Security was on Wednesday tightened across Nepal, including in towns in the southern plains bordering India, following minor blasts in churches as the country prepares to unveil a long-awaited new secular Constitution that has triggered violent protests.
Three policemen were slightly injured as minor explosions occurred in churches in Jhapa district in eastern Nepal, Home Ministry spokesperson Laxmi Dhakal said.
The blasts came in the wake of Nepal’s parliament rejecting an amendment proposed by Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal in the Constituent Assembly seeking reinstatement of the country as a Hindu state.
Clause-wise voting on the final draft of the Constitution, to be unveiled on Sunday, continued for the fourth day in the 601-member assembly on Wednesday as part of the Constitution-making process.
Out of a total of 598 valid members of the assembly, only 538 members are taking part in the voting as 60 others belonging to the Madhesi parties are boycotting the vote.
On Tuesday, four persons including a four-year-old child were killed in police firing when clashes occurred in Rupandehi district in southeast Nepal.
The clashes occurred when the agitating cadres of Madhesi Front attacked trucks carrying goods from India and escorted by the police on a national highway.
The cargo <g data-gr-id="38">were</g> being during the indefinite general strike that has been enforced by the Madhesi parties in southern Nepal for more than a month.
The Madhesi Front has been launching intensified protests in southern Nepal against the new constitution being tabled in the Constituent Assembly that proposes to split Nepal into seven
provinces as part of a federal state.
The main political parties now agree on seven federal states, but smaller parties and ethnic groups oppose either the number or the structure of the states.
The month-long violent protest campaign launched by the Madhesi Front and the Tharuhat Struggle Committee in southern and western Nepal has so far claimed more than 40 lives. The Madhesi parties are instead demanding an autonomous region in the southern Terai plains and more rights and representation for the Madhesi people living in the south.
The ethnic groups claim having a separate state would give them a stronger say in local affairs.
Nepal briefs envoys on new Constitution
Nepalese Foreign Minister Mahendra Bahadur Pandey on Wednesday briefed envoys from India, China and the US, about the unveiling of the long-awaited new Constitution on September 20 and sought support from the international community on the matter. During the meeting, the Foreign Minister briefed about the ongoing Constitution promulgation process and the efforts being made to hold dialogue with the disgruntled political parties, which are protesting the proposal to split Nepal.