”Now I too belong to this country,” Lal Kumari Shrestha said, shedding tears as she held back the urge to become a citizen.
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Lal Kumari Shrestha, 84, a resident of Chautara Sangachokgadhi Municipality-10, who spent most of her life outside the state's records, has finally obtained Nepali citizenship.
According to Sindhupalchowk Chief District Officer Ramkrishna Adhikari, Lal Kumari was granted citizenship on Tuesday based on lineage. 'The process was completed based on the ward's recommendation, police report and the involvement of all parties in the society,' he said.
After the cooperation of the local level to the district administration and social involvement, her trembling hands and tearful eyes spoke the deep meaning of that moment when the citizenship was issued from Chautara. 'Now I too belong to this country,' she said, holding back tears as she received citizenship.
Lal Kumari was born in 1998 in Bahrabise Municipality-Palati. Born amidst the harsh control of the Rana regime, she was unable to reach the legal door of citizenship despite going through many stages of life.
The pain of identitylessness was deepening as she aged. After receiving citizenship on Tuesday, the old woman thanked everyone who coordinated and facilitated her, including the Chief District Officer.
Even though Nepal's constitution guarantees the right to citizenship, Lal Kumari's incident has exposed the reality that orphans, the poor, the uneducated, women and marginalized communities are still deprived of government documents. The incident has sent a message that the lives of many are becoming stateless due to the complexity of administrative processes, lack of information and lack of social access.
