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Oli-led Government-5
India Fighting A Proxy War In Nepal
Siddhi B Ranjitkar
When apparently an Indian was killed in Birgunj at the self-defense firing of the Nepalese police, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an immediate call to his counterpart in Kathmandu, and his foreign ministry even issued a statement but more than 50 Madheshis had been so far dead during the Madheshi protest movement, Modi had nothing to say about them even though they were not only Indian origin but also probably Indians, too. Modi lured voters in the election campaign in the Bihar State of India stating he had signed off the agreements with Nepal and Bhutan for making hydropower plants to illuminate Bihar; the video posted on www.onlinekhabar.com clearly stated it. The Madheshi’s demands were not unjustifiable if the elections to the major five offices of the Nepalese governance could be held even without the participation of the Madheshi political parties. Are those elected office holders really representatives of all Nepalese or they represented only 325 to 327 voters in the parliament?
As the time had passed, it had been clearer that the Madheshi movement had been not the movement of the Madheshis for their just cause but the movement entirely paid by Modi, and guided by his diplomat in Kathmandu. The legality and even the success of the movement guided by the foreign power would often be questionable. Modi and his associates did not feel that such direct interference in another country’s affairs were against the international norm of non-interference in another country’s affairs. Modi had broken up every etiquette of foreign polices on non-interference.
One of the Madheshis demands had been for making the naturalized Nepalese citizens eligible for the offices of president, vice-president, prime minister, speaker and deputy speaker. Clearly, Modi had been supporting it even though his BJP party and he himself had vehemently opposed Sonia Gandhi: an Italian-born leader of the Indian congress to be the prime minister of India in the past. How come Modi did not apply the same idea for Nepal, too? Actually, Modi needed to understand that he was fighting the already defeated battle for the Mahesh Nepalese.
Anybody watching the video posted on www.onlinekhabar.com on November 3, 2015, s/he would see how in the election campaign in Bihar while speaking for his party’s candidates in the Bihar State assembly elections, Modi had challenged Chief Minister Nitin, and former Chief Minister Lalu Yadav to illuminate Bihar. He even said that Bihar had no electricity for charging even cell-phones not to mention running computers. He further said that he had gone to Bhutan and then Nepal to negotiate with them for building hydropower plants there for bringing electricity to Bihar. Now, anybody could guess why Modi was so interested in the Nepalese administration.
Unfortunately for Modi, Prime Minister KP Oli did not like to be a ‘yes man’. That made Modi to have another plan on seeking a reliable person for installing him/her as a prime minister in Nepal. He found the most unfortunate Sushil Koirala as a candidate for the office of prime minister in Nepal, but that poor guy had got nothing except for humiliation as an Indian agent. That was the great failure of Modi’s policy on Nepal.
That might have been humiliating defeat for Modi, too because his pet Dr Baburam Bhattarai had at the last moment betrayed not only Sushi Karalla but also Modi with his fifty parliamentarians not voting for Koirala at the election to a new prime minister rather voting for KP Oli changing the mind at the last moment. Belatedly, Dr Baburam Bhattarai had pulled out 45 central committee members of the UCPN-Maoist for forming a new force. Baburam’s beloved spouse called Hisila Yami had been acting as a contact person for talking with the Indian diplomat Ranjit Rae.
Senior Leader of NC Sher Bahadur Deuba, and Vice-president of NC Ram Chandra Poudel had been trading charges and counter charges for such a disastrous political episode. Poudel said that Deuba and Koirala had done everything possible to deny him a chance of heading a new government; and Deuba thought better let Koirala take the second term of prime minister rather than Poudel thus causing the disastrous results for the NC in the elections to high offices of the new government, Poudel said, according to the Nepalese media. The fact was Deuba proposed the name of Sushil Koirala for the candidate for the office of prime minister for a second term, and Poudel supported it. Why they did it. That was how the NC leaders played the political game.
After the NC leaders snapped the power-sharing deal with CPN-UML and UCPN-Maoist, most of the elected high offices went to the UCPN-Maoist and CPN-UML that were supposed to be the third or second claimants for any such high offices. Other political parties such as RPP-Nepal, MPRF-D, CPN-UML and UCPN-Maoist enjoyed having the major portfolios of influential ministries leaving the NC leaders high and dry. These small parties together with the CPN-UML had not only strengthened the national unity but also became the formidable force against any foreign interference in the Nepalese affairs. NC leaders needed to learn a very good lesson from it rather than seeking favor from the big brother.
