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Was that just another political stunt?

 Was that just another political stunt?

PM Oli has made another big headline in the news media by visiting Pashupatinath temple yesterday amidst a controversial decision he had made a month ago. That was his abrupt decision of dissolution of HoR. There seems to be many speculation and arguments about his visit to Pashupatinath temple. Some of his critics opined that his visit to a temple was nothing but simply to garner sympathy votes from pro-Hindu and pro-monarchist voters who are vehemently demanding restoration of Hindu state and monarchy in the recent days. Other argued that his visit to a temple was an attack on the constitution which made Nepal a secular republic.

Oli is the first communist prime minister to visit Pashupatinath temple for a puja. Other communist prime ministers like Manmohan Adhikari, Madhav Kumar Nepal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Baburam Bhattarai and Jhala Nath Khanal never visited the temple during their tenures and some of them even refused to take the oath of office “in the name of god”.

Time will tell about his real intention of vising Pashupatinath temple at such a time when the country is seeing mass demonstrations in the recent days against the HoR dissolution and reinstatement of Hindu state and monarchy.  

 The Kathmandu Post

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Oli’s temple visit carries an underlying political message, leaders and observers say
 
 
 And on Monday, Oli went to the Pashupatinath temple. He spent a little over an hour and performed a special puja. He then instructed officials of the Pashupati Area Development Trust to develop the revered Hindu pilgrimage site as a holy place for “adherents of Vedic Sanatan Dharma”.

The sudden inclination of Oli, who has never been reported to have visited any temple to perform puja, towards Hindu gods has left many perplexed, also because it comes at a time when the country is seeing mass demonstrations demanding reinstatement of Hindu state and the monarchy. This also comes on the heels of his decision to dissolve the House of Representatives, a move which has been argued as an attack on the constitution which made Nepal a secular republic.

Continue reading  
 
https://kathmandupost.com/national/2021/01/26/oli-s-temple-visit-carries-an-underlying-political-message-leaders-and-observers-say

 

 

 

 

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