Madhesi leader Rajendra Mahato before being injured in a clash with police in Biratnagar on Saturday.A clash erupted between police and protesters in Biratnagar on Saturday when Madhesi leader Rajendra Mahato tried to block the Jogbani border point.
Mahato, President of Sadbhavana Party, had reached Jogabani, an Indian town adjacent to Biratnagar, to attend a political event on Saturday morning. He returned to Biratnagar in the afternoon and began a sit-in at the check-point, disrupting import of fuel and other essential commodities.
Police asked Mahato and his supporters to leave the check point, but he refused and instead began shouting slogans against the government. Police then used tear gas to disperse agitators. A clash ensued, and Mahato, among other protesters, sustained injuries to his head and legs. He was taken to Jogbani by his supporters.
After being chased away from the check-point, Madhesi protesters hurled stones and bricks for about 15 minutes into Nepal targeting securing personnel. They were later chased away by India's Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB).
Tension ran high for hours near the border point in Biratnagar, and supply of essentials through Jogabani has once again come to a halt.
After India welcomed Nepal's decision to amend the constitution to ensure proportional representation of Madhesi people and set up a committee to resolve dispute over federal boundaries, more trucks carrying fuel, medicine and other commodities were entering through the Jogbani border point.
But after Saturday's clash, it is not certain when import through Jogbani will resume.
Mahato, who created trouble in Biratnagar on Saturday, is believed to be a hardliner within Madhesi Morcha. After India warned of disruption of supply citing violence in Nepal's southern plains on 21 September, an emergency meeting of the Morcha on 23 September had decided to block all border points.
Mahato was assigned to lead a sit-in at Birganj – a task which he has effectively fulfilled so far. Nearly 70 per cent of fuel is imported through Birganj, and Mahato-led protesters are still staging a sit-in there. Upendra Yadav, another top Madhesi leader, was assigned to Biratnagar. But Yadav has rarely reached Biratangar since September, and import through Jogbani was not much affected by protesters even before India's latest statement.
It seems that Mahato is not happy with Yadav's performance, and he is himself trying to block Jogbani. Sources also say Yadav and senior Madhesi leader Mahant Thakur are for flexibility, but Mahato is against withdrawing protests until the government agrees to put Sunsari, Morang and Jhapa in Madhes province.