Hey Ram! God save the govt
SAMANWAYA RAUTRAY AND OUR BUREAU New Delhi, Sept. 12: No
incontrovertible proof exists to establish that Lord Ram ever lived, the
government has submitted in writing before the Supreme Court.
The declaration an observation in line with the scientific temperament of a
self-styled secular administration has unwittingly handed the Sangh parivar a
weapon.
Quick to construe the affidavit as an affront to Lord Ram worshipped and
idolised by millions of Indians but transformed into a potent electoral symbol
by the BJP the Sangh is now threatening to unleash a political storm in the
run-up to the Gujarat polls.
the contents of the Valmiki Ramayana, the Ramcharitamanas by Tulasidas and
other mythological texts
. cannot be said to be historical record to
incontrovertibly prove the existence of the characters, or the occurrence of
the events, depicted therein, the government said in the affidavit.
The affidavit was filed in response to a notice on several petitions seeking
to stop the Sethusamudram project that seeks to build a sea link between the
east and west coasts by dredging a 167km channel through the Indian Ocean.
The document was filed by the Archaeological Society of India (ASI), which
reports to the culture ministry headed by Ambika Soni, no longer in Sonia
Gandhis close circle.
The timing of the affidavit has also landed the government in a fix: it
coincided with a nation-wide campaign by the VHP against the dredging
project. The VHP feels that the project will destroy Ram Setu (the partly
submerged Adams Bridge), a bridge that Ram was supposed to have built with the
help of the vanarsena on his way to Lanka to free Sita.
The sea around Adams Bridge is too shallow for ships. The Rs
2,427-crore dredging project will allow ships to sail between the east and west
coasts of India without having to circumvent Sri Lanka, saving 780km and up to
30 hours of sailing time.
Sensing a political windfall in the governments declaration, the BJP, so far
lukewarm towards the VHP campaign, jumped on the bandwagon. The party has drawn
a parallel between the setu campaign and the Ram temple movement.
I told the Prime Minister (at a dinner meeting) that the affidavit was
highly objectionable. I told the law minister that it should be immediately
withdrawn, L.K. Advani said.
The VHPs Praveen Togadia asked the Congress to remove the immortal words
Hey Ram! from Mahatma Gandhis samadhi.
The Congress, worried about the fallout of the gathering storm, did not
comment on the observation on lack of proof but said the canal project was
started when the NDA was in power.
Environment activists, too, have objected to the project but on the ground
that it would destroy the fragile marine ecology of the region.
The affidavit, filed by C. Dorjee, director (monuments), ASI, addressed
religious concerns with sensitivity but stressed the importance of material
evidence.
While
the ASI is aware of, and duly respects, the deep religious import
bestowed upon these texts by the Hindu community across the globe
. Study of
human history, which is the primary object of the ASI, like other sciences must
be carried out in a manner using available technological aids and its findings
must be based on tangible material evidence, the affidavit said.
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