Terai protesters call transport strike, Nepal bandh

Monday 19th February, 2007 (IANS)

As a 10-day ultimatum to the Nepal government expired without any response, ethnic protesters in the Terai plains have announced a nine-day transport strike from Feb 25, to be followed by an indefinite general strike in March.
The Madhesi Janadhikar Forum, a socio-political organisation spearheading an agitation for an autonomous Madhes state in the plains since last month, Monday said it was resuming its protests, as the government had done nothing to create a conducive atmosphere for talks.
'Our protests are resuming from today,' Forum activist Awadhesh Kumar Singh, a Supreme Court lawyer, said. 'For four days, we will hold peaceful public meetings and rallies. But from Sunday, we are calling a transport strike in all the districts in the Terai as well as a blockade of the customs offices on the Indo-Nepal border.'
He said the protests would spread beyond the plains from March 6, when the activists will enforce an indefinite Nepal shutdown.
'We want to resolve problems through peaceful negotiations,' Upendra Yadav, another lawyer turned activist who is heading the protests, told IANS Sunday night as the 10-day deadline ended Sunday night.
'But the government is forcing us to resume our struggle. Consequently, this time our movement is going to be even more severe.'The protesters have been demanding the resignation of Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula as a pre-condition for beginning talks with the government. At least 29 people have died during the protests and over 400 injured.
They are also asking for the arrest of the Maoist cadres who allegedly killed a 17-year-old schoolboy during the first days of the protests, escalating the violence.
Their protests paralysed the Terai plains and cut off the highway connecting Nepal with India, which is the lifeline for essential supplies and fuel from India.
The disruptions forced Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala to agree to amend the newly promulgated constitution and meet the protesters' demand for a federal government.
The government also agreed to add more constituencies for the June elections in the plains, based on population.
The demand for an autonomous Madhes state for plains people arose after over 200 years of neglect of the diaspora by a succession of rulers. The Madehsi community has near zero representation in the government, judiciary and army.
The Madhes movement has fuelled the imagination of other neglected indigenous communities, who are also demanding autonomous states with the right to self-determination.
From Monday, the Madeshi Janadhukar Forum is joining forces with the Nepal Adivasi Janajati Mahasangh, an umbrella organisation of indigenous protesters, to begin a joint movement.
The announcement of a fresh stir would deal a blow to Nepal's industries, which lost millions due to the continuing unrest in the plains for the last three weeks.
Anticipating such a move, people in the Kathmandu valley began panic-buying petro-products from Sunday.
It remains to be seen how the protests will affect the meeting of SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) commerce ministers to be held here Feb 26 and the bilateral Indo-Nepal meeting Feb 22-23 to discuss the Indo-Nepal Trade Treaty that expires March 5.