For weeks the Madhesis have been blocking the main southern border crossing with India, preventing fuel and other essentials from entering the country.
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They demanded an immediate lifting of the blockade, which has hampered efforts to recover from April’s devastating natural disaster.
New Delhi has denied the charge and urged dialogue with the protesters, who belong to the Madhesi ethnic minority and share close cultural, linguistic and family links with Indians living across the border. “We will not bow down to India”. The Nepali Congress Party and “Communists” (they are unpredictable and have been broken into more than two dozen fringe groups now) during a democratic movement in 1990.
Nepal has asked India to investigate a shooting by border guards that has wounded at least four people and to punish those involved.
Nepal says India is making it worse by tacitly supporting the Madhesi.
Meanwhile, the CPN-Maoist has called for a shutdown in Nepal on Sunday to protest India’s blockade.
Nepal’s parties remain silent so far with no clear-cut strategy to cope with the severe humanitarian crisis arisen out of the Indian blockade and Nepal’s over-ruling domestic black market forces.
“We are here to say education is our right”, said one protesting student, 13-year-old Pramod Basnet.
Shortages mean there is no fuel for private cars and the Nepalese authorities have rationed petrol for taxis and buses.
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Nepal is almost totally dependent on India for overland supplies following earthquakes in the spring that killed nearly 9,000 people and blocked crossings from China.
