Frequent strikes force Sikhs to leave Nepal

For the Sikh community living in Birgunj, a southern Nepalese town bordering India, the frequent strike and shut down have even crippled their livelihood.

The Sikhs, who came from India decades back and now engaged in transport business, are suffering the most and many have already left the country, The Kathmandu Post reported.

Gurudwara Guru Nanak Satsang, a religious organisation of the Sikh community in Birgunj revealed that more than 90 per cent of the Sikh families in the city have already left for India to find safe place to continue their business.

"There were 452 Sikh families in Birgunj until six years back. Now only 29 families remain," Nanak Singh, chief of the organisation, was quoted as saying by the paper.

There are almost 200 days shut downs and strikes, local and national ones, either in hill areas, Terai or Kathmandu in a year these days, forcing many people to quit their business.

Nanak Singh said Sikhs from other parts of the country are folding up their businesses as well.