The most incompetent Sushil Koirala and his Indian boss Modi had been the instrumental to make KP Oli a hero and bring Oli into such a national limelight as the most decisive prominent prime minister of Nepal. By some Nepalese and Indian media account, Oli had told India not to interfere in the internal matters of Nepal thus challenging Modi for not waging a war by a proxy against Nepal. KP Oli’s reputation as a strong leader would reach a pinnacle if Modi were to continue the undeclared embargo on the supplies to Nepal. Oli had vowed that he would not bow down to any foreign interventionist.
Oli also played the China-card effectively. Recently, China and Nepal had signed off an agreement on opening a few more entry points on the northern border to counter the Indian hegemony. China and Nepal had reached an agreement on China providing Nepal with petroleum products. China had contributed 1.3 million liters of gasoline gratis to help the Nepalese dying for the petroleum products as Modi ordered the border patrols to hold any trucks carrying petroleum products to Nepal. China and Nepal also reached a 20-point agreement on opening additional seven entry points between Nepal and China, and two dry ports, the news posted on http://www.onlinekhabar.com/2015/11/346833/ on November 5, 2015 stated.
Nepalese Deputy Prime Minister holding the portfolio of foreign affairs Kamal Thapa told the international community at the UN convention on the human-rights situation in Nepal held in Geneva, Switzerland that India had imposed the undeclared embargo on the supplies to Nepal causing the tremendous misery to Nepalese not even having cooking gas during the great festival of Nepalese, the embargo had caused the economic loss worth of US$5 billions, more than two thousands industries had been closed, the tourism industry had been in a bad shape, according to the news posted on http://www.onlinekhabar.com/2015/11/346604/ on November 5, 2015. That had caused an untold embarrassment to India: the claimant for the largest democracy. That was a great diplomatic failure of the Modi government if not the defeat of Modi himself.
SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sril Lanka must have been quiet because they must have taken the Indian unofficial embargo on the supplies to Nepal must be a bilateral matter. They could talk as neighbors rather than SAARC members but they did not. However, they had seen how a neighbor could do to Nepal. Probably, they would not trust Modi any more. They knew that Modi told the Nepalese parliamentarians that a constitution should be acceptable to all but the dissident parties could amend it in other words the constitution had not to be acceptable to one hundred percent people. What Modi had been doing now had been contrary to what he had preached in the not long past.
Then, a man was killed in Birgunj while the Nepalese police was trying to clear of the blockade set up by the so-called Madheshi demanding an amendment to the new constitution. That man had an Indian identity; that was a good enough excuse for Modi to making a good case against Nepal but it turned out to be a fuss again when Nepalese Prime Minister Oli made it clear to his Indian counterpart Modi that the Police acting in self-defense accidentally hit the man.
After the blockade was cleared of on the border, a few trucks stranded at the Nepalese border passed through the Nepal-India border and reached the Indian border town Raxual, but the Madheshis with the help of the Indian BJP cadres shut down the custom office again and threatened violence causing the local Nepalese administration to impose curfew for containing violence and for preventing any loss of life and property. Modi must be happy that the Raxual-Birgunj entry point was again closed for any business. This entry point was one of the main lifelines for the supplies trucks coming to Nepal. Modi knew it. He was determined to hold it.
One challenge to the unwavering Modi had been that Nepalese had been ready to endure the shortage of supplies but not ready to give in to the demands of Modi. How long Modi could hold the Raxual-Birgunj entry point, and how long Nepalese would need to suffer from the short supplies of petroleum products and other supplies remained to be seen. The truth was when the people were ready to support the administration at any cost then it became strong and did not need to bow down to any pressure. That was true for Prime Minister KP Oli unfortunately for Modi, too.
The demands of the Madheshis were understandable and their demands would be met one day if not this month this year or next year but the way the Madheshis had been acting to achieve their demands had been grossly wrong. They needed to understand that a peaceful movement would be more effective than a violent one. They knew that they could not keep on running such a violent movement for long. The cost had been enormous in terms of the lost lives and the money they needed to spend on keeping their cadres on the streets not to mention the businesses lost by the entire Nepalese and some Indians on another side of the border. If Modi had not paid bills for all those costs certainly Madheshi leaders would not be able to hold on to such a movement for such a long time at all.
