By IANS
New Delhi : The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Wednesday urged the government to abandon the Sethusamudram canal project saying it will only damage a bridge on the sea said to have been built during the Ramayana era.
After a two-day meeting, VHP president Ashok Singhal told newsmen that United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi inaugurated the project in Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu in July at the instance of the US, “which is eyeing our thorium reserves there (in the area where the canal is being dug).”
He also appreciated the “yeoman service done by (Janata Party president) Subramniam Swamy to the cause of Hinduism” for taking the canal project to the Supreme Court.
Singhal was referring to Swamy’s petition in the Supreme Court that resulted in the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) challenging in its affidavit the existence of Hindu god Ram.
He said if Swamy had not taken the issue to the Supreme Court, “the government would have blasted Ram Sethu because their dredgers had failed”.
Singhal welcomed all pro-Hindu organisations including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to come together to defend Ram Sethu, the bridge Lord Ram reportedly used to cross over to Lanka to fight king Ravana.
Singhal also denied VHP’s hand in the attack at the Bangalore residence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s daughter Selvi. The VHP “condemns such violence”, he said.