JAYALALITHA ALSO GOES TO INDIAN
SUPREME COURT TO STOP SETHU SAMUDRAM ON SECURITY OF INDIA & SRI
LANKA
By Walter Jayawardhana
Moving the Indian Supreme Court All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagam
(AIADMK) leader and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Jayalalitha
Jeyaram requested the courts to restrain the Central government from
“destroying” “Ram Sethu” or Adams Bridge between
Sri Lanka and India and said it raises serious problems of the security
and rights of the territorial waters of Sri Lanka and India.
She said in her petition to the Supreme Court Sri Lanka and India had
always considered the territorial waters of Palk Bay , Gulf of Mannar
and Palk Straits under their respective territorial rights whereas the
US has objected to such claims and considered them international waters.
She argued the destruction of the Rama Sethu, considered by millions
of Hindus as a bridge constructed by a Vanara Sena (monkey army) led
by Hanuman at the behest of Lord Rama , would expose the country to
a great security threat by the United States.
In an earlier petition the Janata Party leader Subramanian Swami has
pointed out that the dredging of the barrier to allow navigation of
big ships across the Palk Strait the environment of Sri Lanka would
be greatly damaged. He said earlier it would only facilitate the brigand
boats of the sea faring LTTE to engage in gun and narcotic drug running.
Jayalalitha Jeyaram, has also quoted extensively various historical
literature and compilations, and said the "Ram Setu" bridge
is a symbol of might and power of human will and the construction of
the bridge by the vanar sena of Lord Rama was a victory of human endeavor
in the face of adversity.
Since Jayalalitha was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu she has vehemently
opposed the dredging of the Rama Sethu Canal and demanded that the work
for the controversial $560-million Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project
(SSCP) be halted immediately because ,she claimed, it had badly hit
the livelihood of fishermen and endangered marine biology in the sea
south of the southern Indian state.
In a strongly-worded statement issued in state capital Chennai, she
then declared: “Concerned with the welfare of the people, my government
cannot permit this project completely ruining the fishermen`s lives.
We cannot remain a silent spectator when the fishermen are being put
to great suffering.”
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had launched the dredging work for
the project at a gala public function in Madurai on July 2 2005. It
was attended by the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson
Sonia Gandhi, and leaders of UPA partners in Tamil Nadu, including Dravida
Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader Muthuvel Karunanidhi.
But Ms Jayalalithaa had boycotted that function on the ground that
the project was being rushed through by her political enemies without
proper environmental assessment. The bitter rivalry between Ms Jayalalithaa`s
AIADMK (then in power in Tamil Nadu), and the DMK (which shares power
in Prime Minister Dr Singh`s coalition government at the center since
then and rules Tamil Nadu now) has converted the Sethusamudram project
into a bone of contention between the two biggest DMK oriented parties.
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