Kathmandu: After being ousted following youth-led protests in Nepal earlier this month, the nation’s former prime minister K.P. Sharma Oli, in his first public statement, took a dig at India over the 2015 blockade on its southern border and made a reference to deals with China.
In a statement on Facebook on Nepal’s Constitution Day Friday, Oli reflected on the historical struggle to establish the constitution in Nepal, calling it “a future line written by the Nepalese people for themselves”.
“The constitution was issued overcoming the blockade and the challenges arising over the country’s sovereignty,” Oli wrote in Nepali, referencing the 2015 blockade that was blamed on India following the declaration of Nepal’s new constitution.
Between September 2015 and February 2016, Nepal faced a severe blockade at its southern border in which trucks carrying fuel, medicine and other vital supplies were barred from entering the nation. The blockade was led by ethnic minorities who said they were discriminated against in the new constitution. It caused severe shortages of essential goods. Then-PM Oli had raised the issue internationally, including with the UN.
India had at the time denied blocking supplies to Nepal, saying that the obstructions were by the Nepalese population on the Nepalese side.
While Oli did not explicitly name India in his post, his comments seemed directed at the country. He said the blockade served as a turning point in Nepal’s foreign policy and infrastructure strategy.
“After the constitution was issued, transport structures connecting the north and south were built to ground the landscaped country so that no one could block Nepal,” he wrote.
Oli in his statement also referenced a significant shift towards engagement with China during his premiership. “We had also made a transport deal with the northern neighbouring country,” he wrote, referring to the 2016 Transit and Transport Agreement with China.
“We had expanded the capacity of our sovereignty. We laid the foundation of our development structures. The economy was trembling.”
Oli characterised these moves as part of a broader effort to reduce dependence on a single neighbour and ensure that Nepal’s independence could not be undermined by external pressure.
His statement comes in the aftermath of nationwide protests led by young activists that escalated into violence last week. During the protests, Oli was in the army barracks. He moved to a private location Thursday after spending nine days under military protection.
In his post, he acknowledged the public’s right to protest but condemned what he described as deliberate infiltration by “conspirators”.
“Infiltration took place during GenZ’s demonstration that was supposed to be peaceful… Conspirators who infiltrated it instigated violence, killing our youth,” he said, referring to the deaths of protesters.
“The government had not ordered the protesters to be shot. The incident of shooting with automatic weapons that are not with the police should be investigated,” he added.
Oli further accused unnamed forces of trying to destabilise the nation by attacking its core symbols and institutions. He pointed to the burning of national landmarks and symbols after his resignation as PM as evidence of a deeper subversion.
“Singha Durbar is burnt after my resignation from Prime Minister (post), Nepal’s map is burnt, trying to erase the country’s sign,” he wrote. “People’s representative organisations, courts, business establishments and political parties’ offices, homes of their leaders and workers, personal property has been turned to ashes.”
He also asserted that much of what was said in the protests was “a false narrative”.
“I won’t speak much today about the conspiracy behind these events. In time, many things will reveal themselves on their own. But we must ask: was our nation being built, or being torn down? Was this simply outrage inflated by a false and misleading narrative?”
“Our new generation will come to understand the truth for themselves. And time will remind those who look down upon the youth leaving the country that their judgments were misguided. Eventually, the new generation will see it all for what it truly is.”
Calling for national unity across generations, Oli appealed to the public to rise above political divisions and defend the constitution.
“We, all generations of Nepalese, must unite, to face the attack on sovereignty and protect our constitution,” he said. “If sovereignty is our existence, the constitution is the shield of our freedom.”
Concluding his address, Oli warned that if Nepalis fail to recognise the seriousness of the current moment, the country risks becoming a cautionary tale. “This must be understood before time runs out. If not, the sovereignty of our country will remain only in history.”
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Communist crooks have destroyed nepal and now they are scared.