At least three people have died, scores of others were injured and over 200 detained following strikes and protests taking place in Nepal for more than a week after four major political parties agreed to a division of the Himalayan nation into six federally-administered states.
Thousands of security personnel have been deployed in the streets to control the situation.
Dissatisfied over the six-province model, a two-day strike called by UCPN-Maoist and other fringe parties on Sunday and Monday brought the nation to a virtual standstill.
An indefinite strike called by some Madhesh-based parties in the southern plains of Nepal since Saturday has paralysed lives across the Nepal-India border.
The government says over 200 people across the country were detained on Sunday and Monday who were taking part in the strikes and indulging in vandalism.
The four parties -- Nepali Congress, the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) and the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Loktantrik -- signed an agreement on August 8 on the division of the country into six federally-administered provinces.
However, immediately after the agreement was sealed, many political groups opposed it and launched protests across the country.
At least three people were killed and dozens injured in protests in the past week, officials said.
On Monday, at least five people were injured in a clash with police in Jumla district where protesters are demanding a separate Karnali region in the new federal set-up.
Karnali, in the country's far northwest, is a backward region but is rich in natural resources.
Police on Sunday fired blanks during a protest in which 13 people were injured, as enraged protesters tried to remove a signboard at the Jumla district police office. Six seriously injured demonstrators were airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment.
Demonstrators also brought down signboards at many government offices in Jumla district headquarters Khalanga.
Top leaders of the political parties are now trying to douse the public anger, but there has been no agreement so far.
Speaking in parliament on Monday, Home Minister Bamdev Gautam claimed that some political leaders and lawmakers were involved in igniting ethnic clashes and giving secessionist statements so that the government has to pay extra attention to maintain law and order.
During the recently-conducted feedback drive by the Constituent Assembly, people demanded reducing the number of proposed eight provinces.
Following the decision on the six-province model, Nepali Congress leader Krishna Prasad Sitaula had said the Constituent Assembly will now be able to deliver the new constitution by August-end as envisaged. However, protest broke out soon after that.
The Constituent Assembly, a unicameral body of 601 members, has been tasked with drafting a new constitution for the Himalayan nation. The present assembly, which also serves as the country's parliament, was elected in 2013 after the first Constituent Assembly failed to pass a new constitution.
(Anil Giri can be contacted at girianil@gmail.com)
