By IANS
Chennai : Bharatiya Jan Shakti party leader Uma Bharti Monday dared the Tamil Nadu government to arrest her “on any charge they deem fit” for participating in a movement to save the mythological Ram Setu (bridge) from being “destroyed” to make way for a proposed canal between India and Sri Lanka.
“I am in Chennai today and will undertake a trip to Rameshwaram tomorrow (Tuesday). If the Tamil Nadu government thinks it has a case against me, let them go ahead and arrest me on any charges they deem fit,” Bharti said during an interaction with journalists here.
Police have registered several cases against the firebrand Hindu leader in the temple towns of Rameshwaram and Tiruchirappalli for making “objectionable remarks” on the Ram Setu during a series of demonstrations organised by her party in July.
Bharti claims to have discovered the existence of Ram Setu during the run-up to the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project when the National Democratic Alliance was in power.
The Ram Setu or Adam’s Bridge, a chain of limestone shoals 48 km long that once reportedly linked Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu with Mannar in Sri Lanka’s northwest, faces possible destruction when the Sethusamudram project comes up. Some Hindus believe it was built by Lord Ram to walk over to the land of Lanka to battle its king Ravan, who had abducted his wife. The war and Sita’s rescue form the climax of the Hindu epic “Ramayana”.
Bharti accused the United Progressive Alliance government of hurrying through the process of investigations and clearing the project prematurely.
“Between March 8, 2005, and July 2 the same year, the whole process was hurried through without properly answering 16 queries raised by the Prime Minister’s Office. The Setu is a symbol of national importance and Hindu beliefs and I shall work to safeguard it, come what may,” Bharti added.
According to police, Bharti has been accused of inciting communal passions by saying publicly that “she was prepared to give and take lives”, in her attempt to save the “bridge”.