Kathmandu, Aug 2 (IANS) Nepal’s Terai plains, that has become the battleground of nearly a dozen armed groups since this year, saw yet another faction join the fray Thursday with a call to shut down two districts in the plains for three days.
Underscoring the deepening rift between the hill and plains communities in the Terai, a region that borders India, the three-day closure call was given by a group calling itself Madhes Virus Killers (MVK).
Announcing the shutdown in Siraha and Saptari districts from Thursday, the MVK said it was calling the protest to condemn the killing, abduction and rape of people from the hill community.
Before the emergence of the MVK, the armed groups spreading terror in the southern plains have generally been from the plains community whose demand is the creation of an autonomous state in the Terai.
Three of the groups are bands of former Maoist guerrillas, who are now waging a bitter war against their former comrades.
The Terai groups are asking the government to pull out staff belonging to the hill community from the plains or face “dire consequences”.
Seven government officials have been killed in the Terai since March.
The emergence of new groups in the plains and their ability to shut down districts at their will casts serious doubts on the law and order situation and the government’s ability to hold a crucial election in November.
On Wednesday night, a woman was killed in Rautahat district in the plains though no group immediately claimed responsibility. Over 100 people have died in the Terai violence since this year.
Fresh trouble is feared next week when one of the biggest groups in the plains, the Madheshi Janadhikar Forum, swings into action.
The Forum, that held three rounds of talks with the eight-party government, has given it till Aug 8 to meet its demands, which includes taking steps to dissolve the interim parliament and government.
If the demand is not met within the deadline, the Forum has warned it would start an agitation in the plains.
The continuous turmoil in the plains forced the government to postpone the elections from June to November 22.
However, even now, with less than four months left, it is doubtful if the government would be able to hold the exercise.