NEW DELHI: Nepal accused India of interfering in its internal affairs after a long festering ethnic violence flared up on Nepal’s side of the border on Monday, resulting in the death of an Indian in police firing, reports said.

Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli accused India of “propping up” the Madhes-based political parties to impose blockades at major customs points along the 1,751-km open border between the two neighbours.

“Why is India rallying behind the four Madhes-based parties,” he was quoted as asking, adding that it was Nepal’s responsibility to address the grievances of the various agitating groups.

“The Constitution is not targeted against any country,” he said, adding that it was promulgated with 96 per cent of the Constituent Assembly members voting in its favour.

Reports said that tensions fanned by anti-constitution sentiments flared up again when activists of Madhes-based political parties clashed with the police in Nepal’s southern city of Birgunj. An Indian national died in police firing in the Nepali border town — the victim was a resident of Raxaul across the border in Bihar.

Hours after the death of the Indian national, Mr Oli at a public function in Kathmandu criticised the Indian policy concerning Nepal, particularly after the promulgation of the new federal republican Constitution on September 20, Indian reports said.

They said the much-awaited charter had evoked strong resentment from the southern Nepali Terai region, bordering India, where the Madhesi political parties and indigenous groups have launched a violent protests. They claim that their interests have been again ignored.

Following the death of the Indian national in Birgunj, the Madhesi political parties warned that they would not sit down for talks with the government in Kathmandu.

Nepal is coping with a severe shortage of fuel and essential commodities, including medicines due to the border-blockade.

Nepal has accused India of imposing an unofficial blockade at the border while New Delhi maintains that transportation of essentials and other goods was hampered by the ongoing violent agitation within land-locked Nepal.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2015

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