PM Oli skips ‘People’s War Day’ celebrations

KATHMANDU, Feb 13: Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli has skipped the People’s War Day celebrations on Thursday, despite the party officially stating that both chairmen duo Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ will attend the function in Dhumbarahi.

People’s War Day was originally celebrated by the former Maoist Center on Feb 13. After the Maoist party merged with CPN-UML in May 2018 to form the Nepal Communist Party, the new communist power and the ruling party also decided to mark the day to commemorate the beginning of the Nepalese Civil War in 1996.

But, PM Oli’s skipping the celebrations still raises the question if the ruling party is yet ready to recognize the history of the Maoist movement despite the merger.

This is the second time Oli has missed the celebration. He had skipped the celebrations last year as well, and instead attended a separate function in the capital to launch the Prime Minister Employment Program.

Senior leaders Jhala Nath Khanal, Madhav Kumar Nepal have also missed out the celebration function.