Any movement needed to be a peaceful one but the Madheshi had resorted to violence. The violence had reached the highest possible peak when they shut down the entry points between India and Nepal holding the supplies trucks coming to Nepal on the Indian side of the border. One of the greatest mistakes of the so-called Madheshi leaders had been to declare that they had been doing so at the behest of the Indian establishment. The Indian border officials holding the Nepal-bound supplies trucks stating that they had simply followed the order from above also confirmed it. However, Indian ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae was so smart that he denied the involvement of India in the Madheshi protests. His denial was certainly a diplomatic mockery.
Modi should not think that India was a large elephant that could trample on anybody anywhere in the South Asia, and Nepal a tiny mouse vulnerable to the attack of such a gigantic animal, and it had no where to take shelter. Nepal did not need to take a shelter in anybody. It could stand on its own as it had stood for centuries but the foreign rulers had enjoyed on riding such a large animal to hunt the ancient treasures of India.
Now, coming back to our Madheshi brethren that had been openly the tool of Modi, they needed to understand that elections were the tools to correct anything done wrong to any populace. They needed to understand why the people rejected them in the elections to the Constituent Assembly-cum-parliament held in 2013. Then, they needed to go back to them telling them, “You guys had voted for the wrong people and the wrong political parties. So, you did not have it what we promised you to give.” If the real Madheshi leaders were shrewd enough then the people would understand it and they would vote for them, and they would make the Madheshi political parties the two-thirds majority parties in the parliament in the subsequent elections. Then, they could do whatever they wanted as today others had done.
After the declaration of Nepal a secular state, one of the Hindu gurus had said that Hindus would have the two-thirds majority in the next elections, and then they would make Nepal a Hindu state then. That was how it should be for the Madheshi leaders and the ethnic leaders, too. They needed to go for winning the majority required to amend the constitution rather than taking the issues to the streets stating they would not abiding by the constitution. How could anybody not follow the constitution that was adopted by the people’s representatives?
Certainly, the current electoral system of electing the president and the vice-present looked more like the political manipulations in the parliament. Any crook could be a president or vice president. The parliament was not accountable to the people. Then, how could be the president, vice president and even the prime minister accountable to the people? How many Nepalese would think that the current president and the vice-president and prime minister were theirs? Probably, none except for their cadres and relatives and loved ones would.
If anybody had voted for the president then s/he would think that the president was the one s/he voted for. The current election to the president, and the vice-president demonstrated that anybody buying the majority votes in the parliament could be the president or vice president. They did not need to go to the people. In that way they were not the people’s president and vice-president. What prestige they would earn from the people; most probably nothing except for the highly luxurious lives they would enjoy for the rest of their lives at the cost of the millions of the poor Nepalese. Was that the system Nepalese wanted if not then the Nepalese voters had to vote for them that would change such flaws in the constitution.
Not surprisingly, the president and the vice-president had nothing to do except for the president to sign off anything Prime Minster brought in a folder to sign. This was the system design for the British Monarch and the politicians. India had simply inherited the system from the British rulers. In this system, once a person was elected to the office of the prime minister s/he could gradually turned into a dictator. We had seen how Indira Gandhi former Prime Minster of India imposed a state of emergency only to escape from the punishment awarded by the State Court in 1970s. Now, Modi had been gradually curtailing the people’s rights. He had effectively imposed the ban on beef eating and cow slaughter in Maharastra State violating the rights of the people to eat beef they had been eating for centuries. BJP cadres had been keeping vigilant on the people sneaking out cows of the Maharastra State at night. They had been lynching the people in suspicion of keeping or eating beef. Modi also had been shutting down the mouths of critics limiting the freedom of speech and expression.
Nepalese now obviously mostly the Indian agents had copied the same parliamentary system India had adopted. Nepalese had already seen that the parliament had been nothing but the breeding ground for the corrupt politicians. That parliament had been the market place where members were bought and sold. The proportional representation system of elections had been the most moneymaking system for every political party in Nepal. Any party could ask for a large sum of money for getting the position of a member of parliament. Such parliamentarians were called indirectly elected based on the votes the political parties had received. This was called proportional representation. Each vote every political party had received sold at an unbelievable price of thousands of rupees.
If we were to believe the discussion going on in the Nepalese media for some time then the woman called Rajlaksmi Golcha had paid 70 million rupees to the CPN-UML party for having the office of a parliamentarian. She had named one of the prominent figures in the CPN-UML Jhalanath Khanal whom she said she had paid a large sum of money. However, Khanal denied receiving the money from her. KP Oli and other leaders had remained silent on this matter. Another billionaire Binode Chaudhary had not said, yet how much he had paid for the position in the parliament in the past. So, the Nepalese parliament had been nothing more than the hub of selling and buying the parliamentary slots.
