship.
Dr Bhim Bahadur Rawal of the UML argued that the decision to withdraw the bill is against the existing legal principles. He reminded that the constitution has made provisions on citizenship so that all Nepalis will get the Nepali citizenship easily while preventing the non-Nepalis from getting it.
UML lawmaker Sher Bahadur Tamang stated that it looks as if this parliament is not going to pass the bill since a bill that had been already discussed by the parliamentary committee has been retracted and process has been initiated to bring a new one its place.
CPN (Maoist Centre) lawmaker Aman Lal Modi demanded that although the bill has been withdrawn, new bill should be brought to replace it at the earliest. UML lawmaker Ghanshyam Khatiwada said that people who were eagerly waiting to get citizenship on the basis of birth have been dejected with the decision to withdraw the bill.
Prem Suwal of the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party called for putting in place stern security measures on the Nepal-India border transit and to resolve the citizenship problem. Krishna Prasad Dahal, Bidya Bhattarai, Bimala BK, Hridayesh Tripathi, Bina Shrestha, Dr Brinda Pandey among the lawmakers urged the House not to retract the bill and endorse it in its previous form at the earliest.
