Summary Clashes broke out when protesters tried to block a major highway: National police spokesman
KATHMANDU (AFP) - Nepal police Tuesday fired into a crowd of demonstrators, killing one during protests against a proposed new constitution, as deepening discord spurred lawmakers from a regional party to resign from parliament.
National police spokesman Kamal Singh Bam said the clashes broke out in the southeastern district of Saptari when protesters tried to block a major national highway.
Hundreds threw petrol bombs and stones at security forces, attacking their vehicles and vandalising a local police station, he said.
"One person was killed and five were injured after police were forced to fire to control the violent mob," Bam told AFP.
Regional parties representing the Madhesi ethnic minority who live in the area called an indefinite strike on Tuesday to protest plans in the constitution to divide Nepal into six provinces.
They say the way the new borders are drawn discriminates against historically marginalised communities such as the Madhesis, whom they fear will have limited representation in the new provinces.
Lawmakers from the Sadbhawana party, which represents Madhesis, walked out of the constituent assembly late Tuesday, saying they had been "reduced to helpless witnesses" in the political process.
"It is clear from the draft presented that far from granting exploited and victimized people their constitutional rights, there has been a conspiracy to snatch away even their existing rights," the party said in a press statement.
The Sadbhawana statement, signed by chairman Rajendra Mahato, said the party had taken the decision "because being a part of the CA (constituent assembly) has become pointless".
The party won six seats in national elections in 2013, making it the ninth largest force in parliament, and commentators said the resignation could have serious implications for the constitution-drafting process.
"They may not be a huge party but they have a significant political presence among Madhesis and this decision will harden the opposition to the draft in those constituencies," said Akhilesh Upadhyay, editor-in-chief of The Kathmandu Post.
"Events like these tend to harden opinions and if the Madhes constituencies become radicalised, it will be very difficult for other regional parties to ignore them," Upadhyay told AFP.
The party said it would support the ongoing protests and called for "an immediate end to police brutality" as the strike forced schools and businesses to close across southern Nepal.
District chief Birendra Kumar Yadav said authorities had imposed a curfew in the area until Wednesday morning.
The latest violence comes after two people were shot dead last week in the country s midwest while protesting against the proposals.
Lawmakers began working on a new national constitution in 2008, two years after the end of a decade-long Maoist insurgency that left an estimated 16,000 people dead and brought down the 240-year-old Hindu monarchy.
Negotiations faltered on the issue of internal borders and lawmakers only reached agreement after a devastating earthquake in April.