The subject mater of paying for the parliamentary slot came up when the CPN-UML leaders wanted Golcha to quit the parliamentary position. She did not abide by the order of the party whip but she obviously rather questioned the party leadership why she would need to give up the job she had paid so high price for. The leadership could not apparently fire her. She had continued to enjoy the office of the parliamentarian. She skipped the parliamentary vote on electing a prime minister and so on. That was why the leadership had asked her to quit the parliamentary position, according to the Nepalese media.
So, anybody could firmly say that the parliament did not represent the voters, as about half of the parliamentarians were not the representatives of the people but they became so paying the prices for the votes voters gave to the political parties. Would they craft bills and passed them for the benefits of the people. It was hard to say, ‘yes’ but it was clear that they would surely craft bills that suit them the most. Had they voted for the president or vice-president the Nepalese people wanted to? In this case, certainly they did not. They had voted for the one their parties had asked them to do.
So, a lot of changes had to be made in the new constitution to make the Nepalese governance system the people oriented. Having all these things in the mind, the Madheshi leaders needed to go to the people educating them how the voters had wrongly voted for the political parties in the elections to the constituent assembly held in 2013. The consequences had been no changes at all in making the people powerful, and in making the elected officials accountable to the people. So, the message was that ‘get the two-thirds majority in the next elections, and make drastic changes in the new constitution; stop the violent protest now; don’t block the entry points only to keep Modi happy at the cost of the compatriots if you were really Nepalese that cared for Nepal; don’t be the Indian agents.’
Now, Dr Baburam Bhattarai had planned to set up another party of his own to demonstrate that he was really a pro-Indian politician. Nothing wrong to be a pro Indian or pro Chinese or vice verse but they had to think first for the benefits of the country not for themselves and for their foreign bosses. I hope that Dr Bhattarai would be the most responsible politician. He had been a second grade leader forever. His party could not apparently upgrade him to the first position. Now, he himself had promoted to the first grade politician but he must not have the same destiny as that of his predecessor Mohan Vaidhya ‘Kiran’ and his associates. Bless you, Dr Bhattarai.
The news posted on http://dainiknepal.com stated that 45 central members of the UCPN-Maoist left the party to give a company to Dr. Bhattarai for setting up a new force. A question to Dr Bhattarai was whether he had been following the strategy of Modi or his own. If it were to be the Modi’s then Dr Bhattarai had been no less bad than Sushil Koirala. Any logical-thinking person could think that Dr Bhattarai had been in fact following the Modi made model strategy but he did not go to the extreme of splitting up UCPN-Maoist before the election to a new prime minister and took away fifty parliamentarians for supporting Sushil Koirala and made him a winner. What went wrong was anybody’s guess when Bhattarai did not do so even though Modi’s plan was to make so. Probably, Bhattarai’s associates did not wish to lose the parliamentary seats; then, it must have been too late for Bhattarai to set up a breakaway party.
It was too late for Dr Bhattarai to make any dent in the Nepalese politics except for going to be on the wrong side of the politics, as did Mohan Vaidhya Kiran in the past. Dr. Bhattarai knew that he could not do anything to change the current government for the two years, as the constitution had made it impossible to change the government for the two years for the first time a prime minister was elected. Most of his fellow dissidents had taken up the ministerial portfolios leaving Dr. Bhattarai goes alone in his mission to create a new political force.
Most probably, Chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda would have less trouble without Dr Bhattarai and his associates than having them in the party. Recently, Dr Bhattarai had been more an obstacle to Prachanda than a fellow collaborator that would have helped him whenever he needed. That obstacle had gone on its own. Dr Bhattarai had repeatedly labeled his UCPN-Maoist party as a corpse. So, Dr Bhattarai as a louse could not stay on in the dead body. He had left it. The reason for lice did not stay on in a lifeless body was it could not feed them, as it had no running blood. So, Prachanda must be more comfortable now than used to be as probably all the lice had left his party.
If anybody were to believe the Nepalese media, it was the strategy of Modi to split up UCPN-Maoist and wreck it. After the exit of Dr Bhattarai from the UCPN-Maoist, it had been clear that Dr Bhattarai was closely following the Modi’s strategy. Now, Dr Bhattarai had to demonstrate that he was completing the Modi’s plan joining the Madheshi leaders. In fact, before the elections to a prime minister, and other high officials, he had tried to be with Madheshis but most of the Madheshi leaders did not trust him. Probably, the message from Modi had been on the way through the proper channel apparently the Madheshis had not received the message then. Dr Bhattarai had prophesized that a surprise was coming soon. This surprise must be Bhattarai had been trying to convince the world that the Madheshi movement and the unofficial embargo had been two different things. Bhattarai had been trying to turn black into white.
