Sethu Samudram – Sonia saves the congress

Sonia Gandhi, the cementing force of the UPA government, proved her metal at a time what may be treated as the, “hour of crisis” for the Manmohan Singh’s government at the center. It was her timely intervention in the Sethu Samudram affidavit case that perhaps saved the nation from experiencing another nightmarish period like the one seen during the post Babri Masjid demolition days.

The affidavit prepared by the archaeo-logical society of India [ASI], was presented before the Supreme Court by the central government, was nothing sort of blasphemous for a devout Hindu. It is not for nothing that a large section of the majority community in India sincerely feels and firmly believes that the congress, the communists and the host of other political parties, pay an utter little respect to the religious sentiments of the majority community. The behaviors and attitude of these same parties change when dealing with the sentiments of the followers of other religions. The only motive behind this type of attitude is to amass political gains. Politicians perhaps know very well that Hindus generally react very slowly and mildly or do not react at all if something is said or done to hurt their religions sentiments. Many among the Hindus themselves even support or do not find anything wrong when some disrespect is shown to their gods and goddesses by others publicly. That is why the cunning and mischievous people dare to portrait nude and vulgar pictures of gods and goddesses in the name of art that is the reason why some disrespectful businessmen dare to put the picture of Hindus deities even on foot wares! It is no wonder that the Sethu Samudram affidavit is seen in this light and the central government is seen, as a “villain” by many are devout Hindu. Their opinion about the government only gained further strength once the “irresponsible” affidavit was filed by it. The affidavit was not only refused to accept that the Ram Setu was an artificial structure but also went on to challenge the very existence of ram and other characters of the Hindu epic the “Ramayana”. This was considered to be a direct attack on the basic tenets of Hindu religion. It was an attack on the faith of hundreds of millions of Hindus world over, who believe that the Ram Setu was built by Rama’s Vanarsena. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bharatiya janata party protested and demanded that the affidavit be withdrawn immediately. Till then most of the UPA leaders were in favour of the affidavit. Leaders like Lalu Yadav are on record to have denied the existence of ram Setu. “Ram hai, but koi Setu nahi” [ram is there but there is nothing like a bridge] he was heard airing his views to one of the private channels.

It is not known till now whether any of the UPA leaders were aware of the possible fallout of the issue and it’s “disastrous consequences” if the “damaged controlled” operation were not taken up by Mrs Sonia Gandhi in time. It is seen who has saved the congress and the UPA government from further embarrassment for now and from a possible public IRE at elections in future. The affidavit has finally been withdrawn by the government following Mrs Gandhi’s “instructions”. It was only after Sonia Gandhi’s “preachings” truth dawned upon congress leaders. Law minister H. R. Bhardwaj seemed to have become “enlightened” as he said, “ram is ram. The existence of ram can not be doubted” and that there was “no requirement of any proof to establish the existence”.

It may be mentioned here that the Setu Samundram navigation project is a proposal to dig a deep canal through the Palk Straits that will make the route navigable for big ships enabling the latter to move from the Arabian sea to the bay of Bengal and vice-versa in much less time. The Palk Strait is situated in between India and Sri Lanka. The sea there is not deep enough where ships can sail, therefore, ships at present are obliged to take a longer route circumventing the entire emerald island. If the new route becomes navigable for big ships it is said that the distance from the Arabian Sea to the bay of Bengal will be shortened by 650 Kms and 30 hours of time will be saved on each journey. The commercial benefits to be derived from this route once, and if ever, the project is completed, cannot be questioned. But the main hurdle in the way of the project is Palk Strait connecting India and Sri Lanka. It is not possible to dredge the sea at that place without damaging the Setu – an object of Hindu faith.

The presence of an under water “Setu” or bridge has been established by the sattelite picture of national space administration of America [NASA]. NASA, however, has not claimed that the under water structure is man made. On the contrary, it claimed that it is a natural structure of sand and rock. It has also been re-christened as “Adam’s bridge”. Towing the lines of NASA the geological survey of India officials also started to claim that the structure is not man made but a natural one. The controversy there after grew.

Religions issues apart, there have been objections to the project from other quarters too. It is feared that the project would destroy the fragile marine ecology of the region. Scientists are of the opinion that the same Ram Setu had also saved the southern most part of the country from the devastating tsunami in 2004. Tsunami waves dashed against the Ram Setu and moved direction towards the high seas only a small portion of the waves played havoc with the life and property in parts of southern India and Sri Lanka.

This time too on the same day [12 September 2007] the affidavit was filed by the center, severe earthquakes devastated Indonesia’s Sumatra Island. Australian seismologists have declared that the region was lucky to have escaped a devastating tsunami. Who knows the submerged bridge has been protecting us from such natural calamities all these years silently, unseen and unknown. We may lay a destructive hand on it only to our own peril.

Author: Subhash Dey
copyright: openarticlesubmission.com

No related posts.