KATHMANDU: Nepali Congress Vice-president Bimalendra Nidhi has termed Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s claim that Thori village in Parsa is the real Ayodhya and the birthplace of Lord Ram baseless, irrelevant and objectionable.

Nidhi said both Hindus and non-Hindus accepted from time immemorial that Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Ram, was in India and that Nepal’s Janakpur was the birthplace of Sita. Nidhi said bilateral ties between the two countries had soured over the map issues and the PM’s baseless remarks about Ayodhya had ended whatever little possibility of dialogue with India had existed.

Nidhi said the clarification issued by Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs was vague and did not unequivocally accept that Ayodhya in India was the birthplace of Lord Ram. Nidhi said the president, who is known to play a role of building bridges between the rival factions in the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP), should play a proactive role in this controversy.

“Although the president’ role is ceremonial, she can, however, issue a memo to the PM telling him to obey the constitution,” added Nidhi.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on July 16, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.

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