Anti-China protests erupted in Nepal’s lowland areas on Friday October 30, days after Beijing agreed to supply emergency fuel aid to Kathmandu.

Nepal signed a deal on Wednesday, October 28, with China to import petroleum products. Kathmandu has been forced to ration fuel after protests against a new constitution strangled supplies from India into the landlocked nation.

The Madhesi community in Nepal’s lowlands, many of whom trace their origins to India, have imposed an economic blockade to oppose the new constitution. They are against splitting Nepal into seven provinces.

Meanwhile, the Indian government has written to its Nepalese counterpart to provide compensation to the family of a boy who was killed in police firing on the border, said an official on Tuesday November 03.

Nepali police shot and killed an Indian citizen at a border checkpoint on Monday as they tried to clear protesters to ensure movement of trucks.

Protests over a new constitution turned violent in August and more than 40 people have been killed as southern plains dwellers objected to seeing their lands divided and included in several federal states dominated by mountain communities.

The constitution was nonetheless adopted on September 20, paving the way for the formation of a government headed by K P Sharma Oli, who has failed to calm passions that have paralysed economic and political life.

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