INFURIATED BY SETHU SAMUDRAM
PROJECT BEING PUT ON HOLD
KARUNANIDHI BLALMES COMMUNAL FORCES AND SRILANKA AND ASKS WHERE DID
THIS RAMAN STUDY ENGINEERING
By Walter Jayawardhana
Furious over the Sethu Samudram project being put on hold by the New
Delhi government over the strong Hindu religious sentiments mainly raised
by the opposition Bharathiya Janatha Party Tamil Nadu Chief Minister
Muthuvel Karunanidhi strongly came down on what he called communal forces
and even the neighboring Sri Lanka which has raised environment concerns
for stalling the project.
Who is this Raman (as Lord Ram is referred to in Tamil)? In which
engineering college did he study and become a civil engineer? When did
he build this so-called bridge? Is there any evidence for this?
an apparently infuriated Karunanidhi asked at a function in Erode in
Saturday night.
The leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazagam (DMK) rejects any belief
in the myriad of Hindu gods as of Aryan and non Tamil origin and ridicules
them in his party ideology.
Indicating the change of mind attitude in new Delhi is driving the
UPA government into a new crisis , Karunanidhi said ,The withdrawal
of the affidavits does not mean that the project is being withdrawn.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister told reporters at Yercaud near Salem.
If it amounts to the project itself being shelved, then the DMK,
which adheres to scientific, rational and progressive ideals, will not
accept it.
The affidavits Karunanidhi was referring to are the ones produced in
courts by the Arcaeological Survey of India which the Hindus said hurt
their religious sentiments. They expressed controversial ideas on the
existence of Lord Ram , the main character in the Hindu epic Ramayana
who is called Raman in Tamil. Karunanidhi came down hard on the Ramayana
story about Rama Sethu or the Adams Bridge between India and Sri Lanka
as myth.
Speaking to reporters about the new differences arisen after the New
Delhi governments change of mind following vociferous demonstrations
that denounced Sonia Gandhi as a Christian in which her effigies were
burnt Karunanidhi said , : The conflict is between us and communal
elements. It is between us and dominant forces that are using superstitions
of the people to stall the project and achieve their ends. It is not
a conflict between us and the Union Government. Our stand is that the
Centre should not succumb to these communal elements.
Demonstrating fury and using strong words an emotive Karunanidhi said
in Erode, The latest attempt to stall the Sethusamudram
project is by a group of jackals, conspirators and dangerous elements.
Their objective is to subvert a major project that would usher in development
in the southern parts of our state.
In a resolution which he read out at the function, Karunanidhi warned
the Government against giving up the project in the name of Ram Sethu.
The Ramayana, he said, was only a piece of fiction that allegorically
represented the conflict between Aryans and Dravidians. (Tamil
is a Dravidian language) .
The affidavits produced in the courts calling the Ramayanaya a myth
has in fact has put the political future of the Minister of Cultural
Affairs of the New Delhi government Ambika Soni in jeopardy. Some cabinet
members of the Man Mohan government has demanded him to resign over
the affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court by the department under
him that said that there was no proof that the event described in the
Ramayana ever took place or the characters in the epic existed.
The protests sprang up all over India mostly targeting the Italian born
Sonia Gandhi , a strong supporter of the project. "How would a
Christian know about the Hindu religion?" cried protesters led
by former Test player Navjyot Singh Siddhu, a Hindu nationalist MP.
He added, "Does (god) Ram need a court affidavit to be recognized?"
Vishva Hindu Parishad and its South Indian counterpart , Hindu Munnani
are protesting the project as the deliberate design to destroy
the most ancient relic of Hindu history.
L.K.Advani, a senior leader of Bharatiya Janata Party has called the
governments position an insult to millions of Hindus all
over the world,
LankaWeb Ref
(Lord Rama, the most famous incarnation
of God, is one of the most commonly adored gods of Hindus and is known
as an ideal man and hero of the epic Ramayana.He is always holding a
bow and arrow indicating his readiness to destroy evils. He is also
called "Shri Rama". More commonly he is pictured in a family
style, (Ram Parivar) with his wife Sita, brother Lakshman and devotee
Hanuman who is sitting near Lord Rama's feet. Indeed, He was the eternal
Lord Sri Vishnu, and had advented Himself in the world of men on behalf
of the Devas, who desired the slaying of Ravana." )
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