Several Nepalese towns remain under curfew
(DPA)
26 January 2007
KATHMANDU - Nepalese authorities Friday continued to impose a curfew on several major towns in south-east Nepal following violent clashes and escalating tensions in the region. A curfew has been extended for the rest of Friday on the cities of Biratnagar Birjung and Janakpur, according to authorities in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu.
On Thursday, supporters of Madhesi People’s Rights Forum (MPRF ) clashed with anti-strike demonstrators in the industrial city of Biratnagar, about 240 kilometres from the capital, prompting the authorities to clamp down a curfew to quell violence. Balluchi Yadav, a resident of Janakpur, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur DPA over the phone that MPRF supporters were still defying the curfew in parts of the town and had clashed with police. The scale of protests on Friday was, however, much smaller than on Thursday, he said. In the neighbouring town of Lahan, which was the centre of violence earlier this week during protests by ethnic Madhesis, authorities reduced the curfew hours and the situation is said to be returning to normal. Violence first flared up in Lahan on January 19 when a transport strike called by MPRF led to clashes that resulted in the deaths of at least five people. The MPRF is opposed to Nepal’s new interim constitution promulgated last week, saying it does not address the issues of ethnic Madhesi, a people Indian in origin and living in the southern Nepalese plains known as Terai. The Madhesi, which have long been marginalized and discriminated by people from hill districts who dominate the country’s politics, seek more representation in parliament, the military and police, as well as government jobs. The government has called on the MPRF leadership to meet for talks to end the crisis. Though the MPRF has welcomed the government’s move, certain conditions, including the resignation of the home minister, must be met before it will hold negotiations.
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