Birgunj, Raxaul (Indo-Nepal Border), Oct.7 : India is still ready to move trucks to Nepal, but it would be wrong on humanitarian grounds since the Madhesis are sitting on a strike at the border, the Assistant Commissioner of Customs at Raxaul, Kamlesh Kumar, said on Wednesday.
Kumar said, “Madhesis are sitting on a strike, so, if we pass the trucks from here, it would be wrong on humanitarian grounds.”
“We are still ready to move the trucks provided, they (Nepal) remove those people who are on a strike there,” Kumar said.
He added, “There is no ban or order of such a kind from the Government of India.”
One of the protesters, Jagdish Kumar Aggarwal from the Nepal Medical Association, said the Nepal Government is blaming India for the unrest to remain in power.
“Nepal Government is doing this just to remain in power. They just want to prolong the entire issue so that we give up in the end,” Aggarwal said.
Another protester from the Nepal Engineer Association, Vinod Yadav, said “It is absolutely false what the Nepal Government is saying about India that the latter has created the blockade at the border. It is the people of Nepal and the entire public of Madhes who have created the blockade.”
The total loss in trade for the Indian Government must have cost around 10 to 11 crores, assistant commissioner of customs Kumar said, adding that trade is still going on through the medium of rail but trade via truck is at a halt since September 24.
On Tuesday, the meeting between Nepal’s three major parties and UDMF had ended inconclusively as the latter demanded concrete agenda on various issues for talks.
The Madhesis and other minority communities in Nepal are saying that the new constitution does not give them equal rights. (ANI)