Nepal's Ambassador to India Nilambar Acharya on Friday talked to Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath about a poster at a temple in Varanasi criticising Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli’s recent comment on Ayodhya.

On Wednesday, a poster was put up at a temple at Lalitaghat on the banks of the Ganges against Prime Minister Oli. The poster believed to put up by Vishwa Hindu Sena (which can be literally translated as World Hindu Army) had criticised Prime Minister Oli’s remarks on Ayodhya and warned that Nepalis living in India would have to bear the consequences if Prime Minister Oli did not retract his comment.

Oli had earlier this week claimed that the birthplace of the Hindu deity Rama was in Nepal and not in Ayodhya in India, as it is accepted.

According to Acharya, Yogi Adityanath, in the telephone conversation, said that he had taken the incident seriously and made a commitment to take the necessary action.

“The Chief Minister said that a legal process has already started regarding the incident,” Ambassador Acharya added.

The temple management reported the incident to the Nepal embassy in New Delhi, after which the embassy took the issue up with the Uttar Pradesh government.

Acharya also said that talks have been held with the Chief Minister’s office about an incident in which a group of men shaved the head of a Nepali man, wrote ‘Jay Shree Ram’ on his scalp and made him chant slogans against Oli.

In a video of the incident that has gone viral on social media, one can see a man being tonsured on the banks of a river by a group of men chanting slogans against Prime Minister Oli.

While addressing a function to mark the 207th birth anniversary of poet Bhanubhakta Acharya, Oli on Monday accused India of cultural aggression and distorting historical facts. He claimed that the Ayodhya of Rama’s birthplace is actually the Ayodhya near Thori in Nepal’s Parsa district, not the Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh in India.

Meanwhile, the Varanasi Police has registered a case at Bhelupur police station against a group for the tonsuring incident, reported The Hindu on Friday afternoon.

“The Varanasi police have registered a case after members of a fringe group tonsured a Nepali citizen and forced him to shout ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and raise slogans against Nepal Prime Minister KP Oli,” reported the media. “ ‘Jai Shri Ram’ was also written on the man’s scalp by the members of the group,” said The Hindu news report.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying the attention of the Government of Nepal has been drawn to the various interpretations of the remarks made by the Prime Minister during the 207th birth anniversary celebration of poet Bhanubhakta Acharya the previous day.

“The remarks made by the Prime Minister are not linked to any political subject and have no intention at all to hurt the feeling and sentiment of anyone [sic],” read the statement.