<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110714118/636903bf9c7e80680e037cdfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="541"/>Seven years after the Supreme Court issued <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18966#.W3Ve4c4zbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a landmark verdict</a> in the Sabina Damai vs Government of Nepal case, allowing children to obtain citizenship in the name of the mother alone, the 2015 Constitution and a draft bill in Parliament have set the clock back.Activists say the 2015 Constitution which was drafted, debated and promulgated mainly by men, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/The-right%20-to-have-rights,2656" target="_blank" rel="noopener">denies equal citizenship rights to women</a>, and the draft bill further entrenches Nepal’s patriarchal culture. The three main objectionable provisions are:a) A foreign woman married to a Nepali man can get naturalised citizenship right away, and is given six months to furnish proof that she has renounced her original citizenship. But if a foreign man marries a Nepali woman, he will not get Nepali citizenship. He can apply for naturalised citizenship after residing in Nepal continuously for 15 years. But his marriage to a Nepali woman will not count, and he has to apply for naturalised citizenship just like any other foreigner.b) Children of a Nepali man married to a foreign woman are entitled to citizenship by descent. But the children of a Nepali woman married to a foreign man will get naturalised citizenship, and that too only after producing proof they aren’t already citizens of their father’s country. They can get citizenship by descent only if the father has naturalised Nepali citizenship.c) Children above 18 can easily get citizenship if their fathers are Nepali, but it is much more difficult if they only have their mother’s citizenship. If the father is unknown, is estranged, or refuses to accept them, their mother will have to ‘declare’ to authorities that she does not know who the father of the child is.“The constitution and the citizenship bill perpetuate the male notion that their semen is superior, and women are not equal to men,” says former Supreme Court Justice Balram KC.KC was one of two justices who ordered the Dolakha district administration in 2011 to grant citizenship to Sabina Damai through her mother’s name. Sabina’s father was not known, and Dolakha’s Chief District Officer had refused to grant her citizenship unless her f<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18967#.W3Vhbc4zbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ather’s identity</a> was established.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/all-political-parties-are-technically-illegal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">All parties are technically illegal</a>, Om Astha RaiThe Supreme Court not only directed the Dolakha administration to grant Sabina citizenship without asking about her father, it also ruled that women would henceforth be able to pass on citizenship to their children even without their husbands.“That verdict was not just for Sabina Damai, but for every person whose father is unknown and who wants citizenship through his or her mother’s name,” KC says.Barring a few exceptions, male-dominated district administration offices have defied the precedent set by Damai vs GoN and continue to deny citizenship to offspring of single mothers.In 2013, Shanti Nagarkoti filed a petition at Supreme Court after she was denied citizenship by the Kathmandu district administration unless she provided her father’s name. Two years later, the Supreme Court ordered the Kathmandu administration to grant her citizenship despite her father being unknown.Thanks to the judiciary, a handful of other mothers have been successful in getting citizenship for their children in their name only, but it is not yet the norm. Only the most determined mothers and those willing to fight a long legal case have managed to get Nepali citizenship for their children.When the Constituent Assembly passed the new Constitution in September 2015, fewer than 30% of the 601 member House were female, and none of them were in decisive positions. Their voices were easily suppressed by a cartel of male leaders from the hill upper caste community.As a result, the Constitution, which is progressive in many ways, embarrasses even its staunchest supporters. Former top United Nations official <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/featured-videos/kul-chandra-gautams-long-journey-home/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kul Gautam </a>has always defended the statute, but he too believes it discriminates against women. At <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-constitution-3-years-later/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a conference on Nepal’s constitution</a> in Kathmandu this week, he admitted that gender discrimination in citizenship is the only fundamental flaw in the charter.But Parliament is unlikely to amend the Constitution and the draft Citizenship Bill to grant equal rights to women. When women MPs demanded equal citizenship rights in the Parliament this week, Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa fell back on the nationalist argument that citizenship was a matter of national security.Nepal’s main parties have always held the view that granting equal citizenship to women will encourage more foreign men, especially Indians, to marry Nepali women. They have spread the fear that Nepal will become “another Fiji”, where Melanesians were outnumbered by descendants of migrants from India due to a liberal citizenship law.Krishna Bhakta Pokharel, a ruling party MP who was a member of the Constitution drafting committee, says: “Our constitution is shaped by the idea that women go to live in their husband's homes after marriage, and not vice versa. This is the reality, and we cannot ignore it while drafting the citizenship law.”NCP MP Binda Pande says the citizenship provisions in the Constitution not just violate international treaties to which Nepal is signatory, but also contradict the statute's guiding principles and election manifestos of all political parties.The Constitution stipulates that a person whose father ‘or’ (not ‘and’) mother is a Nepali citizen at birth is entitled to citizenship, but this provision is rendered ineffective by other clauses that bar citizenship for offspring of Nepali women married to foreign men.“All Nepali citizens should be able to pass on citizenship to their children irrespective of their gender,” she says. “It should be as simple as this. Why do we pretend to grant equal citizenship rights through one clause, only to take it back by enacting many other clauses?”Women have slammed discriminatory citizenship provisions by writing articles and speaking out in public. Some have added Dosro Darjaki (Second Class) before their names on their Twitter handles.Says Election Commissioner Ila Sharma: “This is my way of non-violently protesting against a patriarchal state that wants to treat us as unequal citizens.”

