PROCHINA BODY PROTESTS AGAINST INDIA IN BORDER TOWN

A pro-China Maoist organisation in Nepal has launched a tirade against India, protesting against the alleged grabbing of over 50 bighas of land by Indian authorities close to ‘no-man’s land’ along the Bihar border.

The protests were held early this week in Nepalese border town Birgunj and village Sirisiya, sources in the Nepali administration said.

Activists of Akhil Nepal Krantikari Sangthan (ANKS) — a frontal organisation of Nepali Maoist Party (NMP) — said the Indian authorities were erecting boundary pillars 3km inside the territory of the Himalayan nation with the help of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). ANKS chairman Sevant Bhandari said the Indian authorities had encroached upon Nepalese land and were erecting pillars at border posts 391and 392 in Chhapkaiya area of Birgunj to demarcate the border.

Vinod Prakash Singh, chief development officer (CDO) of Nepal’s Parsa district, however, denied the allegations. In a press note, Singh said the allegations of land encroachment by India were baseless as pillars were being erected at border posts identified by a joint survey team of both the nations. The site of pillars was selected in accordance with the Sugauli treaty of 1816 that established the India-Nepal boundary.

A week ago, another pro-China organisation, Greater Nepal Nationalist Front, had spearheaded an agitation, accusing India of encroaching upon Nepalese land. SAGAR SURAJ

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