Life is returning to normal in the plains of central and eastern Nepal after three weeks of violence.
At least 27 people have died in clashes between protesters of the Madheshi people and security forces.
Calm returned after the head of a leading Madheshi group welcomed the prime minister's call for a dialogue and suspended its protests.
Madheshi groups say they have been discriminated against in the existing state structure.
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has vowed to amend the constitution to meet the key demands of Madheshi protesters.
He has pledged a federal system of governance and more representation of the southern plains in the parliament.
On Thursday the chairman of the Madheshi Janadhikar Forum (MJF), Upendra Yadav, welcomed Mr Koirala's call for a dialogue and said that the group was suspending its agitation for 10 days to create an atmosphere for talks.
'New life'
Schools and colleges reopened and businesses resumed in the affected region on Friday and traffic was back on the roads.
A journalist in a key south eastern town, Janakpur, told the BBC that it looked as if a new life had started.
The Madheshi community has been demanding autonomous federal regions and greater representation in parliament.
It argued that "ruling elites" dominated by people from the mountains of Nepal have denied it fair political representation, and restricted the number of jobs available to them in the police and army.
They also want an autonomous region for the southern plains within a federal state.
Madheshis make up 33-45% of Nepal's population of 27 million but are vastly under-represented in government and the army, which tend to be dominated by hill-dwellers
Friday, February 09, 2007
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Indian minister cancels Nepal visit over Terai turmoil
The unrest in Nepal's Terai plains that has killed at least 21 people and paralysed key towns in the south, near the Indian border, claimed its first diplomatic casualty after an Indian minister put off his trip to the Himalayan kingdom.
India's Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh, who was to have arrived in Kathmandu Wednesday, cancelled his three-day official visit, presumably due to the continuing turmoil in the southern plains.
Also, Nepal's Minister for Commerce, Industry and Supplies Hridayesh Tripathi, who had extended an invitation to Ramesh, has himself resigned over the Terai unrest.
Ramesh was also to visit Birgunj, Nepal's commercial hub in Parsa district and inspect the dry port there, managed by an Indian joint venture.
Birgunj has remained under curfew off and on since last month.
After the Madhes Janadhikar Forum, a group of plains people, pledged to keep up protests demanding an autonomous Madhes state for the people of Indian origin, Birgunj along with other towns has remained tense.
Most of the 21 people died in police firing, triggering a demand for the resignation of Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula.
On Jan 26, when India celebrated its 58th Republic Day, the lunch organised by the Indian consulate in Birgunj as well as a ghazal programme had to be cancelled due to curfew.
The Terai turmoil has also affected the ongoing work by the United Nations (UN) to register the arms of the Maoists.
On Monday, dozens of protesters stopped four UN vehicles in Janakpur town and tried to prevent them from proceeding to a Maoist guerrilla camp in nearby Sindhuli district, Nepal's official media said Tuesday.
Earlier, acting chief of the UN Mission in Nepal Ian Martin had expressed concern that if Terai remained restive, it would affect UN efforts to help the government hold elections by June.
India's Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh, who was to have arrived in Kathmandu Wednesday, cancelled his three-day official visit, presumably due to the continuing turmoil in the southern plains.
Also, Nepal's Minister for Commerce, Industry and Supplies Hridayesh Tripathi, who had extended an invitation to Ramesh, has himself resigned over the Terai unrest.
Ramesh was also to visit Birgunj, Nepal's commercial hub in Parsa district and inspect the dry port there, managed by an Indian joint venture.
Birgunj has remained under curfew off and on since last month.
After the Madhes Janadhikar Forum, a group of plains people, pledged to keep up protests demanding an autonomous Madhes state for the people of Indian origin, Birgunj along with other towns has remained tense.
Most of the 21 people died in police firing, triggering a demand for the resignation of Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula.
On Jan 26, when India celebrated its 58th Republic Day, the lunch organised by the Indian consulate in Birgunj as well as a ghazal programme had to be cancelled due to curfew.
The Terai turmoil has also affected the ongoing work by the United Nations (UN) to register the arms of the Maoists.
On Monday, dozens of protesters stopped four UN vehicles in Janakpur town and tried to prevent them from proceeding to a Maoist guerrilla camp in nearby Sindhuli district, Nepal's official media said Tuesday.
Earlier, acting chief of the UN Mission in Nepal Ian Martin had expressed concern that if Terai remained restive, it would affect UN efforts to help the government hold elections by June.
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