Kathmandu, March 7 -- The debate over the Citizenship Amendment Bill has reignited after the Parliament's State Affairs and Good Governance Committee on Monday passed a controversial provision which rights activists say will further curtail a woman's right to pass on citizenship in her name to her children.

The committee, chaired by ruling Nepal Communist Party's Shashi Shrestha, agreed to pass a provision which states that a child of a Nepali female citizen can obtain citizenship by descent in cases where the father's identity is unknown, if the applicant submits "an explanation" declaring the same.

The news has disheartened lawmakers and activists who have been demanding the provision to be removed from the bill, arguing that it is an...