Police forcibly open the border to allow Indian trucks to move across, leaving 15 protesters injured. “He expressed concern on the incident & requested for details”, said the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in a tweet.
Advertisement
“At the same time, PM urged Nepalese leaders to work towards ensuring an early & effective solution to the crisis”, a fourth post said.
Patel said the police action showed the government was not committed to resolving the crisis through dialogue.
He said Indian freight forwarders and transporters have voiced their worries again today about the deteriorating situation across the border.
Terming the incident “very unfortunate”, Nepali Congress lawmaker Ramhari Khatiwada told IANS that the party was “closely monitoring the situation”.
Madhesi protesters say Nepal’s new constitution unfairly divides the Madhesis among a number of states, diluting their political power.
Should the feeling of marginalization become more entrenched, India fears Nepal could slide back into civil war.
Kathmandu: Nepali police shot and killed an Indian citizen at a border checkpoint on Monday as they tried to clear protesters whose blockade has strangled Nepal’s fuel supplies and badly damaged relations between the neighbours.
The deceased was identified as Asish Kumar Ram, 24.
Nepalese authorities clamped a curfew in Birgunj following the violence.
There was no quick signal of gasoline vans getting into Nepal, though a customs official informed AFP greater than one hundred empty Indian vans left stranded in Nepal because of the blockade had crossed over to India through the temporary interval the border was open.
Eight personnel of Nepal Police and Armed Police Force have also sustained injuries after agitators hurled stones at them.
Madhesis, the Indian-origin inhabitants of Nepal’s Terai region, are protesting division of their ancestral homeland in the new Constitution. “India has consistently supported the government and people of Nepal in their efforts to attain these objectives, and shall continue to do so”, the statement said.
At least 45 people have been killed in the protests since August.
The protestors had reportedly blocked the Maitri bridge when the cops allegedly used batons on them to disperse them. The Nepal is facing the acute scarcity of the commodities particularly essential items as fuel gas and petrol, diesel. The contention is basically around the new provision which denies full citizenship and certain essential rights to children born from a Nepali and a foreigner (people of madhesis mostly marry Indians across borders) emerge as a palpable discrimination.
The agreement to import oil from China was signed after energy supplies from India were disrupted amid a deep strain in their ties over Nepal’s new constitution.
Advertisement
Twelve trucks carrying petrol from China today entered Nepal through Rasuwagadhi trading point.
