The portion of Indian
Polity is vast as far as the Civil Services Examination is concerned and the
theme of Citizenship is quite important. Citizenship is the status granted to a
person recognised under the custom or law as being a member of a state.
Multiple citizenship can be held by an individual depending upon the laws on
his/her home country. Few of the countries which allow dual citizenship are Canada,
France, Israel, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka. Some of the countries which do not
permit dual citizenship include India, Japan, Nicaragua, United Arab Emirates
and China.
An individual is
considered to be stateless if he/she does not have any citizenship. A
“stateless person” is someone who is not considered as a national by any state
under the operation of its law (Article 1 of the 1954 Convention relating to
the Status of Stateless Persons). The Rohinya people of Myanmar have had their
citizenship rights curtailed by the Government of Myanmar. The Bidoon community
in Kuwait and the Kurdish community in Iraq have been subjected to
statelessness on various grounds. Citizenship plays an important role for the
inhabitants of a particular nation-state as it entitles them to a number of
legal and economic rights in the absence of which people could be subjected to
human rights violations.
In the video titled
“Polity 2.2 : Citizenship (Part II, Articles 5-11 of Indian Constitution)”, Dr.
Roman Saini deals with Part II, Articles 5 – 11 of the Indian Constitution. Dr.
Roman gives a brief overview of Articles 5 – 11 and explains the essence of
every Article. He further explains PIO (Person of Indian Origin) Card Holder:
Eligibility (MoHA 2002 scheme), benefits of PIO Card Holder, OCI (Overseas Citizenship
of India: Eligibility) (2005), Overseas Citizenship of India: Eligibility:
Benefits (2005), Single Citizenship, Exceptions concerning Single citizenship,
Rights only for Indian citizens, Citizenship Act, 1955.
