With regard to the entire set of articles proposed by Dr. Ambedkar, his amendments are needlessly cumbersome and as Dr. Deshmukh has pointed out, will lead to the introduction of “cheap” citizenship in India. I should suggest that it would introduce something more. Continuing the example cited by Dr. Deshmukh that a foreign lady, while passing through India on an aeroplane journey, gives birth to a child in Bombay, the child at once acquires the citizenship of India. Dr. Deshmukh thinks that this would be too flimsy a ground to give the child the status of an Indian citizen. I should submit it would lead to other serious consequences. The mother of the child in the example is a foreigner. It is conceivable, and it is easy to take it that the law of the country of her domicile will claim the child as her own citizen. In fact, citizenship follows parentage. The father’s domicile would also be the child’s domicile. So, the father’s or the mother’s domicile will compete with the child’s citizenship of India. On the one hand, India will claim the child to be a the citizen of India and the mother of the child will claim the child to be a citizen of her domicile. It is conceivable that the father has another nationality and he claims the child to belong to that nationality. All the three countries will compete with one another and claim the child to belong to his or her own nationality. Carrying the illustration a little further, there are the grand parents; the four grand parents father and mother of the mother and father and mother of the father. There are thus again four sets of claimants whose nationality will decide the citizenship of the grand-child. The four different countries may claim the child to belong to them. What is more, the, child is in a particularly favourable or unfavourable position of claiming or disclaiming the nationality of India or the nationality of the mother or the father and those of the four grand parents. It will mean a confused state of affairs. The manner in which these articles have come into being and have been presented to the House and the way in which amendments have been coming in from day to day, to say the least and to quote Dr. Deshmukh, is very unfortunate. I think a subject of this difficulty and complexity should not have been dealt with in this fashion and I should have thought it much better to have postponed the consideration of these articles and allow the Members to have an over-all picture of the entire subject together with the suggested amendments. I find that I am not the only member of this House who finds it difficult to follow even the reprint of the entire Draft because we have to consider the amendments and place them in their context and consider this effect. To do so accurately is not an easy job. As I have already submitted, there are many slow Members like me in this House who find it also equally difficult not only to follow the intricacies of this proposed new clause, but also the amendments to be proposed. It is this state of affairs which almost forces many Members to be inattentive and we appreciate the very just remarks which you made yesterday that many Members are interested in discussions having nothing to do with the amendment or the subject under consideration. The real reason is that the amendment and the new ideas come in too late to the Members for real consideration. The subject of these series of articles will inevitably lead to inattention because it is a little bit difficult to follow them without mistake. As these are difficult matters and as there are anomalies. I feel, that if we postpone the discussion of these articles for further consideration, more complications will follow. Therefore, the best course would be to adopt these articles and to provide for any correction or supplementation if there is necessity through the excuse of article 6. That would to a certain extent avoid any complications which may unconsciously be created by further amendments. That would afford an excuse to Members for going more deeply into the matter; we relegate our thoughts and our labours to the future Parliament which may cure defects if there are any in these drafts. It will be very difficult to follow them and it will lead to confusion of nationalities landing us in difficulties, not merely granting cheap citizenship. These are the few words that I have to submit before the House.
