By IANS
Tirunelveli (Tamil Nadu) : Holding the government responsible for filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court questioning the existence of Hindu god Ram, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani Wednesday said his party will not rest till the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) apologised.
“It was the government’s responsibility; the prime minister’s responsibility; the UPA chairperson’s responsibility. Just saying we are withdrawing the affidavit is not enough,” Advani told the party’s state council meeting in Palyamkottai in Tirunelveli district, about 900 km south of Chennai.
“The ministerial responsibility should be fixed. Who was responsible for it?” he asked.
“We will not rest until this government tenders an unconditional apology to the people of India for the affidavit.”
In defending the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project for a shorter navigation route, the government had last week told the Supreme Court in the affidavit that Hindu epics were not historical records to prove the existence of Lord Ram.
Advani noted that no one doubted the existence of Ram during the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. “Now I am surprised to see that the government of India can say that (Ram is a myth).
“Congress governments have always talked of ‘Ram Rajya’ (rule of law). Now, are you going to remove the words ‘Hey Ram!’ from the Gandhi Samadhi?” Advani said.
He told his party workers that parliamentary elections were “likely any time now” and they should be prepared.
Interestingly, the BJP did not seek a halt to the controversial canal project, which involves breaking of a reef that goes from the Rameswaram coast to the Mannar coast in the island of Sri Lanka to make way for a shorter shipping lane.
The party meeting passed a resolution saying, “The Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project should be completed after changing the alignment of the canal” – that is, not cutting through the section known as Ram Sethu or Adam’s Bridge.
Advani said some leaders from Tamil Nadu were “more interested in destroying the Ram Sethu than in building the Sethusamudram ship canal”.
“They are interested in dredging,” he said, in an obvious reference to Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and Union Minister of Shipping T.R. Baalu, both of DMK.