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Karunanidhi should withdraw his statement, says Advani

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s statement on the “existence of Lord Rama” has hurt the sentiments of Hindus in the country and he should withdraw his statement, L.K. Advani, BJP leader, said here on Thursday.

Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Advani said he respected Mr. Karunanidhi’s right to be an atheist. But he should know that he had no right to show disrespect to Hinduism. Every citizen had a constitutional duty not to hurt the religious sentiments of any community. Being the Chief Minister of a State, Mr. Karunanidhi’s constitutional duty was even higher.

As per Section 295 A of the Indian Penal Code, Mr. Advani said, any action which outraged the religious feelings of a community was a penal offence. Since the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was a constituent of the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre, the BJP wanted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to ask Mr. Karunanidhi to retract his “anti-Hindu” statement.

Though the Central government had withdrawn its affidavit filed in the Supreme Court on the Ramar Sethu-Adam’s Bridge issue, the Chief Minister had been repeating his statement. It was a matter of belief that Lord Rama used the Sethu to cross the sea to reach Sri Lanka. Till the 18th century, “Ramar Sethu” was in use, Mr. Advani claimed.

Reacting to Mr. Karunanidhi’s charge that there was a conspiracy to scuttle the project, the BJP leader wondered whether the Central government, which had withdrawn its affidavit and decided to file a fresh one, was part of the conspiracy. It seemed that Mr. Karunanidhi was more interested in demolishing the “Ramar Sethu” than in executing the project.

Reiterating that the Sethusamudram project was conceived by the previous BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government, Mr. Advani said that “at no point of time were we for demolishing the Ramar Sethu.”

Predicting the imminent fall of the UPA government and Lok Sabha elections in the first half of next year, Mr. Advani said such an eventuality had become a certainty due to two major incidents — the India-U.S. nuclear deal and the Ramar Sethu issue. The current problem was a creation of the UPA.

“The two destabilising forces were none other than the supporters of the UPA alliance [the Left parties] and its major constituent [DMK].”

Expressing concern over the recent developments in the Tamil-populated areas of Sri Lanka, Mr. Advani said successive Indian governments were of the view that the unity and integrity of the island nation should be protected. As Tamils in the island were badly in need of assistance, he urged the Central government to rush relief material to them through international agencies. The Tamil Nadu government should take more interest in this issue than in demolishing Ramar Sethu.

Mr. Advani attended a State BJP convention at Tirunelveli on Wednesday.

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