|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Tuesday, 5 November 2002 |
 |
|
 |
World | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Nepal to grant citizenship to four million of Indian origin KATHMANDU, Monday (AFP) Nepal will grant citizenship to some four million people of Indian origin who live in the kingdom, Deputy Prime Minister Badri Prasad Mandal said Yesterday. "We are going to start the process of granting citizenship certificates to the four million people settled in the Terai," he said, answering a reporter's question on the status of Nepalese of Indian origin. The Terai is the lowland region bordering the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The issue is controversial in Nepal, where nationalists have long criticized India's political and economic dominance in its smaller neighbor of 25 million. Nepalese hardliners have charged that more liberal citizenship rules could eventually turn the kingdom into another Fiji, where people of Indian descent make up 44 percent of the population and conflict has been rife with the indigenous community. Nepal's parliament last year passed a bill to grant citizenship to people of Indian origin settled in the Terai. But the late king Birendra refused to sign the measure. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
