By Sudeshna Sarkar

Kathmandu, Jan 17 (IANS) Paralysed by a three-day shutdown enforced by former Maoist guerrillas till Monday, Nepal's southern Terai plains reeled under fresh disruptions with a non-political group calling yet another closure Tuesday.

The Nepal government had declared a public holiday on Tuesday in honour of the promulgation of the sixth constitution and the re-entry of Maoist guerrillas in parliament, signifying a formal end to the decade-old communist uprising.

Same day a little known group calling itself the Madhesi People's Rights Forum called a general strike in the plains. The Forum was protesting against the new constitution promulgated Monday, saying it overlooked the rights of Madhesis, people of Indian origin living in the southern plains.

The protest crippled transport in key towns in southeastern Nepal, shops and markets downed shutters and educational institutions remained closed. This is the third protest for the rights of the community since Christmas.

On Christmas Day, a party from the ruling alliance, the Nepal Sadbhavana Party (Anandi), called a Terai bandh to protest against the promulgation of the new constitution.

The protest snowballed into a riot between plains and hill communities with mobs attacking shops and establishments owned by Madhesis and the administration turning a blind eye in Nepalgunj town.

On this Saturday, a second group, the Janatantrik Terai Mukti Morcha, called a three-day shutdown in eastern Nepal.

The Morcha is headed by Joy Krishna Goit, a former senior Maoist leader who broke away from the parent party about three years ago, alleging the Maoists were doing nothing to protect Madhesi rights.

Since then, the Morcha has split, with the splinter headed by Jwala Singh, who advocates more militancy and has been imposing blockades in the Terai region as well as carrying out abductions and killings.

Both the Morchas want a sovereign Terai state and the government and security posts in the region to be handed over to Madhesis.

When the Morcha-called strike ended Tuesday, the Terai region was hit again Tuesday by the general strike call given by the Madhesi People's Rights Forum.

The plains people's growing anger at their neglect by the state has been noted by Nepal's political leaders.

On Monday, when the new house was being convened in Kathmandu, Banshidhar Mishra, a legislator from the second largest party in the government, the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist, expressed serious concern.

"It has become a global trend for people to take up arms to have their demands met," Mishra, a leader from the plains, said.

It is also a reference to the Maoists' taking up arms in 1996 to force the government into heeding their demand for seeking a vote on monarchy.

Now though the Maoists have laid down arms, other groups, encouraged by their success, are trying to follow suit.

"The government should start talks with the Morcha immediately," says Rajendra Mahato, leader of NSP (Anandi). He warned, "Otherwise, there will be an armed Madhesi revolt in place of the Maoist revolution."

Though both prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala and home minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula have asked the Morchas to give up violence and start talks, no concrete step has been taken by either side to open negotiations so far.

The new unrest should be a matter of special concern for India, simmering as it is right across the border and involving people of Indian origin.