By IANS
New Delhi : Admitting that it has gone wrong in referring to Lord Ram as a mythological figure in an affidavit filed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on the Sethusamudram Canal Project, the government Thursday said it would file a fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court.
Addressing a press conference here, Law Minister H.R. Bharadwaj said Lord Ram “cannot be a subject of debate”.
“It has created wrong impression,” he said, adding that the government would file a fresh affidavit removing the paragraph with controversial references on Friday.
Congress sources said the government’s turnaround came after party president Sonia Gandhi sought an explanation from the ministry on the Lord Ram references, which were about to become a major flashpoint with rightwing parties cashing on it.
In its affidavit on the Sethusamudram shipping canal project, the Archaewological Survey of India (ASI) said there were no “historical records” to prove the existence of Lord Ram or Ram Sethu (bridge).
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been protesting the canal project that seeks a navigational route through India’s west and east coasts, saying that it would “damage” a Hindu mythological bridge.
The BJP claims the US space agency NASA had the bridge in the Indian Ocean carbon dated as being 1.7 million years old.