Curfew Clamped in Nepal’s Birgunj After Communal Tensions Flare

In southern Nepal, a local tussle turned into communal tension, which has triggered an indefinite curfew in Birgunj, the commercial centre of Parsa district, by the local administration who are fearing that further unrest would take place only days before the national elections.

The order was implemented by the District Administration Office (DAO) in Parsa since 9:45 am on Monday, which outlawed any movement and social gatherings within Birgunj Metropolitan City until further notice. The officials claimed that the move was made after two groups of young people had a confrontation in the Shripur locality that threatened to trigger religious feelings of people.

According to Chief District Officer Bhola Dahal, the area that is under the curfew is the area between the Bypass Road in the east to the Sirsiya River in the west and the Gandak Chowk in the north to Shankaracharya gate in the south. In this zone, all demonstrations and rallies, sit-ins, meetings and assemblies have been strictly forbidden.

Parking Spat Erupts in Tension

Local police claim that the confrontation started on Sunday evening when a car failed to go through a narrow road which supposedly was blocked by motorcycles. A mere parking argument rapidly turned out to be raised when the slogans began provocative, and it evoked the prospects of a Hindu and Muslim clash in the mixed neighbourhood.

Hari Bahadur Basnet, a spokesperson of the District Police Office in Parsa, told that the prohibitory order was made to ensure that the situation did not go any further. This involved security personnel being deployed on sensitive pockets overnight.

Services that are essential are exempted

In spite of the fact that people should not move freely, the government has permitted vehicles associated with essential services to operate. Security supervision has allowed limited movements to journalists, students who go to take scheduled university examinations, examination staff, tourists, human rights workers, diplomatic missions and passengers who present valid air tickets.

Travellers bound to the airports have been assigned security agencies with the responsibility of ensuring that the travelling is not disrupted based on confirmed tickets.

Sensitive Border City

The major importation and exportation route to Nepal and one of the key exit points into India is Birgunj, which borders Raxaul in India. This is particularly sensitive due to its strategic and economic importance.

Sizable Hindu and Muslim populations in the city have experienced occasional communal tensions in the past. Such restrictions had been placed earlier this year, after vandalism of a mosque in a different district, as demonstrations threatened to cause unrest in some parts of the Madhesh Province.

The recent flare-up in Birgunj happens against the backdrop of the recent communal tensions happening in Gaur, the headquarters of the adjacent Routahat district when the tensions between the representatives of the two communities broke out during a wedding procession that coincided with the celebration of Ramadan.

Elections Loom

According to the turn of events, very few days before Nepal is set to conduct elections into the House of Representatives on March 5, the day when the government has always been on high alert to stem any political or communal flashpoints.

The local administration are adamant that the curfew is only precautionary and that they needed to contain a small local conflict and before it escalated into a wider sectarian polarization. In the meantime, Birgunj is under high security in which armed guards patrol the important crossroads and the dwellers are indoors as the administration embarks on restoring sanity.

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