Nepalese students holding placards take part in a protest to show solidarity against the border blockade in Kathmandu yesterday.
DPA/Kathmandu
Hundreds of students in Nepal formed a human chain yesterday to protest a shortage of fuel in the country since imports from India were blocked two months ago.
Students lined up at various points along the 27km Ring Road around the capital.
“This is a national problem and we wish to draw the attention of the concerned people through this protest,” Emla Pradhan, a teacher at the Kathmandu Valley School who was participating in the rally, said.
“It’s very discouraging for students to be unable to go to school because there is no fuel. This human chain is our appeal against the blockade,” Suyashaa Vaidhya, a 10th grader.
Schools were closed for a month in April-May after earthquakes hit the country. They have been closed again since September when anti-constitution strikes
began in the southern Terai area.
The protests led to a fuel crisis which has forced schools to close, affecting 1.6mn schoolchildren.
“We are seriously concerned that the future of millions of children in Nepal is being put in jeopardy with the current situation in the country,” Unicef said in a statement last week.
“Children, particularly in the southern Terai plains and the mountain districts in central and central-eastern parts of the country that were hardest hit by the earthquakes earlier this year, have been highly affected by the current situation.”
Nepal has been crippled by protests in the southern region against a new constitution since August and India’s decision to close the border on security grounds in late September.
The embargo has caused severe shortages in Nepal, which is heavily dependent on imports from India. People have been smuggling fuel and other supplies across the border in small amounts.
