South Asia

Nepal: Students protest against China as land encroachment reports emerge

Nepal: Students protest against China as land encroachment reports emerge

Bangladesh Live News | @banglalivenews | 29 Jun 2020, 02:00 pm
Kathmandu: Despite the ruling Nepali government's show of growing amity with China and bitterness with age-old friend India in recent times, students of the Himalayan nation protested against Beijing on Monday.

The protest was conducted by the Nepal Student Union.

Students were seen holding posters which read: "Go Back China."

The protests occurred at a time when certain section of the media is claiming that China has encroached at least 28 hectares of Nepali land spread across four districts of Humla, Rasuwa, Sankhuwasabha and Sindhupalchok.

The issue of encroachment became clear via the report published by Nepali agencies.

Since 1962, China has also taken over an entire village that falls in the world famous Gorkha district, but this fact has come to light only now after a local publication carried a story recently, The Sunday Guardian reported.

According to official sources in Nepal, in many places, the encroachment has been done simply by shifting border pillars, reported the magazine.

Land dispute with India:

The Nepali Parliament voted recently on a constitutional amendment bill in a special session to revise the country's map which includes some parts India claims as its own.

Out of the 275 members of Nepal's House of Representatives, 258 votes went in favour of the amendment bill, which was passed by a two-thirds majority.

Recently, Nepal's ruling party had cleared the map paving the way for friction between the two countries.

Now that the bill has been passed, it will be sent to the National Assembly where it will undergo a similar process.

The new map of Nepal includes a portion of land on the east of river Kali, which extends out from the northwestern tip of Nepal.

The area includes the Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand and also Limpiyadhura and Kalapani, which are strategically significant areas for India and the country has been guarding since the 1962 war with China.