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RSS starts new round of attack
on Ram Sethu issue
WSN Network
New Delhi: Funny
how completely obscurantist stances of certain groups and parties in
India do not lead to popular jokes, and totally ridiculous stances
are struck in public by senior leadership of the Hindutva movement
with a straight face even as the same lobby pushes itself as
harbinger of nuclear weaponization of India.
The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) continues to harp on its line,
fully adopted and cherished by the right wing BJP, that a reef
structure in the Indian ocean was actually created by Lord Rama's
army hundreds of years earlier before even human beings came to this
earth. And this line is pushed and advocated by senior politicians
in the name of people's faith.
Now the RSS top brass has once again started the same tune.
Attacking the Rs 2,400-crore Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project (SSCP)
it warned of a India-wide agitation, its chief line being that the
"status of Ram Sethu is non-negotiable". Among the worthies with
such a stand are RSS general secretary Mohan Bhagwat, VHP president
Ashok Singhal and Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha convenor Swami
Dayananda Saraswati. For them, the "underwater bridge" connecting
India and Sri Lanka represents the culture of the country. It is a
different matter that except these worthies, no one calls it a
"bridge".
The latest round of attack came at the launch of a book "Ram Sethu:
Symbol of National Unity" on Sunday, written by Janata Party
president Subramanian Swamy. Of course those who are to benefit from
the project, irrespective of their religion, are backing the
project, among them being the DMK chief Karunanidhi.
But the RSS is not willing to listen even to the Supreme Court.
Referring to the historicity of the Ram Sethu being under the
consideration of the top court, RSS general secretary Mohan Bhagwat
said that "some things in this country have been decided by its
people over the millennia and do not require any legal
interpretation."
"The practice of jurisprudence doesn’t conform to our concept of
natural justice. The dredging will affect not only the ecology of
the area but the country’s security as well," said Mr Bhagwat.
He said the Sethu is a proof of Lord Rama. If indeed that is so, it
is remarkable how many in India want to demolish it or are least
perturbed by it.
23 April 2008
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