A rally organised in Birganj on Tuesday. Photo: Suresh BidariAt a time when anti-India sentiment is growing in Nepal, people in the country's southern plains are unhappy with China.
After China promised to supply subsidised fuel to Nepal crippled by an unofficial Indian blockade, people in the Tarai have demonstrated against the northern neighbour.
Madhesi dissenters on Tuesday organised a rally in Birganj, the flash-point of the ongoing Madhes movement, to 'force China to stay away from Nepal's internal affairs'.
They shouted slogans like 'back off China' and 'avoid confrontations with Madhesis'. Shiva Kumar Yadav, a Madhesi protester, told Nepali Times that they were unhappy because China was trying to thwart their anti-constitution campaign by supplying fuel to Kathmandu.
"China should not supply fuel to Nepal," he said. "If Nepal imports fuel from China, Kathmandu will never listen to our grievances."
After India cut off supplies to Nepal citing unrest caused by Madhes movement, the government had reached out to China for fuel and other essential commodities.
A delegation led by Nepal's ambassador Mahesh Maskey has already reached Beijing to discuss a deal to import fuel from China, ending India's monopoly in Nepal's fuel market.
A major Nepal-China trade route blocked by the April earthquake was also reopened last week, and the first shipment of subsidised fuel is expected to come to Kathmandu via this border point.
Madhesi people, unhappy with several clauses of the recently-promulgated constitution, have not only welcomed the Indian blockade but also supported New Delhi to cover up its embargo by staging sit-in at various border points. India has not admitted that it is a blockade, and says it is merely disruption of supplies due to political unrest on the Nepali side.
Earlier, Madhesi dissenters had even reportedly burnt China's national flags to protest Beijing's favour to Kathmandu.