Nepal's cable federation said it would suspend Indian television channels and protesters marched in Kathmandu carrying an effigy of India's prime minister on Monday , accusing their neighbour of imposing an economic blockade and meddling in internal politics.
Tension between the South Asian nations has spiked since Nepal adopted a new constitution last week, upsetting southern minority groups who fear being marginalised in a new federal structure. More than 40 people have been killed in protests in the Himalayan republic since August.
Indian oil trucks stopped crossing into Nepal because of protests in the south, prompting authorities to try to limit the use of cars and save fuel. Nepal is almost totally dependent on India for overland supplies following earthquakes in the spring that killed nearly 9,000 people and blocked crossings from China.
India has been critical of Kathmandu for rushing through the constitution, despite opposition from minorities living close to the Indian border. On Monday , a few trucks carrying fuel, vegetables and building materials started to cross the border into Nepal, but hundreds more were waiting on the In dian side, a customs official in Nepal said.
The Federation of Nepal Cable Television planned to suspend broadcasting of Indian channels in Nepal from 10 am on Tuesday , Sunil Kumar Lama, the organization's general secretary , said on Monday . “This is to protest against the blockade,“ he said, declining to say how long it would last.
Earlier in the day , protesters in central Kathmandu carried an effigy of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and shouted: “Down with Indian expansionism! Down with Modi!“ before police scattered them and confiscated the effigy.
