Nothing is secure under UPA government: BJP

At a time when the controversy surrounding the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project is at its peak, the Bharatiya Janata Party today said that nothing, including Indias international image and the cultural identity, is secure under the UPA Government.

Bhopal, Sept 21 : At a time when the controversy surrounding the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project is at its peak, the Bharatiya Janata Party today said that nothing, including India's international image and the cultural identity, is secure under the UPA Government.

BJP president Rajnath Singh said in his speech at the party's National Executive Meeting that over the last few days, this reached the extreme when the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), in an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court on the Ram Setu issue, stated that there is no proof that Lord Ram and all the other characters of the Ramayana ever existed.

"The affidavit has established the government's anti-Hindu mindset," he said.

On the questions of scientific and historical fact, Singh said, whether the government has undertaken any scientific effort to establish the historical reality of all those places in the country that are associated with the Ramayana.

"If not, then on what basis did it submit such a colossal statement? Subjects related to people's faith should not be linked with science and historical reality. Otherwise, this will result in opening a pandora's box where the key elements of various religions will be interfered with and this will lead to serious communal tension," he warned.

He went on to ask the Congress that if Ram did not exist, then was Mahatma Gandhi's dream of Ram Rajya a delusion based on a hollow foundation?

"The self styled successors of Mahatma Gandhi may not have any respect for the common Hindu beliefs, but they should at the very least respect the Ram inscribed on Mahatma Gandhi 's memorial," he added.

Coming down heavily on the Congress, he said that by disrespecting Lord Ram, it has taken vote bank politics to "its lowest point," and demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should publicly apologize for the "unpardonable crime of politically playing with people's beliefs."

He said that Ram Setu is not a mere structure made from rocks and stones that can be debated as to whether it is man-made or natural. On the contrary, Ram Setu is a "bridge of India 's eternal values, a bridge that symbolizes the foundations of Dharma through the obliteration of demonic tendencies."

Pointing out that not only from a religious or cultural point of view, but also from "the perspective of scientific, strategic, prevention of tsunamis and nuclear energy," the destruction of Ram Setu would be detrimental for India, he said the BJP would oppose this at every level.

ANI