As hundreds of protesters in Nepal blocked Birgunj — the main trade checkpoint with India — vital supplies were cut off to the Himalayan country, triggering speculations that it has been done at the behest of Indian side to pressurise Nepalese leadership to resolve issues with protesting Madhesis. However, in order to clear air, the Indian side said that two main border crossing points into Nepal were blocked due to the protests by plainspeople due to which freight traffic was hit.
On Friday, Indian envoy in Kathmandu Ranjit Rae met top Nepali leaders and assured them of India’s help even while clarifying that the problem was due to unrest in the region. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said the obstructions were due to unrest, protests and demonstrations on the Nepalese side, by sections of their population. New Delhi has urged Nepalese leadership to ‘credibly and effectively’ address the causes leading to confrontation to defuse crisis.
Hundreds of trucks loaded with essential goods, cooking gas cylinders and petroleum products were stalled at the Nepal-India border at Birgunj due to the agitation. Nepal solely depends on Indian Oil Corporation for the supply of petroleum products.
“The reported obstructions are due to unrest, protests and demonstrations on the Nepalese side, by sections of their population. As was already said on 21 September 2015, our freight forwarders and transporters had voiced complaints about the difficulties they are facing in movement within Nepal and their security fears, due to the prevailing unrest. We would reiterate that issues facing Nepal are political in nature. Nepalese leadership needs to address the causes underlying the present state of confrontation credibly and effectively. Issues of differences should be resolved and institutionalized with broad-based ownership and acceptance. We do hope the situation will ease at the earliest”, said Swarup.
The agitating Madhesi parties from the Terai region maintain that the new Constitution has left them out of the reckoning. They have intensified protests at the border entry points to put pressure on the Nepalese government to meet their demands on amendments to the Constitution. Although the shutdown in the region was lifted temporarily on Friday due to Eid-ul-Zuha, the blockade continued at the Nepal-India border check point affecting normal life.