Is “Ram Setu” a nemesis for ‘DPA’ in Tamilnadu?

The Sethu Samudhram Channel Project has been under contemplation for more than 100 years and many experts have done analyses & studies and finally the NDA government, which gave a go ahead for the project, has decided six route plans. The UPA government, with a deliberate intention of destroying the Rama Sethu, has chosen this particular alignment and right from day one, the SSCP could not move even an inch forward with regards to dredging of Rama Sethu and every damn thing (dredgers, cranes, ships, giant pipes, etc.) which was brought, either got broken or got stuck in between the rocks & boulders. It is alleged that even the engineers & workers (both Indian & foreign) have got injured in the process. Having said that there is no evidence for such a manmade bridge, both inside & outside the parliament, supported by Tourism & Cultural minister Ambika soni, T.R.Balu tried his level best to destroy the bridge and ended up in a miserable failure.

     The Rameshwaram Ram Setu Protection Movement, which consists of many organizations such as RSS, VHP, BJP, Hindu Munnani, etc, and other individual experts of various fields, has clearly stated that it is not against the Sethu Samudhram Channel Project as such, but only against the destruction of Ram Setu. The movement has been launched to ensure the safety of the timeless monument, which is certainly the greatest wonder of the world. While the Prime Minister, has strictly advised T.R.Balu to keep off the Ram Setu during dredging works and while the Parliamentary Affairs Minister P.R. Das Munshi also has committed that the Ram Setu will be protected, one can’t understand the arrogant & adamant attitude of T.R.Balu in getting on with his plans of destroying the bridge. As the Ram Setu protection movement gained momentum, he has started feeling the pressure and is fuming from the top of his head. As the ‘movement’ has solid documentary evidences for the existence of the bridge, he must have collected those evidences from them, as said by L.Ganesan of BJP, but instead, he had made a secret visit to the Thanjavur Saraswathi Mahal library, abused the staff, spent 4hrs there and tried to destroy / tamper with those evidences. It is now evident that he had developed cold feet and that he is on a sticky wicket and he is going on doing wrong things one after another

In the meantime, The Chief Minister has once again shown his chauvinistic colours through his statements he made in the ‘Dravidian’ assembly. He had lied blatantly that those who are campaigning for the protection of Rama Sethu are against the SSCP project. The Rama Sethu protection movement, which consists of many organizations, has made it very clear that it is NOT AGAINST the SSCP project as such, but only against the alignment plan, which cuts across the Ramar Palam thereby destroying a centuries old heritage monument. Being a rationalist the CM need not heed to the Hindu organizations, but he should have the decency to respect the views expressed by environmental, geographical and security experts apart from the experts of oceanic studies, who are not fundamentalists. Instead, he has gone back to his dead & forgotten issue of “Dravida Naadu” (Demand for a separate Dravidian state) inciting separatist passions by saying that the North-Indian fundamentalists are opposing the project. The entire fishermen community of Rameshwaram, irrespective of religion, is against the destruction of Rama Sethu, as it will cause immense damage to their livelihood. Are they North-Indians? Or are they fundamentalists? Justice Krishna Iyer had sent a letter to the Prime Minister a few days back, warning him not to destruct Ramar Palam. Will Karunanidhi say that Justice Krishna Iyer is a fundamentalist & a North-Indian?  While there are alternative routes available to implement the SSCP project, why the state & central governments are bent upon utilizing this alignment? Heavens will not fall if an alternative route plan is adopted. The CM has also mentioned about the great intellectual Sir. A. Ramasamy Mudaliar’s examination of the project & his recommendations and had lamented that they were not implemented, but he had conveniently hidden the fact that Ramasamy Mudlaiar has strongly advised to abandon the idea of cutting across the Ramar Palam in the guise of forming a channel. He has recommended only for a canal alignment through Mandapam in his reports of 1956.As he has lamented that the recommendations of Sir. Ramasamy Mudaliar have never been implemented, why not he treat them with respect now & implement his recommendations? The CM citing the election manifesto of AIADMK, where in it states that the SSCP should be implemented through the Ram Setu, has asserted “one cannot comb hair without applying hair oil”. It is amusing, but he should understand that if he uses a knife (as he is doing now) instead of a comb, he might not only lose his hair but also his head. The total disregard shown by Sonia & her UPA government and the total arrogance exhibited by Karunanidhi & the state government in this issue clearly proves that both are having ulterior motives.

