Citizenship and Identity

2.3. Excursion: Citizenship Law in India

Any Indian acquiring voluntarily the citizenship of another country loses the Indian citizenship according to Article 9 of the Constitution of India. Thus, even though a country like Britain would accept dual nationality, for Indians this is no option as India forces its citizens to choose between one or the other citizenship. Thus while theoretically all children of Indian fathers, and since a change in law in 1992 also those of Indian mothers, acquire according to Article 4 of the Citizenship Act 1955 the parent's nationality by descent, few will actually claim it when born in Britain, as opting for the citizenship of the country of residence will be of more practical advantage. It seems, however, that for minors there would actually be the possibility of a dual nationality. Pandey (1988, 107) was informed by the Indian Embassy in Germany that this was accepted until the reaching of majority, at which time Indian citizenship would be lost if there was no explicit decision for keeping it and renouncing the other.

Note: Today, in 2004, the Indian government has introduced a special status for Person of Indian Origin which grants similar rights as Indian citizenship and can be obtained for 15 years. Furthermore, it allows dual citizenship for citizens of a chosen few countries. Germany does not belong to these countries.

Content

• Chapter 1 is the introduction.
• Chapter 2 develops the British context, briefly describing the post-war migration history of South Asians to the Isles, the British citizenship law (as well as in a brief excursion the Indian rules) and then analysing the relevant literature on second generation South Asians in Britain.
• Chapter 3 sets the scene for Germany, providing also a brief post-war migration history of South Asians, an overview of the citizenship law and rules on naturalisation, a description of the legal impact of being a foreigner in Germany and finally a brief look into the general literature on second generation migrants in Germany.
• Chapter 4 is dedicated to the detailed analysis of second generation South Asians in Germany. It bases on the extensive fieldwork conducted in the preparation of this dissertation. After describing how the material was acquired through interviews, the material will be presented and analysed by distinguishing in a first step between second generation members with two and those with only one South Asian parent. In a second step the general features discovered by the fieldwork will be discussed.
• Chapter 5 establishes the general conclusions to the topic by comparing the British and German situations. The discussion will centre on the interaction of external and internal definition in the formation of identity and belonging, and the role citizenship plays in this. Furthermore, it will be analysed how a foreign citizenship influences the relationship of second generation South Asians towards the state in which they live. From this questions for future research will develop.