After claiming the Indian territory in the Lipulekh-Kalapani area, Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Monday created a fresh controversy by claiming that Lord Rama was a Nepali.
Nepalese media reports have quoted PM Oli as saying that ‘real Ayodhya’ is in Nepal and ‘Lord Ram is Nepali, not Indian’.
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“We have been oppressed a bit culturally. Facts have encroached. We still believe that we gave Sita to Indian Prince Ram. But we gave to the prince from Ayodhya, not India. Ayodhya is a village a little west to Birgunj, not the Ayodhya created now (sic),” said Oli.
Oli made the statement while addressing a programme to mark the birth anniversary of Bhanubhakta Acharya at his official residence in Baluwatar.
The Nepal PM’s stunning claim comes on the backdrop of an ongoing diplomatic tussle between Kathmandu and New Delhi over the newly published Nepal map claiming Indian territory as its own.
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According to media reports, Oli said India has created a ‘fake Ayodhya’.
“Lord Ram’s kingdom was not in Uttar Pradesh but in Nepal, near Balmiki Ashram,” claimed Oli.
The Nepal PM also said Valmiki Ashram in Thori belonged to Panditji Ridi who performed the Putrishti Yajna for Dashratha, Lord Ram’s father, to bless him with a son.
“That place also belongs to Nepal,” Oli said.
Oli also questioned how people from Ayodhya came to Janakpur to marry Sita if it was in the place claimed by India.
“How did residents of the Ayodhya – which India claims is in Uttar Pradesh- come to Janakpur to marry Sita?”
“At that time there were no phones so how did they communicate? During those times, marriages were arranged in nearby kingdoms only. No one used to travel so far to marry,” said Oli.