Nepal's ethnic parties threaten to intensify protest if their demands are rejected
Lumbini, Oct 10 (ANI): Nepal's ethnic parties, protesting division of their ancestral homeland under the new constitution, threatened to intensify their agitation if their demands were not accepted by the government. The Madhesi community in Nepal's lowlands, many of whom trace their origins to India, have imposed an economic blockade to oppose the promulgation of the new constitution. They are against splitting Nepal into seven provinces. Protesters blocked around 4,000 trucks at the border with India, the main supply route into landlocked Nepal, while the road to China is still obstructed by landslides. The formal talks between the government and the Joint Madhesi Front (JMF) - the main agitating group - have formally begun in Kathmandu. The key demand of the protesters is that Madhesh region should be demarcated as one province.
