Nepal ethnic group widens strike in the plains

Kathmandu, Mar 6: An ethnic Nepali group which organised an indefinite transport shutdown in large parts of the southern plains last week intensified its fight for autonomy today by extending the strike to shops and industries.

The supply of essential goods and fuel in much of the landlocked nation has already been disrupted due to the transport strike by the Madhesi People's Rights Forum, which says it represents ethnic Madhesis living in the southern plains.

The Forum claims that Nepal's hill-dwelling ruling elite has discriminated against the Madhesi community, which makes up around a third of the country's 26 million population.

The region's residents said the strike's extension had brought life to a standstill in the eastern part of the Terai, the southern plains bordering India.

''Everything is closed,'' said Guna Dev Lamichhane, who works in a private firm in Biratnagar, 200 km southeast of Kathmandu.

''I can see some stray cattle and a few people on bicycles.'' Since January, the Forum has regularly shut down large swathes of the plains -- the largely mountainous nation's breadbasket and industrial hub -- with strikes and protests.

At least 30 people have been killed, most of them Madhesi protesters shot by police.

No Response

''We are stepping up our protests and extending the strike since the government has failed to respond to our just demands,'' said Upendra Yadav, the chief of the Forum.

The Forum also wants more autonomy for the plains and is demanding a greater share in government jobs and in parliament for Madhesis.

Last month, the group suspended protests after Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala agreed to meet some demands, but Yadav said authorities had not created an atmosphere for talks, forcing the group to resume agitation.

Madhesi activists want Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula, accused of ordering excessive force to quell protests, to quit before talks start.

''This is the minimum demand for talks to begin,'' Yadav said.

Madhesis are culturally and linguistically closer to Indians living in the Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, which border the plains, than to Nepalis living in the mountains.

The Madhesi protests come as the government prepares for an election to a constituent assembly in June, part of a peace deal struck with former Maoist rebels last November.

The assembly will decide the future of Nepal, including that of the monarchy, and what should be the representation to various ethnic groups in a final parliament.

Reuters

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