India voices concern over violence in Nepal, hopes leadership will address cause

NEW DELHI | KATHMANDU: India has voiced concern over the violence in Nepal and expressed the hope that the Nepalese leadership will "effectively and credibly" address the reasons behind the confrontation, even as violence continued on Monday. Three people protesting against Nepal's new constitution were injured in police firing. The violence has led to stoppage of freight trucks. A 25-km long line of trucks is waiting at Ruxaul to cross over to Nepal.

Sources said PM Modi will not meet his Nepalese counterpart Sushil Koirala on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting if Kathmandu continues to ignore New Delhi's concerns. India is deeply upset with the Nepalese leadership for failing to accommodate demands of various sections in the new constitution and said that the continuing violence would create hardships for people in the erstwhile kingdom. Madhesis and Janjatis, or people who live in the Terai region bordering India, say the new constitution denies them their rights. Madhesis and Janjatis are upset at the lopsided representation. Though the Terai region comprises 51 per cent of the population, it has only 60 seats in the 165-member house. The hill region despite its sparser population has 105 seats. The Nepali Congress, the CPN-UML and the UCPN Maoist held a joint rally in Kathmandu on Monday where they vowed to address the demands of agitating Madhes-based parties and the Tharu community protesting in the southern plains over the seven-state model envisaged in the new constitution.

ET has learnt that senior officials of Indian government, including foreign secretary S Jaishankar tried to convince the Nepalese leadership against continuing with the current constitution and advised them to initiate an institutionalised arrangement to meet aspirations of Madhesh and other parts of Terai region. Senior government sources told ET that New Delhi had cautioned Kathmandu that violence could not only lead to economic hardships but also division of the country. "This is reminiscent of 1947...does the current Nepalese leadership want to run a divided country? It will disturb the stability in the region," a source said.