Date:26/06/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/06/26/stories/2007062651831200.htm

National

BJP: preserve Ram Setu

Special Correspondent

It is not a myth, says party meet

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party would have us believe that 10,000 to 5,000 years ago — when the great battle between Lord Rama and Ravana, King of Sri Lanka, is believed to have been fought — “a bridge was constructed at the command of Shri Rama” by the army led by Hanuman, and this was the bridge popularly called Ram Setu — now under threat as a result of the Sethusamudram project.

The party adopted a resolution on Monday here at its National Executive Committee meeting to demand that the project be realigned to save that ancient bridge, now under the sea.

“Ram Setu is a fact, not a myth,” the party stated, and asserted that it was used for “pedestrian traffic” between India and Sri Lanka until 1480.

Undeterred by criticism that the BJP had made it a habit to mix fact with mythology, the party said what was important was that thousands of Hindus, Muslims and Christians believed that Ram Setu existed, an argument similar to the one it had used to buttress its Ayodhya case — a belief that Lord Rama was born at the particular spot where the Babri Masjid had existed.

Reassess project

It reiterated the party’s stand articulated during the Budget session of Parliament that the project could lead to an ecological disaster; that it needed to be reassessed after the tsunami that hit southern India (in December 2004); if completed the project would result in the washing away of precious thorium and titanium deposits, it could create a dispute between India and Sri Lanka; and finally, it would hurt religious sentiments.

The party demanded that the United Progressive Alliance Government reconsider the plan, consult experts and change the alignment.