Ayodhya belongs to Nepal, says PM Oli

Days after a few channels airing objectionable content was banned in Nepal, Prime Minister KP Oli on Monday have invited another controversy with his remarks. Mr. Oli claimed that Lord Ram’s birthplace was in Nepal and not in India. He also accused India of cultural invade by ‘creating a fake Ayodhya’.

“Although real Ayodhya lies at Thori, city in the west of Birgunj, India has claimed that Lord Rama was born there. Due to these continuous claims even we have believed that deity Sita got married to Prince Rama of India. However, in reality, Ayodhya is a village lying west of Birgunj,” he said.

He made this comment while addressing a program to mark the birth anniversary of Bhanubhakta Acharya. This claims comes in the backdrop of an ongoing diplomatic tensions between India and Nepal over a new map created by Nepal, claiming Indian territory.

Nepal on July banned all Indian private news channels except DD News for hurting the country’s national sentiments.

Meanwhile, his remarks have caused huge uproar in Nepal with many senior leaders criticizing him for the remarks. Former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal who demanded Oli’s resignation, said that Oli’s anti-India remarks were “neither politically correct nor diplomatically appropriate.”

The India-Nepal bilateral ties strained after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a 80-km-long new road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8. Nepal has raised objection to the inauguration of the road claiming that it lies within Nepalese territory. India rejected the claim asserting that the road lies completely within its territory.