It is clear that Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s government wants to proactively pursue claims over not just Buddha’s birth, a historical fact, but also over origins of Buddhism itself. While the first issue has been more or less settled politically with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi telling the Nepali parliament in 2014 that Buddha was born in Nepal.
The second issue, the origin of Buddhism, is a contentious issue that is sure to ruffle feathers in India, if it hasn’t already. During the opening of the third International Buddhist Conference in Kathmandu on Thursday, both Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and his culture minister Aananda Prasad Pokhrel made bold claims. “We cannot make a distinction between Lord Buddha and Buddhism.
It was through him that the philosophy of Buddhism and enlightenment was born and developed. In fact, the renunciation of all worldly pleasure by Lord Buddha was inspired by his enlightenment.
Detaching Buddhism from Lord Buddha and enlightenment from his early life will be a fallacious notion,” said Prime Minister Oli. Linking Nepali values and identity with Buddha and Buddhism, Prime Minister Oli rued the fact that previous governments had not pursued this issue.
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