KP Oli had the mandate to run the administration at least for two years. The new constitution had made him the prime minister for two years at least, as nobody could file a non-confidence vote against him in the parliament for two years. It did not mean that he could do whatever he wanted during this period without being accountable to the parliament and to the people.
Oli needed to know that the corruption had been the main foe of the politicians. Corruption made every politician weak though none of the politicians had realized it rather they thought that the money had been the main instrument for reaching the power, and staying on in the power. That had been a half-truth. Everybody had seen that the corrupt politicians had to stay behind bars for at least a year and a half, and they became the most shameful persons in the eyes of the people. They had a difficulty in staying on in the mainstream politics.
If the periodic elections were to be held following the new constitution and the transfer of power to be smooth, then the corrupt politicians would slowly and gradually died out, as voters would not reward the corrupt politicians. So, with this fact in the mind, Oli needed to work strongly for the rule of law. He should not look left and right but straight forward, and move fast punishing anybody violating the law. He should not tolerate any State employees and the employees of the state-run corporations doing anything that went against the interest of the common folks. The service delivery should be without delay and without self-interest of the State employees responsible for delivering the state services.
Concerning the foreign policy, Oli needed to be as polite as possible and diplomatic rather than being emotional and speaking in the words not acceptable to the diplomatic world. He also should urge his deputies and other ministers to be polite and diplomatic. If others were rude Nepalese did not needed to retaliate being rude. Politeness had been the ornament of any human being. Oli needed to wear it all the time.
November 7, 2015
Annex
Setopati Kathmandu, Nov 2, 2015
Ministry of External Affairs, India
Press Release on 'Situation in Nepal'
We are deeply concerned at reports coming in of firing today in Birgunj. An innocent Indian was also killed in the firing.
Issues facing Nepal are political in nature and cannot be resolved by force. Causes underlying the present state of confrontation need to be addressed by the Government of Nepal credibly and effectively.
Indian freight forwarders and transporters have voiced worries again today about the deteriorating situation across the border. We are advising them to exercise caution and not put themselves in danger.
We are monitoring the situation carefully.
Published on: Monday, November 02, 2015 17:36:12
See more at: http://setopati.net/politics/10043/Indian-statement-hints-at-tightening-blockade-(WITH-STATEMENT)/
Comments: Clearly, India had another excuse to stop the supplies trucks on the Indian side of the Nepal-India border. First, India told the Government of Nepal to resolve the current confrontation politically not using the force. Second, India told Nepalese that supplies trucks would not go to Nepal from India.
News
The local administration in Parsa has imposed an indefinite curfew in Birgunj and surrounding areas beginning 3 pm on Monday after tension heightened in city following the death of a person from police firing during demonstrations.
The decision was taken to contain the protests and prevent other untoward incidents from occurring, said the local administration.
Earlier, a protester around 20 years of age died in police firing near Shankharacharya Gate (the entrance gate at the Indo-Nepal border). More than a dozen including 8 security personnel were injured during the protests.
Published on: Monday, November 02, 2015 14:51:09
See more at: http://setopati.net/politics/10039/#sthash.TDNaGlSa.dpuf
The Nepal Army (NA)'s specially trained Mahaveer Battalion (Ranger) based at Chhauni and the US Army's Special Force A Company, First Battalion Group started a joint training codenamed Balance Nail 16-01 on Monday.
The training will be held at Chhauni and the training camp at Nagarkot area for about a month, the NA Directorate of Public Relations stated.
According to the NA Directorate of Public Relations, the training is expected to held exchange of theoretical, practical and special experiences between the armies of the two countries as well as providing special support in enhancing NA's capacity to conduct joint military operations.
The NA also hopes that the training will also further the friendly bilateral relations between the two countries. RSS
See more at: http://setopati.net/politics/10044/#sthash.w13aBtt5.dpuf
KATHMANDU, Nov 2: The United Democratic Madheshi Front (UDMF) has said that the incident that took place in Birgunj on Monday has disturbed the atmosphere of talks between the Front and the government, which was heading towards a positive direction.
