Even chips being seized: How protests against PM Balen Shah in Nepal have Indian border link

Nepal and India have seen an easy flow of people and products for decades. It has benefited Nepalese citizens who come to the border bazaars of India to buy groceries, medicines, utensils, electronics, and products for weddings. Taking the products across the border to Nepal hasn’t ever been an issue, until now. The government of Prime Minister Balendra Shah has long-overlooked enforced customs duties and is now facing a backlash. Protests have now started against Shah in Nepal over the unpopular move and that too, within a month of him taking over as the PM.

For people in Nepal, Indian goods are cheaper compared to those available in their country. But now there is a major protest by people of Nepal residing in border areas against the government led by Balendra Shah aka Balen. The Indo-Nepal border is one of the world’s most open international borders.

The Balen Shah government of Nepal has imposed a mandatory customs duty on goods worth over Nepalese Rupees (NPR) 100 (INR 63) imported from India. Depending on the item, the customs duty will reportedly range from 5% to 80%.

“For the rituals performed here [in Nepal] from birth to death, we bring all the essentials from there [India]. Even the fertilisers that the government of Nepal are at times unable to provide on time we bring from India. Now the situation has turned different; it is an unannounced blockade,” one of the protesters told news agency ANI.

The protests were held in Nepal’s border town, Birgunj, and in the capital, Kathmandu.

Nepali residents in border areas said the move would “directly affect their lives” because they rely heavily on “cross-border purchases for daily items,” Pankaj Das reported for India Today. The protesters said the move “would add financial burden”.

Videos are emerging of Nepali citizens arguing with Nepal’s security and customs personnel over carrying of goods from India.

Many Nepali people working as labourers or white-collar professionals cross the border and enter India daily. Thousands more visit the Indian border markets to buy essential commodities, clothes, medicines, groceries, utensils, electronics accessories, and festival or wedding items.

Indian shopkeepers, auto rickshaw, taxi drivers, and other porters had built their earnings due to heavy footfall from Nepal, and now, after the strict enforcement of customs duty by the Balen Shah-led government, there is reportedly a major dip in the number of people visiting the markets along the India-Nepal border.

The chairman of Rastriya Ekta Dal, Binay Yadav, called this move by the Nepal government an “undeclared blockade”. Speaking to The Times of India, he said, “This step is against the provisions of the 1950 Peace and Friendship Treaty. The government should immediately remove the customs limit for household items and instruct security personnel to behave in a citizen-friendly manner”.

Binay Yadav also warned of a larger protest across the Indo-Nepal border region if the Balen Shah government’s order was not rolled back soon.

PACKETS OF POTATO CHIPS SEIZED; PEOPLE FIGHT WITH NEPAL OFFICIALS

Videos of the strict enforcement of the rule and people fighting with Nepalese officials and security personnel have emerged on social media.

A woman carrying some packets of chips for her children in Nepalgunj was stopped from entering Nepal, and she was told that her items would be seized by the Nepal Police.

In a video shared by India Today’s Ganesh Shankar, a woman was seen confronting Nepalese police personnel. “I have only four-five packets of chips. Give me the money I spent on them, and I’ll allow you to seize them,” she told them. “All these shops in Nepal have Indian products, first stop them and then take action against us,” she said with anger in her voice.

One of the Nepal police officials expressed helplessness as the woman shouted at them. “We are only following orders given to us,” he said.

WHY DID THE NEPAL GOVERNMENT ENFORCE SUCH CUSTOMS DUTY?

The customs duty on goods valued at more than NPR 100 [which is nearly Indian Rupees 63] is not a new rule introduced by the Nepal government. It had existed even in the past. Now, the Balen Shah-led government has asked for a strict enforcement of the rule in the country since last week, after the Nepali New Year.

According to news reports, the government of Nepal decided to tighten this rule after receiving complaints that residents in border areas incessantly travel to Indian markets to purchase food items, clothing, and other household goods, leading to loss of shopkeepers in the local markets, and also to Nepal’s national revenue. The government also stated that this was an attempt to curb revenue leakage and illegal imports.

The Information Officer of the Nepal Department of Customs, Punya Bikram Khadka, announced that the duty would be charged on goods above NPR 100 brought from Indian markets.

Nepal’s security personnel at the border checkpoints have started to make announcements on the loudspeakers regarding the customs duty rules, according to reports and videos.

However, the decision by the new government has triggered a political storm in the country that saw violent protests, leading to the ouster of the previous KP Sharma Oli government.

The Nepali Congress party has demanded the immediate withdrawal of the customs duty, calling it an “anti-people and insensitive” move.

The order has also come in for criticism from members of Balen Shah’s own party, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP). Rajiv Jha of the ruling RSP called the move “impractical”.

“Setting a limit of NPR 100 in today’s inflation era is extremely low and impractical,” Jha was quoted by TOI as saying. He urged the government to “review the matter” immediately.

While Balendra Shah, the new PM of Nepal, is seeing some protests over his ban on students’ unions, the major agitation is by common Nepalese people against the enforcement of rules that are making products from India costlier for them.

– Ends

(With inputs from Pankaj Das and Ganesh Shankar)

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