Press Trust of India
December 04, 2015
KATHMANDU: In a fresh wave of violence over the economic blockade, Madhesi agitators reportedly clashed with Indians at the Indo-Nepal border near Raxaul in Bihar on Thursday.
The clashes broke when the agitating cadres of Joint Democratic Madhesi Front were holding a sit-in protest at Miteri bridge in Birgunj-Raxaul border point against the new Constitution.
The fresh clash took place a day after Madhesi Front cadres came under attack from Raxaul residents who have been demanding that Indian number-plated trucks stuck at the Birgunj border point be allowed to enter India.
At least five people were injured in the fighting on Wednesday, media reports said.
However, Raxaul’s deputy superintendent of police Rakesh Kumar said that no clash took place at the border and nobody has filed a police case.
Since the promulgation of the Constitution in Nepal in September, Indian-origin Madhesi population has been staging sit-in on the border stopping flow of goods as they believe the country’s new Constitution discriminates against them, denying them equal standing with other Nepalis.
The agitation has obstructed supply of essential commodities including petrol thereby creating a crisis in Nepal, which accused India of imposing a “economic blockade”.
India maintains that it has imposed no such blockade, and the restrictions are a result of security concerns as Madhesis are protesting the new Constitution in the Terai region of Nepal bordering India.
