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SUBRAMANIYAN SWAMY SAYS SRI LANKA OPPOSES SETHU SAMUDRAM PROJECT OF INDIA ON ENVIRONMENT ISSUES

By Walter Jayawardhana

India’s Janatha Party President Subramaniyan Swamy said that he had been informed by the Sri lankan authorities that the island nation was against the construction of Sethu Samudram Canal Project as it harms the environment of the island nation divided by a narrow strit from India.
Sethu Sammudram Canal Project is proposed to be constructed immediately by the Indian government by dredging a submerged land bridge between the two countries which obstructs big ship navigation between India’s Eastern and Western coast.

Millions of Hindus consider it was constructed by the monkey god hanuman to help God Rama to save Seetha kidnapped by Lankan king Ravana who took her away in a air traveling vehicle called Peacock vehicle. Incidentally it was the first mention of a contraption that could fly in ancient literature. The story was originally written in the ancient dead language Sanskrit.

Subramaniyan Swamy said the Sri Lankan government had appointed a committee consisting of scientific experts to study the environmental impact of the project on the island and they were of the unanimous conclusion that the project would bring adverse effects on the fragile environment of the island now naturally protected by what is called Ram Bridge.

Sethu Samudram issue has become a very contentious one in India since conservative Hindus believe that it is related to their faith. In May ,in the lower house of parliament ,Lok Sabha, a heated debate between ruling UPA and Opposition NDA members in the Lok Sabha over the historical evidence of the existence of “Ram Sethu” at the site of the Sethusamudram project led to the adjournment of the House for the day.

The West called it Adams Bridge , named after the biblical first man on earth.
Swamy said the Deputy High Commissioner for Sri lanka in Chennai informed him that they had their own concerns over the possible demolition of Rama Sethu as they also considered it part of their cultural heritage .

There are many other ancient place names in Sri Lanka connected with the legend Rama and Seetha. Some are Seetha Eliya, Ravana Falls etc where Ravana was supposed to have hidden Seetha in retaliation of physical mutilations done to his sister by Rama’s people.
Among others, Subramaniyan Swamy is one who has filed action in the Indian Apex court to stop the construction of the project.

The trouble in the Lok Sabha in may erupted when deputy leader of the Opposition VK Malhotra said the alignment of the project would “destroy the Ram Setu” and such a move would hurt the “religious sentiments of the Hindus.” This provoked Congress, Left and DMK members.
The ancient Ramayana has been interpreted with strong political overtones in Chennai, the capital of Tamil nadu.

Says Subraminiyan Swamy: “The Dravid-ian Kazhagam leader, K. Veeramani, has recently threatened to burn the Ramayana in a public protest against “Aryan Supremacy”. Hence, his idiom is outdated. ‘Aryan’ incidentally is a word popularised by Adolf Hitler, which word has no equivalent in Sanskrit vocabulary. The closest is the word ‘arya’, which is no racial connotation. The Tamil equivalent of ‘arya’ is ‘aiya’. The linguistic root of the word is thus the same-meaning a cultured or noble person, and not a race.

“Veeramani’s earlier adulation of Ravana in his anti-Brahmin tirade had to come to an embarrassing end because he discovered that the Ravana was actually a Brahmin[‘Aryan’] scholar of the Sama Veda who had meditated in Kailash to get a boon.

“The Aryan-Dravidian racial divide theory, is a mischievous construct of the British Imperialists and their tutees like Romilla Thapar. Modern research and DNA analysis have now decisively debunked any such racial dichotomy in the Indian profile of ancestry. Time has come therefore to purge the theory from text books.

“The Dravida Movement which includes DMK, MDMK, PMK, and DK parties, has turned it’s ire on Bhagwan Shri Ram, the King of Ayodhya, and want the Rama Sethu to be demolished because it is a symbol of “North Indian” domination. Also, the demolition would facilitate the LTTE brigand boats to move quicker from Tuticorin to Chennai on the Palk Strait, and on international waters. At present, the Rama Sethu stands in the way. Hence their vociferous support for the Sethu Samundram Ship Canal Project [SSCP]. Hence the project in the present form must resolutely opposed.”

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