Four Nepalese Protesters Have Been Fatally Shot in Clashes With Police

Dozens have been killed in the protests since August.

In addition, efforts to “make the new Nepal and the party synonymous to each other” were discussed, he added.

New Delhi has denied the charge and urged dialogue with the protesting Madhesis, who have close cultural, linguistic and family ties to Indians living across the border.

With the landlocked nation of 28 million people recovering from its worst natural disaster on record, Nepal has turned to China to meet its fuel needs, breaking an Indian monopoly.

The agitating Madhesi parties have been blockading the Nepal-India border crossing points for about two months, obstructing movement of cargo vehicles creating acute shortage of fuel, medicines and other essential goods.

The clashes are expected to escalate the tensions, just as monthslong protests by the Madeshi ethnic group over Nepal’s new constitution had eased over the past few weeks during a series of festivals in the Himalayan nation.

Nepal’s Federal Socialist Forum, however, which supports the protests, challenged the police account of the violence, saying the two protesters had been killed when Nepalese security forces opened fire on a peaceful demonstration.

However, Laxman Lal Karna, a senior leader of the Sadbhavana Party that is organizing the protests, said Sunday, according to Reuters, that the protesters were shot while they were sitting peacefully to blockade a road.

The ethnic minority Madhesis have been launching agitation for the past three months claiming that Nepal’s new constitution was not broad-based and a few of the provisions would politically marginalize them.

The local authorities, meanwhile, have imposed a curfew in the villages of Bhardah and Rapani and in Rajbiraj, Saptari’s regional capital.

Despite this incident, talks were held between the Nepal government and the agitating United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) leaders on Sunday at Kathmandu, but the negotiations remained inconclusive.

Protesters demand proportional representation for their people in all Nepalese state institutions, along with constitutional amendments giving protesting groups two federal states in the southern plains. More than 40 people, including 25 policemen, are said to have been injured in the clash.

“He (the secretary-general) is alarmed by reports of the obstruction and destruction, of life-saving medical supplies and the continued impact on humanitarian operations”, a statement issued by his spokesperson said.