Madhesis protest Nepal's customs duty on good over NRs 100, ruling party MPs raise objection

Nepal imposed customs duty on goods being brought from India above ₹100 since mid-April or Baisakh 1, 2083, the Nepalese New Year day, a development that has hugely affected life in the Terai, the southern plains of Nepal, bordering India.

“Cancel customs duty,” “Respect Madhesi people,” “Don’t kill the poor people,” were the slogans chanted by about 100 placards-carrying youths from the Madhesi communities in Kathmandu’s Maitighar Mandala.

“The imposition of tax on small items being brought from across the border by people living in the border area have not only obstructed free movement of people across the border but also damaged our centuries-old relations with the southern neighbour,” Kaushal Kumar Singh, president of Other Backward Class Federation, Nepal, told PTI.

People living in the border area, who used to bring small items such as daily necessity goods, food items, clothings and gift items from India for their personal use, now cannot bring them with the new rule in place, Singh pointed out.

Tapeshwor Yadav, Madhes Province President of the ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party and a Member of Parliament for Siraha-4, expressed strong objection to the hardships faced by the public in border areas, including Madhes Province, a local media report said.

A delegation of lawmakers from Madhesh and Lumbini provinces, led by Yadav, met with Home Minister Sudan Gurung on Saturday to draw the government’s attention to the policy enforced by the Armed Police Force and Nepal Police restricting the import of goods worth more than 100 rupees and mandates customs clearance.

News portal Ratopati said that Yadav demanded that border crossings be eased immediately, keeping in mind the historical ‘roti-beti’ relationship between Nepal and India and the situation of Nepali workers employed in north Bihar in India.

The RSP MP said that it is wrong to cause suffering to the public by disregarding practical policies and rules that have been in place for decades.

MP Yadav also emphasised that while strictness is necessary to control drug trafficking and money laundering at the border, authorities should be flexible regarding household and productive goods, Ratopati said.

Sporadic protests were organised against the decision in Sralahi, Parsa, Siraha and Dhanusha against the move on Friday and Saturday, he said, adding, the protests will spread to other districts of the Madhes province in the days to come, if the new customs duty charges are not withdrawn.

People who do shopping for their wedding and other festivals are also directly affected by the imposition of customs duty, Singh said.

Similarly, an NGO Nepal-India Open Border Dialogue Committee too issued a statement urging the government to arrange custom free transport movement for 48 hours to enable those visiting bordering towns and traveling to important religious sites.

The committee also demanded zero customs duty on household items.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.