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Nepal’s suffragette moment

Samsung Nepal has opened pre-orders for the Galaxy A57 5G and A37 5G. Both phones run Samsung’s One UI 8.5, featuring AI capabilities like voice transcription, Circle to Search, and photo editing. They feature a 50MP triple-camera system, a Super AMOLED display, and six years of OS and security updates.

Galaxy A series

Know your Ministers

‘One early morning, we heard the ambassador’s wife cry out, “Ram, Ram, Ram!” A disaster has befallen Nepal!” She had heard on the radio that a fire had consumed Singha Durbar." This is not about the arson attack on 9 September 2025, but the one on 8 July, 1973. It started in the South Wing of the then single-largest building in all of Nepal. It took two days to bring the blaze under control, requiring the use of explosives to demolish one wing to protect the imposing western facade. As Bhekh Bahadur Thapa recalls in the English translation of his memoir A Life in Public Service: Nepal from Autocracy to Democracy, he was then on leave from the Nepal government serving with the IDRC in Ottawa.&nbsp; He had already served as Nepal’s Finance Secretary at age 25, went on to be Finance Minister and Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank. He was already younger than some of the GenZ ministers in Nepal’s present RSP government. Thapa, now 89, was at the launch of the book in February which was attended by former diplomats and bureaucrats. After speeches by panelists, there was a question from the audience about how Thapa had managed to be the diplomat he was, managing Nepal’s international relations on the world stage.&nbsp; Writer and journalist Akhilesh Upadhyay, who was moderating the panel, responded by going into the section of the book where we see Thapa as an ambassador to the US, playing tennis with White House officials, cultivating a network of contacts to project the identity and welfare of Nepal, and making it possible for a state visit by King Birendra to Ronald Reagan’s America. The book is full of anecdotes that suggest Thapa was a clever and strategic diplomat, always calm and unruffled, easily making friends in high places with his maturity and engaging sense of humour. Thapa’s memoir is heavy on details about Nepal’s administrative history during the years he was active in public service, serving as minister and ambassador under three kings: Mahendra, Birendra and Gyanendra, and alongside five prime ministers.&nbsp; Aside from an insider look on how certain treaties, development deals and research projects in Nepal came into fruition, Thapa goes into great detail about his personal and professional relationships with the kings, ministers, ambassadors, foreign leaders and politicians.&nbsp; As a reader, one is struck by the level of detail around the events that unfolded in Nepal over the years during Thapa’s tenure. Was Thapa recording a journal over the years of the events and the conversations that transpired, or were they committed to his phenomenal memory? Either way, the reader gets a glimpse of Nepal’s recent history from the early days of the Panchayat, through the People’s Movement and the democracy period, the Maoist insurgency, Royal Palace massacre of 2001, and Gyanendra’s coup of 2005.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026041204048_125dc8ae300a1e33124f394abe724d42727f83e067b0201d2008b58d60c459a4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2026041204048_125dc8ae300a1e33124f394abe724d42727f83e067b0201d2008b58d60c459a4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1584" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="How to win friends and influence nations NT"> </figure>  Not enough is said about the political parties of the time whose presence led to the way Nepal’s multiparty democracy came to be shaped. The book keeps its focus on the administration and the key figures around it, mostly those in the Panchayat era. Towards the second half of the book, we do start to hear about political parties, but not in great depth. Another figure whose presence in the book is conspicuously less prominent is that of his wife, Rita Thapa — the person who seems to have rescued him every time financial quandary or family care became a challenge. Yet, we do not see her as a full person. Perhaps because of the personal tragedies in his life, the children are also barely mentioned.&nbsp; The book is therefore less personal and more technical. Throughout, we learn about Thapa’s thinking as he navigated the world of diplomacy to win him the trust of those who mattered. There are tips here for a new generation of Nepali officials and diplomats about how much commitment and focus is needed to be good at one’s job and serve the national interest. This book adds to tomes that have been written on Nepal’s fragile relationship with India. ‘India has always wished for Nepal to remain dependent on it,’ writes Thapa, who served as Nepal’s ambassador to India and later in the Eminent Persons Group &nbsp;on Indo-Nepal relations that has been allowed to languish. The book has several insights into the Indo-Nepal trysts with diplomacy and agency.&nbsp; China’s role is also recorded, viewed through conversations during a visit to Beijing, but all that was before Nepal’s neighbour to the north emerged as a world economic and military power. The book also has such sudden instances of quirkiness and humour. For instance, we see a young Thapa in America explaining to a government official why he would like to return to Nepal instead of settling down in the US. “Because, Nepal is beautiful,” he said. The text is immaculate and does not read much like a translation, credit for which clearly goes to the team that put the edition together: translator Prawin Adhikari, &nbsp;Anagha Neelakanthan and Bhekh Thapa’s daughter, Manjushree. As Nepal enters a new era of governance and diplomacy, A Life in Public Service: Nepal from Autocracy to Democracy should be essential reading for students of political science, economics and foreign affairs who can gain a fresh perspective on the country’s trajectory.&nbsp; There are dozens of forgotten state secrets recorded in the book, but the reader must also remember this is a story told from one person’s perspective and there may be others.&nbsp; So, what really made Thapa the diplomat he was? I met him in 2004 at the Kantipur TV studio when he was serving as king Gyanendra’s foreign minister. He was there for a studio interview, and I was just done with my English newscast.&nbsp; He surprised me at the door: “Pratibha! I’ve been reading your articles in The Kathmandu Post. You must keep writing.” I thanked him, glad to have been noticed for my work by a stranger. That was perhaps one of the things that set Thapa apart — he excelled at staying close to those in power, while also noticing those who were not.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260412040412_213e706136a038ec9f5e2b8c6d7f7c1e9ceed9479e22fe2884872ad7bd20955f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260412040412_213e706136a038ec9f5e2b8c6d7f7c1e9ceed9479e22fe2884872ad7bd20955f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Book details"> </figure>

