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| Plan for New Nepal Districts Draws Deadly Protests and Attacks on Police | |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| KATHMANDU, Nepal — An angry protest against a draft constitution in Nepal turned deadly on Monday when demonstrators broke a curfew and attacked police officers with knives, spears and sickles. | KATHMANDU, Nepal — An angry protest against a draft constitution in Nepal turned deadly on Monday when demonstrators broke a curfew and attacked police officers with knives, spears and sickles. |
| At least nine people were killed, including police officers and three civilians, and the toll was expected to rise, said Raj Kumar Shrestha, the chief administrative officer in the Kailali District, where the protests took place. | At least nine people were killed, including police officers and three civilians, and the toll was expected to rise, said Raj Kumar Shrestha, the chief administrative officer in the Kailali District, where the protests took place. |
| One of the officers was doused with kerosene and set on fire by assailants, Mr. Shrestha said. | One of the officers was doused with kerosene and set on fire by assailants, Mr. Shrestha said. |
| People of the Tharu ethnic group have been agitating for weeks for the creation of a separate province in the western part of Nepal where they live, to ensure that they will have political representation. Another community, the Madhesis, has raised similar concerns about the way lawmakers have been redrawing the country’s political map. When lawmakers presented a revised draft of the new constitution to the Parliament on Sunday, the draft called for dividing the country into seven provinces, without a separate one for the Tharus. | People of the Tharu ethnic group have been agitating for weeks for the creation of a separate province in the western part of Nepal where they live, to ensure that they will have political representation. Another community, the Madhesis, has raised similar concerns about the way lawmakers have been redrawing the country’s political map. When lawmakers presented a revised draft of the new constitution to the Parliament on Sunday, the draft called for dividing the country into seven provinces, without a separate one for the Tharus. |
| Thousands of people took to the streets in protest on Monday in Tikapur, a town in Kailali. Early in the morning, activists replaced government signboards in the area with signs that read “Tharu State,” Mr. Shrestha said. | Thousands of people took to the streets in protest on Monday in Tikapur, a town in Kailali. Early in the morning, activists replaced government signboards in the area with signs that read “Tharu State,” Mr. Shrestha said. |
| He said that security officials had been caught unprepared and had tried in vain to urge restraint. “The locals, wielding domestic weapons, attacked security officials,” Mr. Shrestha said. Protests also broke out in two other districts. | He said that security officials had been caught unprepared and had tried in vain to urge restraint. “The locals, wielding domestic weapons, attacked security officials,” Mr. Shrestha said. Protests also broke out in two other districts. |
| At an emergency cabinet meeting in Kathmandu on Monday, the government authorized the affected districts to call in army troops as needed to deal with the unrest, said Bam Dev Gautam, the deputy prime minister and home minister. Mr. Shrestha said troops were deployed in Kailali. | At an emergency cabinet meeting in Kathmandu on Monday, the government authorized the affected districts to call in army troops as needed to deal with the unrest, said Bam Dev Gautam, the deputy prime minister and home minister. Mr. Shrestha said troops were deployed in Kailali. |
| Arguments over the administrative division of Nepal, which has been centrally governed for more than two centuries, have been a major barrier to the adoption of a new constitution. Nepal is home to more than 100 ethnic groups and castes, and there is deep disagreement over how to combine its dozens of local districts into a workable number of provinces, and whether to do so along ethnic lines. | Arguments over the administrative division of Nepal, which has been centrally governed for more than two centuries, have been a major barrier to the adoption of a new constitution. Nepal is home to more than 100 ethnic groups and castes, and there is deep disagreement over how to combine its dozens of local districts into a workable number of provinces, and whether to do so along ethnic lines. |