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| Nepal police clear border blockade by force as India tensions rise | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Nepal police have burned down tents and baton-charged scores of demonstrators who had blocked a key Indian border checkpoint and created crippling fuel shortages. | |
| Ethnic minority protesters angered by Nepal’s new constitution had blocked a bridge crossing in the town of Birgunj since 24 September, cutting off vital supplies and forcing fuel rationing in the landlocked Himalayan country. | |
| “Police beat up demonstrators this morning and burned down our tents, forcibly opening the border to allow trucks to move across,” said Shiva Patel, the general secretary of the regional Sadbhawana party, which participated in the blockade. | “Police beat up demonstrators this morning and burned down our tents, forcibly opening the border to allow trucks to move across,” said Shiva Patel, the general secretary of the regional Sadbhawana party, which participated in the blockade. |
| “Around 15 protesters have been injured while police have detained five other demonstrators for refusing to vacate the site,” Patel told AFP. | “Around 15 protesters have been injured while police have detained five other demonstrators for refusing to vacate the site,” Patel told AFP. |
| Nepal has historically sourced all its fuel from India, but the movement of cargo across Birgunj, about 55 miles (90km) south of Kathmandu, and other Indian border checkpoints has slowed to a crawl since the protests began. | Nepal has historically sourced all its fuel from India, but the movement of cargo across Birgunj, about 55 miles (90km) south of Kathmandu, and other Indian border checkpoints has slowed to a crawl since the protests began. |
| It has prompted authorities in Kathmandu to accuse Delhi of backing the demonstrators and imposing an unofficial blockade to register its dissatisfaction with the new constitution. | It has prompted authorities in Kathmandu to accuse Delhi of backing the demonstrators and imposing an unofficial blockade to register its dissatisfaction with the new constitution. |
| Delhi has denied the claims and has urged dialogue with protesters, who belong to the Madhesi ethnic minority and have close cultural, linguistic and family ties to Indians living across the border. | Delhi has denied the claims and has urged dialogue with protesters, who belong to the Madhesi ethnic minority and have close cultural, linguistic and family ties to Indians living across the border. |
| Patel said the police action showed the government was not committed to resolving the crisis through dialogue. | Patel said the police action showed the government was not committed to resolving the crisis through dialogue. |
| “The government called our leaders for talks in Kathmandu, but this police action shows that they are two-faced and not committed to dialogue,” he said. “We will intensify our protest and have called on villages across the region to join us in our fight.” | |
| A senior Nepalese customs official said dozens of empty Indian trucks that had been stranded in Nepal due to the blockade were making their way across the border. | |
| “More than 100 empty Indian trucks have left Birgunj to return to India but no vehicles have entered Nepal from the Indian side yet,” said Sishir Kumar Dhungana, the director general of the customs department. “We are trying co-ordinate details with our Indian counterparts so supplies can reach Nepal now that the blockade has been cleared.” | |
| The disruption has soured ties between Nepal and its powerful neighbour, prompting Kathmandu to sign a first fuel agreement with Beijing last week, ending a decades-long monopoly by India. | The disruption has soured ties between Nepal and its powerful neighbour, prompting Kathmandu to sign a first fuel agreement with Beijing last week, ending a decades-long monopoly by India. |
| Beijing also agreed to donate 1.3m litres of petrol to Nepal in a bid to ease shortages that forced international aid organisations to halt relief operations targeting tens of thousands of earthquake victims as winter approaches. | Beijing also agreed to donate 1.3m litres of petrol to Nepal in a bid to ease shortages that forced international aid organisations to halt relief operations targeting tens of thousands of earthquake victims as winter approaches. |
| The constitution, the first drawn up by elected representatives, was meant to cement peace and bolster Nepal’s transformation to a democratic republic after decades of political instability and a 10-year Maoist insurgency, but instead it sparked deadly violence. | |
| More than 40 people have been killed in clashes between police and ethnic minority protesters, who say a new federal structure laid out in the charter adopted in September will leave them under-represented in parliament. | More than 40 people have been killed in clashes between police and ethnic minority protesters, who say a new federal structure laid out in the charter adopted in September will leave them under-represented in parliament. |
| Work on the constitution began in 2008 after the Maoist rebels laid down their arms and entered politics, winning parliamentary elections and abolishing a 240-year-old monarchy. But power-sharing squabbles between parties stymied progress. | Work on the constitution began in 2008 after the Maoist rebels laid down their arms and entered politics, winning parliamentary elections and abolishing a 240-year-old monarchy. But power-sharing squabbles between parties stymied progress. |
| Lawmakers finally reached agreement in June, spurred by a massive earthquake two months earlier that killed nearly 8,900 people and left more than half a million people homeless. | Lawmakers finally reached agreement in June, spurred by a massive earthquake two months earlier that killed nearly 8,900 people and left more than half a million people homeless. |