VHP deprecates govt’s position before SC on Lord Ram

Nowhere in the Kamba Ramayan it is mentioned that Lord Ram destroyed the bridge. It is to appease DMK leader, said VHP President.

Deprecating the Centre’s assertion before the Supreme Court that Lord Ram himself had destroyed the Ram Sethu, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) said on Monday the move was aimed at appeasing DMK leader M Karunanidhi whose party is a partner in the UPA coalition.

“Nowhere in the Kamba Ramayan is it mentioned that Lord Ram destroyed the bridge. It is to appease DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, whose party is a partner in the UPA coalition, that the Centre is doing such things,” VHP President Ashok Singhal told reporters in Coimbatore.

He was replying to questions on the Union Government’s stand on the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project (SSCP).

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Many leaders have been up against the Government for stating that the Ram Sethu, a chain of limestone shoals believed to be a bridge built by Hindu god Rama’s army to cross over to Lanka, could not be worshipped because it was destroyed by Rama himself.

The UPA made the statement on July 22 before the Supreme Court which is hearing a case related to the SSCP that involves breaking of the bridge to create a navigable waterway between India’s southern tip and Sri Lanka.

The 48-km Ram Sethu, also known as Adam’s Bridge, runs between Mannar near northwestern Sri Lanka and Rameshwaram which is off the southeastern coast of India.

Meanwhile, VHP General Secretary Praveen Togadia, who was also present with Singhal, promised to protect the Ram Sethu.

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“It (Ram Sethu) will be protected at any cost,” he said adding that saints and Hindu leaders met at Haridwar recently to demand that the Sethu be declared as a historical monument.

On construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya, Togadia said it will be done by an act of Parliament. “The temple will come up and we will see to it that such an act is brought in the next Lok Sabha,” he said.

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