Indian tourist bus hit by arson attack in Pokhara

A bus used by Indian tourists in the Nepal city of Pokhara has been set on fire in an apparent protest against India’s fuel blockade along Nepal’s southern borders.

Pokhara, Nepal. Image by François Bianco / CC BY-SA 2.0

The bus was empty and parked overnight when the arsonists attacked, and nobody was harmed, but the incident is likely to heighten tensions in Nepal, which is suffering severe economic problems because of the blockade, introduced following Indian opposition to the status of the Madhesi ethnic group in Nepal’s new constitution. The shortage of fuel is forcing transport costs sky high, and the slow-down in cross-border traffic has led to shortages of medicines and other essential goods in a country already struggling to recover from the massive earthquakes that hit the country in April and May.

Read more: myrepublica.com