[On Saturday, the police were attempting to clear protesters from the Madhesi group, which opposes the recently passed Constitution, who had been blocking a highway in Saptari District. The protesters attacked the police with firebombs, spears, sticks and stones, Mr. Thakur said.]
By Bhadra Sharma
KATHMANDU, Nepal — Violence flared in southern Nepal
when the police open fire on protesters who had been blocking the country’s
main highway, an official said on Sunday. The shootings threatened to deepen a
political crisis over the country’s new Constitution.
Two protesters were killed in the violence that
broke out Saturday night in the Bhardaha and Rupani areas of southern Nepal, and
at least 28 were hurt, including 15 police officers, said Anil Kumar Thakur, the
chief district officer in Saptari, which includes the two areas.
A third protester was killed on Sunday evening in
Rajbiraj, the headquarters of Saptari District, when the police fired on
protesters who had set fire to a police van after the killings the night before,
Mr. Thakur said.
On Saturday, the police were attempting to clear
protesters from the Madhesi group, which opposes the recently passed
Constitution, who had been blocking a highway in Saptari District. The
protesters attacked the police with firebombs, spears, sticks and stones, Mr. Thakur
said.
Protesters on Monday in Birgunj, Nepal, near the
border with India. The police declared a curfew Monday afternoon.One Dead as
Protesters and Police Clash in NepalNOV. 2, 2015
Nepalese police officers faced protesters
dissatisfied with the Constitution last month in Birgunj, a town bordering
India that a report said was shaken by violence.Report on Nepal Protests
Details Grisly Violence OCT. 16, 2015
An overcrowded bus in Kathmandu after Nepal's
government introduced rationing to handle a shortage of fuel.Border Havoc as
Nepalis Accuse India of PaybackSEPT. 30, 2015
Amid Protests, Nepal Adopts ConstitutionSEPT. 20, 2015
But according to Shambhu Jha, a Madhesi protester
who said he was at the clash in Bhardaha, the group fought with the police only
after officers used tear gas on the protesters. He said that at least 36
protesters had been injured.
Saturday’s violence was the latest in a series of
clashes that began in August when key political parties began to finalize the
drafting of a Constitution that would divide the country into provinces. Madhesis,
who live largely in the southern plains and have close geographic and
historical ties with India, say that the provinces were drawn in such a way as
to dilute their political voice. More than 40 people have been killed in
violent confrontations since.
Some Madhesi protesters have staged a sit-in on a
main border post with India for about two months, and one Indian man was killed
in a clash with the police there this month.
Trade between India and Nepal has slowed drastically
since the passage of the Constitution, causing a fuel crisis in Nepal. Nepalese
officials accuse India of imposing an unofficial blockade because of its
objections to the process that led to the passage of the Constitution, which
India considers not inclusive enough. India has denied ordering a blockade, but
maintained that the trade impasse occurred because of security problems in
Nepal over the Constitution.
The United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, expressed
“his growing concern over the blocking of essential supplies on the Nepal-India
border,” in a statement on Friday. He urged all sides in the dispute to lift
restrictions.
On Sunday, the spokesman of India’s Ministry of
External Affairs, Vikas Swarup, said on Twitter that India was “distressed at
loss of lives in police firing in Saptari” and urged a political solution, which
India has been promoting since the protests began.
But talks between the government and Madhesi groups
have yielded little progress.
“We may have to quit talks if the government
continues to kill the people,” said Laxman Lal Karna, a member of the United
Democratic Madhesi Front, an umbrella organization of Madhesi parties.
Nida Najar contributed reporting from New Delhi
