Date:27/07/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/27/stories/2008072757280400.htm

New Delhi

BJP cautions against demolition of Ram Setu, reminds of December 6

Staff Reporter

- Photo: Anu Pushkarna

Up in arms: BJP activists demonstrating in New Delhi on Saturday in protest against the latest comments of the Congress on the Ram Setu issue.

NEW DELHI: Cautioning that if the Ram Setu was demolished the patience of Hindus will be broken, just like it was on December 6, 1992, when the Babri Mosque was pulled down, Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party leaders held a demonstration at Jantar Mantar on Saturday protesting against Congress attempts to demolish the bridge that is considered sacred by many.

The protesters courted arrest in large numbers to register their anguish at the manner in which the Congress-led Government was pressing for demolition of the Ram Setu in the Supreme Court. The protest was led by Delhi BJP president Harsh Vardhan, Deputy Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Vijay Kumar Malhotra and party general secretary Vijay Goel. Raising slogans against the Government, they warned that if the Ram Setu was demolished then the Government would not be able to save itself. Dr. Vardhan said the Congress Government had in an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court stated that Ram, Ram Setu and Nul-Neel had never existed and that these are mere imaginations. He said the Government only withdrew this affidavit on seeing the angry reaction of Hindus all over the world. ``Now the Government advocate has stated in the Court that the Ram Setu was demolished by Lord Ram himself. No worship is done there. Hence it is proper to demolish Ram Setu!” Dr. Vardhan said. Charging that the Congress Government was bent upon committing contempt of Court by demolishing the RamSetu, the BJP leader cautioned that if this bridge was demolished then India would face strategic, social, economic and cultural problems. “If it is demolished, then the patience of the Hindus will be broken just like it was on December 6, 1992,” he said. The demonstration saw nearly the entire party leadership in Delhi descending on Parliament Street.