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Close to the Pandai river that runs along the India-Nepal border lies Bikhnathori. The near-dry river bed is full of pebbles. At some distance shine the Himalayan peaks. This seemingly calm village calls itself orphan. Nepali people across the river call its residents water smugglers.
The village in West Champaran district of Bihar does not have electricity and water supply. It did not complain of darkness, but when forest officials in Nepal barricaded its only source of water, a stream across the Pandai, they raised their voice for the first time.
On January 22, they marched to the Nepali side and tried to break the barricade.
They did not get water but furious Seema Suraksha Bal (ssb) soldiers abused them and warned them against protesting again, they alleged. “The jawans wanted us to plead with the Nepali villagers for a compromise,” said Dayanand Sahini, a resident. ssb does not admit it, but people say its jawans also drink the water from Raidhara stream, which is officially in Nepal.
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