Protesters chanting slogans take part in a general strike organised by the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN) demanding autonomous regions based on ethnicity to be drafted into the new constitution in Kathmandu yesterday.

AFP/Kathmandu


Nepalese lawmakers tabled a revised draft of a new constitution in parliament late last night as opposition members chanted slogans in the latest protest against the charter.
Bickering parties struck a breakthrough deal this month to carve the country into six provinces in the charter, before modifying it to include a seventh province in the new draft.
The proposed internal borders have sparked fury from protesters representing marginalised communities, who kicked off a two-day nationwide strike yesterday.
“I seek permission to present this bill in this respected assembly,” said lawmaker, Krishna Prasad Sitaula from the ruling Nepali Congress party.
“We can discuss on all issues right here, we can search for solutions,” Sitaula told lawmakers as several opposition members chanted slogans, while some walked out in protest.
Hundreds of demonstrators have campaigned against the draft charter, saying the proposed provinces fail to ensure political representation for marginalised communities, including the Madhesis and Tharus. The demonstrations have sparked clashes with police who have shot dead three people in Nepal’s midwest and south over the last two weeks.
Following the unrest Nepal’s political leaders revised the six-province model, adding a seventh province in the new draft, but the changes have failed to appease the communities.
Police yesterday arrested 43 demonstrators from Nepal’s federation of indigenous nationalities, which called for a two-day nationwide strike against the charter.
“We have arrested 43 demonstrators in Kathmandu for trying to block roads, vandalise vehicles and close shops,” police spokesman Kamal Singh Bam told AFP.
Himal Dandu Sherpa, vice-chairman of the federation of indigenous nationalities, said that the draft constitution does not ensure the rights of indigenous communities.
“The proposed demarcation breaks up home districts of indigenous groups in different provinces. That is not acceptable,” Sherpa said.
Opposition lawmakers have long pushed for new provinces to be created along lines that could favour historically marginalised communities, but other parties said this would be divisive and threaten national unity.
Political agreement on the borders was struck after April’s devastating earthquake helped bring a halt to the seemingly endless squabbling between rival parties.
Work on a new national constitution began in 2008 following a decade-long Maoist insurgency that left an estimated 16,000 people dead and brought down the 240-year-old Hindu monarchy.
But political infighting confounded efforts to hammer out a deal, throwing parliament into disarray and crippling the economy.