Nepal police on Monday fired into a crowd of protesters trying to block a key border checkpoint and killed an Indian civilian as anger over a new constitution boiled over.
The violence came hours after police forcibly broke up the blockade that began on September 24 in the southern town of Birgunj on the border with India that has led to crippling fuel shortages and cut off access to other vital supplies in the landlocked Himalayan nation.
“An Indian national was wounded and died after being taken to hospital,” AFP reported quoting Nepal police spokesman Kamal Singh Bam. Four police were injured in clashes at the checkpoint in Birgunj. News agency Reuters reported that at least 15 people were injured during the melee.
Hindustan Times reported that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called his Nepalese counterpart KP Oli after the development on Monday and urged him to launch an investigation into the incident. India also summoned Nepal ambassador Deep Kumar Upadhyaya over the incident, Indian TV channels reported. Upadhyaya told ANI news agency that a peace dialogue between the protesters and the Nepal government was being held.
Earlier in the day in Birgunj, police used batons to disperse ethnic minority protesters angered by Nepal’s new constitution, which they say will leave them politically marginalised.
The protesters, from Nepal’s Madhesi ethnic minority, want the government to change the constitution because they say a new federal structure it lays out will mean they are under-represented in parliament.
More than 40 people have been killed in clashes between police and people protesting against the constitution since September.
Ties with India sour
India, which has repeatedly urged dialogue, said it was “deeply concerned” by Monday’s violence.
“Issues facing Nepal are political in nature and cannot be resolved by force,” its foreign ministry said in a statement.
“Causes underlying the present state of confrontation need to addressed by the Government of Nepal credibly and effectively.”
The fuel crisis has soured ties between Nepal and its powerful neighbour, with authorities in Kathmandu accusing New Delhi of imposing an “unofficial blockade” to show its dissatisfaction with the new constitution.
The disruption prompted Nepal to sign its first-ever fuel supply agreement with China last week, ending a decades-long monopoly by India.
Beijing also agreed to donate 1.3m litres of petrol to Nepal to try to ease shortages.
