Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli created quite a storm on social media on Monday after claiming that Shri Ram is Nepali and India has created a ‘fake Ayodhya’. The real Ayodhya, according to Oli, is in Nepal. He was slammed for his comments by his countrymen and Indians alike. Opposition parties in Nepal said that it does not behove a PM to make such ridiculous assertions.
During the whole controversy, Youth Congress, the youth wing of the Congress party, too jumped on the scene and demonstrated what appeared to be unnecessary bravado. Instead of speaking out against Oli, IYC claimed that ‘They’ have banned Indian channels and went on to ask, ‘Nepal has the guts to say Lord Ram is not son of Indian soil?’
First they ban Indian news channels and now Nepal has the guts to say Lord Ram is not son of Indian soil? https://t.co/btIPPSs7Hg
— Youth Congress (@IYC) July 13, 2020
The comment by the IYC appears rather disingenuous as ‘Nepal’ had not claimed that Shri Ram is a Nepali, it is only KP Sharma Oli, who has been in poor health lately, who made the claim. Instead of hitting out at the Nepalese Prime Minister, as most people did, the IYC instead took the opportunity to hit out at Nepal as a whole.
The conduct of the IYC appears even more disconcerting given the fact that the UPA Government headed by the Congress party had told the Supreme Court that there was no historical evidence for the existence of Shri Ram. According to the then UPA government, the Ramaya lacked ‘scientific and historical veracity’.
“Valmiki Ramayana and Ramcharitmanas admittedly form an important part of ancient Indian literature, but these cannot be said to be historical records to incontrovertibly prove the existence of the characters and occurrences of events depicted therein,” the UPA government had told the Supreme Court in an affidavit. The affidavit was filed to register the UPA government’s opposition to the demand to scrap the Sethusamudram project as it would damage the Ram Setu.
Given such circumstances, for a party that does not believe in the existence of Shri Ram, the false display of bravado on social media by its youth wing appears to be a deliberate ploy to further harm India’s relationship with Nepal for political benefits. In recent times, tensions between the two countries have been simmering as Nepal updated its map claiming Indian territories for itself.
Chinese influence on Nepal has been growing and many have speculated that China has instigated Nepal against India. On that note, it is also pertinent to remember that the Congress party had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese Communist Party and a controversy had ensued recently when donations made to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation by the Government of China became common knowledge.
