Over 150 trucks from India entered Nepal through a key border trade point today for the first time in more than four months as angry traders from both sides burned down tents set up by agitating Madhesis who had enforced a crippling blockade that led to severe shortages in the landlocked nation.
A huge convoy of freight containers entered Nepal through the Birgunj-Raxaul border crossing in Bihar after local entrepreneurs from Nepal and India set ablaze the tents set by Sayukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha (SLMM) protesters at Dasgaja's Miteri Bridge in Birgunj, 90 kilometres south of Kathmandu.
"There was no official announcement of lifting of the blockade by India, though with no protesters obstructing the border point, few vehicles have entered into Nepal from Raxaul, said Yadav Koirala, Nepal home ministry spokesperson.
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The Madhesis, mostly of Indian origin, have been demanding the new Constitution be amended to include their concerns.
"There is no blockade at the checkpoint right now, and over 150 trucks have passed through since afternoon," a senior police official said.
Locals chased away Tarai-Madhes Loktantrik Party leader Jitendra Sonal who reached the scene claiming the border blockade had not been officially ended.
There is a strong presence of police and locals in the bridge. Meanwhile, small vehicles and rickshaws are plying in and across the bridge.
A group of Indian traders came to the border and set ablaze the tents while some Nepalese locals also extended support to their action by chasing away few protesters sitting near the border area.
After the removal of the tent and vacating the protesters from the border area few dozens of vehicles including some containers entered Nepal, according to officials.
In November, police forcibly removed protesters from the bridge, leading to clashes with protesters that killed one Indian national.
So far, 55 people have died in the violent Madhesi-Tharu agitation launched by Nepal's marginalised groups.
The Madhesis have been agitating over the new Constitution demanding more representation. They are also protesting division of their ancestral homeland under the seven-province structure and have led the blockade of key border trade points with India.
The opening of the major Indo-Nepal border point comes as
the protesting Madhesi leaders indicated that they would change the form of protest and the border blockade was likely to be lifted.
Nepal had hinted recently that Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli may head to China instead of India if the trade "blockade" was not lifted, making the normalisation of situation at the Indo-Nepal border a pre-condition for the premier's maiden trip to New Delhi.
The usual practice of the new prime ministers of Nepal is to travel to India on their maiden foreign trip. Only Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' had rubbed India the wrong way when he chose China as his first foreign destination after taking over as premier in 2008.
Meanwhile, security arrangements have been intensified in the border area to prevent any untoward incident.
For more than four months, life in the southern Nepal plains have been seriously affected with the Madhesi Front-led protests against the country's new Constitution that was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on September 20.
The Madhesis have been agitating over the new Constitution demanding more representation. They are also protesting division of their ancestral homeland under the seven-province structure and have led the blockade of key border trade points with India.
There has been growing pressure on the Madhesi Front to lift the blockade at the border as landlocked Nepal faced acute shortage of fuel, cooking gas and medicines among other essentials due to the blockade.
