Since BJP has come to power, things had gone beyond control. The agenda of Hindu Rashtra and the thrust for painting everything saffron somewhere has vindicated the neighbours also. Perhaps this is the reason, Nepal is trying to remain secular by refuting all claims of fanatic India. There have been many anti-India protests in Nepal as they feel that India has been retaliating against their government after the re-promulgation of its new Constitution, over which India has been clearly irked as it feels the statute was discriminatory to ethnic Indian community, Madhesi, living in Nepal’s border districts. These areas also witnessed violent protests by the Madhesis during the drafting of the Nepal Constitution.

Barring a few aberrations, the new Nepal Constitution is a progressive document, particularly in south Asia. It abolished capital punishment and became the first Asian country to protect the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The electoral system gives a second chance to all those who fail in the first attempt. A Madhesi president Ram Baran Yadav announced the promulgation of the Constitution. Over 80 per cent of the parliamentarians voted in favour of the Constitution, only 12 per cent boycotted and a mere four per cent voted against it . Of the 67 Madhesi MPs, 40 approved the Constitution. Of the 29 Tharu (tribal) MPs, 16 said yes. What consensus are the Indian government and a large section of the media seeking? Do we want the Nepalese to wait another ten years to establish a secular progressive republic? Our Indian news channels showed the protest and mourners and never showed the celebration of the new Constitution which happened across the country.

Since a significant number of people affiliated to Nepal’s Madhesi community–which feels deprived of rights in the country’s newly adopted Constitution— also live on the borders of poll-bound Bihar, there were also other reasons for discontent over the new Constitution. These include the delineation of electoral constituencies in the Terai (where more than 50 per cent of Nepal’s people live) which has not been done on the basis of the population in the plains; this creates a grievance about gerrymandering. Other complaints relate to citizenship norms that disallow children of Nepali mothers married to foreigners from inheriting Nepali citizenship. All said, the people of Nepal would be somewhat relieved that there has been a degree of closure to the Constitution-writing process. The recent earthquake had only worsened economic conditions and there was a sense of fatigue with the Constitution-writing process. The people required their polity to focus on governance in a stable Nepal. The polity could do well to take the necessary constitutional steps to address the Madhesi concerns and to live up to these expectations on governance.

Nepal has also conveyed to India its concerns over the continued obstruction in supply of essential goods and hoped that New Delhi will soon resolve the issue, especially with festivals like Dussehra and Diwali coming up which are celebrated big in the Himalayan nation. Meanwhile, when India helped Nepal during earthquake crisis, everybody in Nepal praised them and thanked them. However, now when the supplies are choked, people are reacting and protesting. It is quite natural.

Modern-day India and Nepal initiated their relationship with the 1950 Indo-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship and accompanying secret letters that defined security relations between the two countries, and an agreement governing both bilateral trade and trade transiting Indian territory. The 1950 treaty and letters exchanged between the then Indian government and Rana rulers of Nepal, stated that “neither government shall tolerate any threat to the security of the other by a foreign aggressor” and obligated both sides “to inform each other of any serious friction or misunderstanding with any neighbouring state likely to cause any breach in the friendly relations subsisting between the two governments.” These accords cemented a “special relationship” between India and Nepal that granted Nepalese the same economic and educational opportunities as Indian citizens in India and preferential treatment to Indians compared to other nationalities in Nepal. The Indo-Nepal border is open; Nepalese and Indian nationals may move freely across the border without passports or visas and may live and work in either country. However, Indians aren’t allowed to own land-properties or work in government institutions in Nepal, while Nepalese nationals in India are allowed to work in Indian government institutions (except in some states) and some civil services (the IFS, IAS, and IPS).

Hours after the Constitution was passed by an overwhelming majority, violence escalated and soon after Indian trucks, which trundle daily across the borders with essential supplies towards Kathmandu, stopped. Hundreds of trucks were waiting at the border with shipments including medicine, gasoline, cooking fuel and produce. India has dismissed suggestions that it has imposed any embargo against the supplies to Nepal and has maintained that the obstruction was due to protest and unrest in that country as Indian companies and transporters fear for their safety and security. However, the Nepalese envoy said his government has given assurance to India that it will ensure their safety and security after entering Nepal.