Protests against the Citizenship Act have been going on in Nepal for some years now. With the government’s decision to grant citizenship to the children of adopted citizens on the basis of descent, various political parties have started protesting against the granting of citizenship. Allegations of selling citizenship to foreign nationals have been made from time to time. It is alleged that the citizenship was not sold by any Janajati, Madhesi or Pahadi but by those who started the tour.
According to Sedhai, the process of getting citizenship by making a fake father of a Nepali woman is going on in the Terai region of Nepal. He said that the Indian son-in-law had obtained citizenship by submitting proof of fatherhood to the Nepali father-in-law. In Nepal, in the constitution of 2063 BS and in the amended constitution of 2075 BS, there is a provision to get adopted citizenship. Amendments made in 2075 BS 6 amendments have been made. The first is the acquisition of citizenship by a foreign woman on the basis of marital status, the second is the granting of adopted citizenship to Nepali mothers and foreign fathers regardless of their nationality. No one has any proof to get citizenship, but if three Nepalis testify that they belong to Nepal, they will be able to get citizenship on the basis of their residence. Sedhai says that it is not scientific to distribute citizenship in this way. Even foreign nationals can easily get citizenship by distributing citizenship through teams. In the international practice of citizenship distribution, no country in the world distributes citizenship through teams. However, he said that the distribution of citizenship by Nepal through such a team was a direct distribution of citizenship to foreign nationals.
Recently, President Vidyadevi Bhandari has passed the Citizenship Bill from the House. According to the bill, even citizens living abroad on the basis of descent can get Nepali citizenship. According to some informed and political parties, foreign nationals have protested saying that there is a great possibility of gaining dominance in Nepal’s political and other spheres by acquiring citizenship.
Hemant Sedhai says that the process of selling citizenship is going on daily in Nepal. He has accused the government employees of being involved in selling Nepali citizenship due to the temptation of money. He also mentioned the names of people who have been doing the same thing. Among them, former VDC secretary Binda Shah used to apply for citizenship in a room of his house in Bhishma of Birgunj Municipality of Parsa District in February 2076 BS. During the search, the police found that birth certificate, marriage certificate and any other relationship was being verified. Also, a box of citizenship was found along with the citizenship card, hologram (sticker affixed to citizenship) and government seal. Among them, citizenship made in the name of 4 dozen foreign nationals was also found.
He was immediately arrested by the police and sent to jail and is still in jail. According to Sedhai, he used to sell it for Rs 40,000 per citizenship.
