New Delhi: Communal violence that began in Sunsari district of Nepal earlier this week spilled into the country’s Madhes region Thursday, taking the death count to three amid a nationwide curfew and a delayed first-time address by Prime Minister Balen Shah. The prime minister, who hails from the Madhes region, the smallest and most densely populated southeastern province of the country that is bordered by India’s Bihar on its south, is now under fire over his apparently late reaction to the developing situation.
The violence, which began Sunday night in Sunsari district of Koshi, spread across the Madhes region by Thursday. The province of Koshi, to the north and east of Madhes, also borders Bihar.The unrest, according to reports, began when Hindus in Sunsari, a district of the Koshi province, were proceeding toward the Koshi Barrage with holy water as part of a Bolbam procession, the Nepal equivalent of India’s Kaawad Yatra. The procession featured loud devotional music, which the local Muslim community objected to. What began as a verbal disagreement escalated into a violent confrontation, with people from both communities armed with sticks, stones, and bamboo poles confronting each other.
