By IANS
New Delhi : Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni Thursday said her ministry will soon ascertain who was liable for the controversial contents of a court affidavit on the Sethusamudram Canal Project and Lord Ram.
“The task of inquiry has been assigned to Secretary, Culture, and he is diligently looking into at what level the mistake occurred,” Soni told reporters on the margins of a tourism event here.
“No timeframe can be given. We are trying to complete it at the earliest,” added Soni, whose resignation was sought by opposition parties over the affidavit that was based on the observations of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
That affidavit to the Supreme Court on Ram Sethu – a chain of limestone shoals between Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu and Mannar in Sri Lanka – said there was no historical or scientific proof that Hindu god Ram existed.
The ASI functions under Soni’s culture ministry. The affidavit, since withdrawn, was filed to justify the government plan to build a canal in the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies say the proposed $24 billion canal project will damage the Ram Sethu, believed to have been built during Lord Ram’s era.