Calm returns to plains of Nepal

The protesters say they want an end to "ruling elites"

Life is returning to normal in the plains of central and eastern Nepal after three weeks of violence.

At least 27 people have died in clashes between protesters of the Madheshi people and security forces.

Calm returned after the head of a leading Madheshi group welcomed the prime minister's call for a dialogue and suspended its protests.

Madheshi groups say they have been discriminated against in the existing state structure.

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has vowed to amend the constitution to meet the key demands of Madheshi protesters.

He has pledged a federal system of governance and more representation of the southern plains in the parliament.

On Thursday the chairman of the Madheshi Janadhikar Forum (MJF), Upendra Yadav, welcomed Mr Koirala's call for a dialogue and said that the group was suspending its agitation for 10 days to create an atmosphere for talks.

'New life'

Schools and colleges reopened and businesses resumed in the affected region on Friday and traffic was back on the roads.

A journalist in a key south eastern town, Janakpur, told the BBC that it looked as if a new life had started.

The Madheshi community has been demanding autonomous federal regions and greater representation in parliament.

It argued that "ruling elites" dominated by people from the mountains of Nepal have denied it fair political representation, and restricted the number of jobs available to them in the police and army.

They also want an autonomous region for the southern plains within a federal state.

Madheshis make up 33-45% of Nepal's population of 27 million but are vastly under-represented in government and the army, which tend to be dominated by hill-dwellers