The Birgunj incident shows that the government was using the talks in a strategic manner, the Front said at a press conference held here Monday. "The Birgunj incident has raised a question mark, as efforts were being made to take the ongoing talks towards a meaningful and result-oriented direction", Vice-president of Tarai Madhesh Loktantrik Party Hridayesh Tripathi said. "As the government has acted to foil the talks, it no longer holds any significance".
A press statement distributed on the occasion however calls on the government to present itself in a responsible manner, and facilitate environment conducive for a dialogue. RSS
Thehimalayantimes.com
KATHMANDU: Expressing his concern over the death of an Indian national in a violent protest in Birgunj of Nepal today, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday evening called up Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and requested for details of the case.
India’s Office of the Prime Minister tweeted that Modi also expressed his shock over and condemned the incident.
In response, Prime Minister Oli apprised Prime Minister Modi that the incident happened as Nepali security forces opened fire in self-defense, Rastriya Samachar Samiti reported, quoting Nepali Prime Minister’s press advisor Pramod Dahal.
Oli further urged the Indian Prime Minister not to worry about the safety of Indian nationals in Nepal and to ensure smooth supplies of daily essentials to Nepal.
The two also exchanged views on the ongoing Tarai/Madhes agitation and the possible ways for its end, the RSS reported.
BIRGUNJ: Nepali security forces removed the agitators from the Nepal-India border in Birgunj and cleared the way for the Indian cargo vehicles to go to return Raxaul of India early this morning.
Hundreds of Indian vehicles were stranded on the Nepali side for several weeks after the United Democratic Madhesi Front obstructed the major border entry point protesting the provisions in new Constitution after its promulgation in September.
Following the police intervention, the cadres and supporters of UDMF have gathered at Ghantaghar of Birgunj and staged demonstration.
They have burned tyres and toppled the iron grills and utility poles from roadside in several places and obstructed major thoroughfares in Birgunj, ByPass area, Parwanipur and Gandak areas.
Security personnel had used force to remove about a dozen of agitators who were sleeping in the tents set up at the Miteri Pul, the bridge between Nepal-India border, at around 4:30 am in order to open the passage.
The tents and beddings used by the agitators were burned.
It has been reported that some agitators were injured in the police action. The injured have been taken to Raxaul for treatment, according to local UDMF leaders.
Police stopped general people at Rajat Jayanti Chowk and did not allow them to go towards the border point.
KATHMANDU: Finally, the petrol provided by China as a grant has arrived in Kathmandu on Monday evening (November 2, 2015).
Nepal Oil Corporation, Thankot depot chief, Rabin Sharma, told the Rastriya Samachar Samiti that the first lot of grant has arrived in the depot today.
Of total 1.3 million litre fuel pledged by China, as much as 102,000 litre oil has arrived in Kathmandu, according to the NOC.
After fuel supplies to Nepal from India dwindled heavily for last one month, the government had initiated process to import fuel from China.
The NOC had sent 12 tankers to the Chinese city of Kyirong to bring fuel last week.
http://thehimalayantimes.com/business/chinese-fuel-finally-arrives-in-kathmandu/
NEPALGUNJ/BHAIRAHAWA: The Nepalgunj-Rupaidiha border point in Banke and Bhairahawa-Sunauli point in Rupandehi have been shut since Monday morning (November 2, 2015).
The Indian Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel deployed at the border point stopped vehicles to cross the Rupaidiha border from around 10 am today.
The SSB personnel allegedly resorted to the closure after clashes were reported from Birgunj-Raxaul point after resumption of mobility, according to local traders.
Otherwise, the Nepalgunj customs point had recorded uninterrupted mobility of cargo vehicles despite reported unofficial blockade by India and protests by cadres of Madhesi parties at various Indo-Nepal border points.
INDIA NOT BEHIND TARAI PROTESTS: ENVOY RAE
04 Nov 2015 | 16:04pm
MANI DAHAL
KATHMANDU, Nov 4: India has reiterated that it was not involved in ongoing protests spearheaded by Madhes-based parties in the Tarai districts of Nepal.
Indian ambassador Ranjit Rae on Wednesday reached to former prime minister and senior CPN-UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal's residence to convey the message.
"The ambassador expressed the concern over the growing anti-Indian sentiments in Nepal," Nepal's personal aide Mohan Gautam added, "He said that India was not involved in the blockade and refuted claims that his country was supporting Madhes-based parties in their protests."
Rae said that he was happy to learn that talks between the government and the Tarai based parties are going on positive direction.
In reply, Nepal asked the ambassador to ease supplies in Nepal from India.
