Another political stunt?

The Himalayan Times

28 January 2021

 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 "Prime Minister Oli performs special pooja at Pashupatinath" (THT Online, Jan 26). That was his abrupt decision to dissolve the House of Representatives. There seems to be many speculations and arguments about his visit to the Pashupatinath Temple. Some of his critics opine 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 the Hindu state and monarchy in the recent days. Other argue 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 the 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 all of them even refused to take the oath of office “in the name of god”.

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

Rai Biren Bangdel

Maharajgunj