By IANS
Hyderabad : Ram Sethu is to Hindus what Mecca is to Muslims and Jerusalem is to Christians, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh said Tuesday, warning the government not to play with the religious sentiments of Hindus over the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project.
The BJP would oppose the project tooth and nail as Ram Sethu was a matter of Hindus’ faith and belief, Rajnath Singh told a press conference here.
“Ram Sethu is to Hindus what Mecca is to Muslims and Jerusalem is to Christians,” he said while ruling out a compromise on the issue.
The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government plans to build a shipping link to provide a shorter shipping route around the Rameswaram peninsula. However, the BJP and other critics contend that the project would damage Ram Sethu, geographically known as Adam’s Bridge that dates several millennia and was constructed by Lord Ram. Scientists say there is no archaeological evidence to support the contention.
Defending the project, the government had said in an affidavit – since withdrawn – before the Supreme Court last week that epics provided no basis to prove the existence of Lord Ram.
Criticising the affidavit, the BJP president asked the government to explain whether it had any scientific evidence to question the existence of Lord Ram.
He said Ram Sethu was not an issue of history or science but a matter of faith and belief.
“Neither Aurangzeb nor the British, who ruled the country for a long time, pointed fingers at Lord Ram.
“The name of our country itself is Bharat who was the younger brother of Lord Ram. Even Gandhiji breathed his last saying ‘Hey Ram’. He talked about Ram Rajya. Will somebody deny this?” Rajnath Singh asked.
“Questioning the existence of Lord Ram is like asking your father to prove that he is your father,” he told a public meeting Monday night, organised by his party to mark the ‘Telangana liberation day’.
He alleged that the UPA government lacked a policy and political will to fight terrorism and said sleeper modules, aided by Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI, within the country were more dangerous than a nuclear bomb.
“It is shameful that the working committee of the United Nations Security Council has raised a serious question about India’s ability to fight terrorism,” he said referring to a recent UN report.
On the issue of separate statehood to Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh, Rajnath Singh appealed to the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) to join hands with the BJP to achieve the goal. “TRS will be free to severe ties with us once the goal is achieved,” he said.