Government should withdraw ASIs `Ram Setu affidavit and apologise: Rajnath Singh

Visiting BJP President Rajnath Singh said on Thursday that the UPA Government should withdraw the Archaeological Survey of Indias (ASI) affidavit relating to the mythological Ram Setu from the Supreme Court and apologise for injuring Hindu sentiments.

By Pinaki Das

Agartala, Sept.13 : Visiting BJP President Rajnath Singh said on Thursday that the UPA Government should withdraw the Archaeological Survey of India's (ASI) affidavit relating to the mythological "Ram Setu" from the Supreme Court and apologise for injuring Hindu sentiments.

Addressing a press conference here, Singh said that the Congress party of Mahatma Gandhi had dreamed of a "Ramrajya" during the freedom struggle and in the ensuing decades thereafter, and now, it was stating that there was no historical or scientific evidence to establish the existence of Lord Ram or any other Indian mythological character.

The affidavit filed by the ASI on Wednesday denying that the Ram Setu was man made and that Tulsidas's famous Ramcharitmanas should be read as a historical record, was an attack on the beliefs of a particular religion and its people.

Endorsing the demand of Hindu groups to urge the government to stop the proposed Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project (SSCP), which aims to provide a shorter sea route between India's Palk Bay and Sri Lanka's Gulf of Mannar, a reduction in travel distance of more than 650 km for larger ships, Singh said it would demolish Lord Ram's bridge.

The ASI, on the other hand, maintains that the "Ram Setu" is a natural formation made up of shoals/sand bars, which are possessed of their particular shape and has formed due to wave action and sedimentation over several millennia.

Rajnath Singh charged the government with trying to challenge the established beliefs of people, and warned that such steps could precipitate inter-religious conflict in India.

Giving his view on the signing of the Indo-US nuclear deal, Singh said that the country should have a law to defend its national interests in the matter of its sovereign right to conduct nuclear tests and reprocess spent fuels.

Referring to the Hyde Act, which empowers the American President and the administration to work with the Nuclear Suppliers Group, he said India should also have a law to defend its national interests.

However, he maintained that there is provision in the Article 253 of the Indian Constitution for necessary rectification of any international agreement which the Congress led UPA Government denies.

He alleged that the Left Front is practicing double standards and was not honest in opposing the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Denying any type the reflection of expert opinion poll assessment in the results Singh said that the BJP is ready for a mid term poll, which he said could take place as early as December.

ANI