Nepal police Monday arrested dozens of demonstrators against a proposed new constitution after they forced shops to close on the second day of a nationwide strike, the latest protest against the document. Demonstration also broke out in two other districts.
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The violence erupted as police attempted to prevent protesters from entering restricted areas and from vandalising government offices in the town of Tikapur, 420 kilometres west of Kathmandu, Home Minister Bam Dev Gautam told parliament.
“The number of casualty may rise and there might be some civilian casualty also, but detail report has not yet come”, the official said.
“All of a sudden protesters encircled the police and attacked them with knives, axes, sickles and spears”, Gautam said.
Under the current agreement, Kailali district would be a part of a larger province incorporating far-western regions of Nepal.
The protesters from the Tharu ethnic group are demanding a separate state in the new constitution, which is being finalized in the Constituent Assembly.
SSP Laxman Neupane was hacked to death while a head constable was burned alive by the protestors, officials said, adding that three demonstrators were also killed in the clash. This is while local administrations have imposed overnight curfews in several districts. “Tharus are a peaceful community and we have been putting our demands for an undivided Tharu province peacefully, but our voices were not heard”, she said.
Hundreds of security forces were mobilized in the area to defuse the prevailing tense situation.
Political agreement on the borders was struck after April’s devastating natural disaster helped bring a halt to the seemingly endless squabbling between rival parties.
In early June, four parties – two ruling and two opposition – inked a historic deal, including a settlement on federalism, the main bone of contention among political parties that had prolonged the political transition after the end of a decade-long Maoist insurgency in 2006.
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Sitaula presented the bill amidst obstruction posed by Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal whose members chanted slogans demanding restoration of Hindu status of the country in the new Constitution.
