By IANS
New Delhi : Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s intervention Thursday made the government act quickly to save itself from the mess it created by its affidavit on the Sethusamudram canal project. It announced Thursday afternoon that it would file a fresh affidavit before the Supreme Court, removing the controversial remarks on Lord Ram.
Congress sources said Gandhi has sought an explanation from the government over the references that have “hurt the sentiments” of the people and urged it to take remedial measures immediately.
In a hurriedly called press conference, Law Minister H.R. Bhardwaj regretted filing an affidavit with the controversial assertion, and said the government would “amend its mistake” and file a fresh supplementary affidavit on Friday in the Supreme Court, omitting the reference to Lord Ram.
“Lord Ram is a matter of faith. It cannot be and should not be made the subject matter of any litigation,” Bhardwaj told reporters.
In its affidavit on the Sethusamudram shipping channel, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) said there were no “historical records” to prove the existence of Lord Ram or the Ram Sethu (bridge).
The ASI’s affidavit earlier kicked off a major political controversy with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) convening an emergency meeting to pressurise the government to withdraw the controversial affidavit from the apex court. The party has been protesting the Rs.24 billion-canal project that would see a navigational route through India’s west and east coasts, saying that it would “damage” the Hindu mythological bridge that is considered sacred by many.
The law minister said the new affidavit would be personally scrutinised by Law Secretary T.K. Vishvananthan in consultation with Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam. He said he would personally clear the affidavit before it is submitted to the apex court.
Bhardwaj said Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani had met him on Wednesday and objected to “the language and the reference to Lord Ram in it in a wrong manner”.
“He (Advani) told me that Lord Ram is a matter of faith and cannot be made the subject matter of any litigation and I fully agree with him,” he said.
According to Congress sources, the party leadership wanted to find out how the government allowed such a reference on a sensitive issue to be included in the affidavit at a time when the right wing forces were already on the warpath over the sea channel project.
“The party has to find out how did the government allow such a goof up when the possibility of a general election is looming over it?” asked a Congress MP.