Citizen and Nation

Concept of Nation State:

• One of the earliest assertions regarding the sovereignty of the nation’s state and democratic rights of citizens was made by the revolutionaries in France in 1789
• Nation states claim that their boundaries define not just a territory but also a singular culture and shared history 
• The national identity may be expressed through symbols like a flag, national anthem, national language etc

National Identity:

• The national identity of a democratic state is meant  to provide citizens with a political identity that can be shared by all the members of the state 
• Most countries tend to define their identity in such  a way which makes it easier for few  citizens to identify with the state than others
• It may also make it easier for the state to increase citizenship to some people and not others
• Assimilation into the national culture is easier for some groups. For example- France is a country which claims to be both secular and inclusive. People retain their personal beliefs and practices in their private lives. It is not  simple to define what is public and private respectively 

Criteria for Granting Citizenship:

• In countries like  Israel, or Germany, factors like religion, or ethnic origin, could also be given priority when granting citizenship 

Background – India Scenario: 

• National Movement: The movement for independence was a broad based one and deliberate attempts were made to bind together people of different religions, regions and cultures
• Provide full and equal citizenship to groups: Such as the SC and ST, many women who had not previously enjoyed equal rights, some remote communities in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands who had had little contact with modern civilization etc

Citizenship in India:

• The provisions about citizenship within the Constitution could be found in Part Two and in subsequent laws passed by Parliament 
• Essentially democratic and inclusive notion of citizenship
•  Citizenship is often acquired by birth, descent, registration, naturalisation, or inclusion of territory
• The rights and obligations of citizens are listed in the Constitution
• There is also a provision that the state shall not discriminate against citizens on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, or any of them 
• The rights of religion , caste  and linguistic minorities are also protected
• Struggles and controversies: The dalit movement or struggles of people displaced by development projects, represent only a few of the struggles where people feel that they are being denied full rights of citizenship 
• The Supreme Court gave an important decision regarding the rights of slum-dwellers in Olga Tellis Case against Bombay Municipal Corporation in 1985. It said, “Article 21 of the Constitution which guaranteed the right to life included the right to livelihood”

Universal Citizenship:

• Assumption: Full membership of a state should be available to all those who ordinarily live and work in the country as well as to those who apply for citizenship
• Wanted & Unwanted visitors out: Each state fixes criteria for the grant of citizenship. These details would generally be written into the Constitution and laws of the respective countries
• Problem of stateless people or refugees:
  • Borders of states are still  being redefined by either war or political disputes. Individuals  may lose their respective homes, political identities, and security, and be forced to migrate to different states
  • If no state is willing to simply accept them and that they cannot return home. They are certainly  forced to live in camps, or treated as illegal migrants 
  • The U.N. has appointed a High Commissioner(diplomat) for Refugees to assist them
• Difficulty in Refugee Policy:
  • It poses a difficult humanitarian and political problem for many states
  • Many countries may not want to accept an unmanageable number of people or expose the country to security risks
  • India is esteemed for providing refuge to persecuted peoples. As it did with the Dalai Lama and his followers in 1959. Only comparatively a few of them are eventually granted citizenship
  • Such problems pose a challenge to the promise of democratic citizenship which is that the rights and identity of citizens would be available to all people in the contemporary world

Global Citizenship:

• Interconnected world:
  • Tele-Communication: New means of communication such as the internet, and television, and cell phones, have brought a major change in understanding the world
  • Developed sympathies and shared concerns: As new modes of communication have put us into immediate contact with developments in different parts of the globe
• Supporters of global citizenship:
  • Work towards global citizenship: Although a world community and global society does not yet exist, people already feel linked to each other across national boundaries
  • Failure of states in some sphere: The concept of national citizenship assumes that our state can provide us with the protection and rights but states today are faced with many problems which they cannot tackle by themselves

• It might make it easier to affect the problems which extend across national boundaries and which therefore need cooperative action by the people and governments of many states

• Supporting states:
  • Equal citizenship within a country could be threatened by the socio-economic inequalities in the society or other problems which might exist within the society
  • Such problems solved by the governments and other people of that specific  society

Citizenship, Equality and Rights:

• A widely accepted formulation of this relationship was provided by the British sociologist, T. H. Marshall (1893-1981) in his book Citizenship and Social Class (1950)
• The key concept in Marshall’s idea of citizenship is that of ‘equality’. This implies two things: 
• Quality of the given rights and duties improves
• Quantity of individuals upon whom they’re  bestowed grows
• Marshall sees citizenship as involving three sorts of rights: civil, political and social 
• Civil rights protect the individual’s life, liberty and property
• Political rights enable the individual to participate within the process of governance
• Social rights simply  give the individual access to education and employment

In conclusion:- 

We frequently assume that full citizenship in a state should be available to all those who normally live and work in the country, as well as those who apply for citizenship. However, while many states may support the concept of universal and inclusive citizenship, each of them establishes criteria for granting citizenship. These would typically be enshrined in the country’s Constitution and laws.

States use their authority to keep undesirable visitors out.

Nonetheless, despite restrictions, including the construction of walls or fences, significant migration of peoples occurs around the world. People may be displaced as a result of wars, persecution, famine, or other factors. If no state will accept them and they are unable to return home, they either become stateless or refugees. They may be forced to live in camps or as undocumented migrants. Frequently, they are unable to legally work, educate their children, or acquire property. The magnitude of the problem has prompted the United Nations to appoint a High Commissioner for Refugees to assist them.