PM Oli roasted in Nepal and India for shocking ‘real Ayodhya’ claim
PM Oli’s comment did appear to have achieved the rare feat of bringing two Congress and BJP leaders on the same.
From seers in Ayodhya to politicians in Lucknow and New Delhi, Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was roasted on Tuesday for his claim that the “real” Ayodhya lies in Nepal, not in India and that Lord Ram was born in Thori in southern Nepal. PM Oli’s controversial comment came at a time he has been under intense pressure from party leaders to quit the top post in Kathmandu.
One of the first responses to PM Oli came from Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, who heads the trust set up on the Supreme Court’s orders to build a temple. Mahant Nritya Gopal Das asked PM Oli to keep Lord Ram out of his politics. “PM Oli must know that Lord Ram was a ‘chakravarti’ emperor and Nepal was also a part of his kingdom. Ties between India and Nepal are even older than history,” he said.
Sharad Sharma, the spokesperson of Vishwa Hindu Parishad in Ayodhya, suspected that communist China appeared to be prompting PM Oli to make the “absurd” claim. “All religious scriptures prove that Lord Ram was born in Ayodhya in India,” he said.
PM Oli’s comment did appear to have achieved the rare feat of bringing two Congress and BJP leaders on the same.
Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi tweeted a sharp attack at PM Oli, saying he seems to have “lost his mental balance or is a puppet and parrot-like mouthing lines scripted by #desperate Chinese”.
Singhvi underlined that PM Oli had first claimed territories never earlier claimed by Nepal, a reference to the boundary dispute created by PM Oli. “Now he relocates #Ram #Sita #Ayodhya & #RamRajya a few hundred miles from Ayodhya inside Nepal!” he said.
BJP leader and Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya appeared to share Singhvi’s assessment.
“Statement by Communist Prime Minister of Nepal Shri KP Sharma Oli regarding the birthplace of Maryada Purushottam Lord Shri Ram Ji shows his mental bankruptcy… Oli Ji should know that Nepal has also been a part of Aryavarta (India) in the past,” the UP deputy chief minister added.
PM Oli’s comments on Lord Ram are seen as part of his continuing effort to slight New Delhi. PM Oli, who has been criticised back home for muddling up his government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, had earlier tried to direct the public anger over his inadequate Covid response, telling lawmakers in Parliament that the virus strain that came from India was far more potent and dangerous than the ones that had come from Italy.
Back home in Kathmandu, former PM Baburam Bhattarai also took a swipe at PM Oli.
“Let’s listen to the new Ramayana of the half-poet Olikrit Kali Yugin! Let’s travel directly to Baikunthadham!”
