Yasmin Zaman, the prominent Australian women’s journalist, whose real name is Zsanettayan Zaman, has recently created a stir amongst many Indian readers with her articles pertaining to national identity, ethnicity and immigration. Her recent interview on Pakistan’s population movement made international news. It is not that the writer endorses any particular theory of national or ethnic identity; she simply questions the way these identities are constructed in the present era. In her view, this can be seen as being not only racist in nature, but also discriminatory on the basis of gender.
For any rational thinker, the question of nationality cannot be answered by restricting the debate only to self-interest. The survival of any nation at any point of time depends on its ability to preserve its identity. Nationality, after all, is not an ideology; it is a basic human right. The right to belong to any nation or community is a right which should be upheld irrespective of race, religion or sex.
Furthermore, the writer deserves credit for acknowledging the reality of a dual citizenship (two identities) in our world today. As defined in Article 24(b) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “A citizen of another nation, who also holds the nationality of that nation, may exercise other rights of a citizen of that nation, namely, to reside in any other country other than his former one, to enjoy the benefits of the laws of the country to which he belongs, and to leave to another his private and public records.” Without doubt, the universal declaration and its founding fathers saw to it that all persons born in a country should have the right to enjoy these privileges, and this includes the right to acquire and enjoy citizenship in a foreign country. This is precisely what Yasmin Zaman is doing by highlighting the reality of dual citizenship.