How to win friends and influence nations

Prime Minister Balendra Shah on Wednesday broke tradition and met with 17 foreign envoys collectively, a move that was a notable departure from how his predecessors operated.&nbsp;
Shah had already set himself apart by talking less, listening more, and delegating to trusted friends. But by meeting all ambassadors at one go in the presence of the Foreign Ministry, he signalled a paradigm shift in how he wants Nepal to be seen: no longer just balancing India and China, but as a country confident about its <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/guest-editorial/tripolar-contestation-over-nepal">strategic importance and place in the world</a>.
In just two weeks, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/rsp-dos-and-don-ts">RSP has sprung into action </a>on multiple fronts to implement its ambitious 100-point, 100-days action plan. It has taken short-term measures to mitigate the impact of the Gulf war, as well as medium- and long- term measures to streamline the bureaucracy. A few high-profile figures have been made examples of to drive the message home.
Earlier this week, the government recalled six politically appointed ambassadors, the most notable being long-serving Shankar Sharma from New Delhi. The Kathmandu District Court issued arrest warrants against former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his former foreign minister wife Arzu Rana on charges of money laundering and corruption.
Each ministry has been trying to clean up the accumulated rot from the past three decades: regulatory overhaul of microfinance, education, health and service delivery.&nbsp;
These actions widely disseminated campaign-style on YouTube and TikTok have made most Nepalis hopeful that the party they installed in power means business.
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BACKLASH
But such attempts to overhaul a long-entrenched political culture were bound to face backlash. In their impatience and enthusiasm to get things done, some of Prime Minister Shah’s ministers have over-reached.
It was common knowledge that government-paid advertising in the mainstream press was kickback-driven, but the PMO’s directive that official notices be published or broadcast only on state-run media has been denounced — especially as the media industry struggles to stay afloat.
More serious are some recent appointments by ministers of relatives and figures closely associated with the RSP to key positions. This has rankled because this party built its political plank on ending nepotism and graft.&nbsp;
News that Home Minister Sudan Gurung allegedly had not paid rent on leased land, which illegally encroached on the lake in Pokhara did not help. &nbsp;
Prime Minister Shah himself has come under scrutiny for appointing a kitchen cabinet full of male buddies from his time as Kathmandu mayor. To douse criticism he brought in as adviser investigative journalist Deepa Dahal, who has exposed corruption in high places of the previous coalitions.&nbsp;
Shah’s appointment of another political adviser Asim Shah to the head Constitution Amendment Task Force, is also seen as problematic. He is a filmmaker and former lawmaker, but does not have a background in constitutional law.&nbsp;
Even more controversial is the Cabinet’s decision to appoint RSP Chair Rabi Lamichhane’s legal counsel, Narayan Kandel, as Attorney General. Kandel used to be a UK permanent resident, and does not have as much experience practicing law in Nepal.&nbsp;
Kandel’s appointment drew flak and raised eyebrows, and with the pending legal cases against Lamichhane this appointment represents a flagrant conflict of interest.
Health Minister Nisha Mehta was also accused of favouritism after reappointing Junu Shrestha, wife of Labour Minister Dipak Kumar Shah, as member of the Health Insurance Board which had earlier suspended her. The Labour Minister’s rambling rant at the Board’s meeting on Tuesday has not helped the RSP’s image.&nbsp;
(UPDATE: On Thursday, Prime Minister Shah sacked the Labour Minister after the RSP found him in breach of the party's code of conduct and discipline. He served 14 days in the Cabinet, one of the shortest tenures for a minister in Nepal )
It is hard to know what <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/ball-in-balen-s-court">Balendra Shah is thinking</a>, and how Rabi Lamichhane is going to justify some of these moves. After all, making politics, governance, and bureaucracy a meritocracy has been the core tenet of the RSP, and it risks alienating its mainly youth base if these missteps persist.
But at least for now, most RSP supporters seem to be giving the party the benefit of doubt.

unequal

Nepal’s suffragette moment

Galaxy A series

Know your Ministers

How to win friends and influence nations

Nepal’s new government springs into action