The PMK leader Ramadoss, who always loves to outdo Karunanidhi, went a step further and said that, the Hindu Communal parties are obstructing the project by igniting the communal passion & sentiments of the people by trying to give a picture to their wild imaginations. He had also called upon the so-called ‘secular’ parties to come together to thwart the attempts of BJP & other Hindu organizations to stall the project. Now-a-days, it seems that Ramadoss is bent upon scoring more points than Karunanidhi in almost all issues, whether it is social justice or Tamil cause or LTTE support or SEZ or FDI in retail or anti-Hindu stance, thereby giving sleepless nights to the Chief Minister. While the self styled Dalit champion, Thirumavalavan also conveyed a similar message, the Dravidar Kazhagam President Veeramani had said that both AIADMK & BJP are trying to utilize this Ram Setu issue to come back to power. He said that DK, with the support of other secular parties, would organize awareness campaigns through out the state from Rameshwaram to Chennai, to tell the people that Ram Setu is non-existent and is only an imagination. He had said that the SSCP is a 150-year-old project and it would not be allowed to get stalled by Hindu communal fundamentalists. He also made a startling (!!!) revelation that the youth in the south of Tamil Nadu are taking to violence & anti-social activities due to poverty & unemployment and because of the SSCP, employment would be generated and poverty would be eradicated. So, he had convened a meeting of like-minded parties to strategize the “Destroy Ram Setu” campaign. True to his chameleon quality, HMV (His Master’s Veeramani) is acting as per HMV (His Master’s Voice-read Karunanidhi) and only till last year HMV (His Madam’s Veeramani) was acting as per HMV (Her Majesty’s Voice – read Jayalalitha) for more than five years. As Karunanidhi, Balu and Ramadoss are all directly in touch with Sonia, they are not listening to Manmohan’s veiled warnings in this issue and men like Veeramani & Thirumavalavan also dance as per the tunes of their senior partners. The entire gang has ganged against the Hindu Heritage monument giving scant regard to the sentiments of millions of Hindus.

In the meantime, the Rameshwaram Ram Setu Protection Movement has organized an ‘International Seminar’ on ‘Scientific and Security Aspects of SSCP’ on Saturday, May 12, 2007 in Chennai. Dr. S.R.Rao, Founder of Society of Marine Archeology, will inaugurate the seminar and Sri. D. Kuppu Ramu, Advocate & Convener, RRSPM will preside over. The august audience will be enlightened by the speeches & presentations of Dr. S. Kalyanaraman, Phd. Director, Sarasvati Research Center, Capt. Hariharan Balakrishnan, Indian Naval Officer (Retd), Anti – Submarine warfare specialist, Prof. C S P Iyer, Executive director, Centre for Marine Analytical Reference & Standards, Trivandrum, Dr. S.Badrinarayanan, Geologist & Consultant, National Institute of Ocean Technology, Justice Parvatha Rao, Retd. Judge of AP High Court, Prof. Madhav Das Nalapat, Professor of Geopolitics in Manila, Academy of Higher Education, Sri. V. Sundaram I.A.S. (Retd) First Chairman of Tuticorin Port Trust, Sri. K.Ramalingam, Supt. Engineer (Retd) Tuticorin Port trust, Member of Lakshminarayanan Committee, Sri. T.V.Rangarajan, South India Organisisng Secretary, Akila Bhatrathiya Itihasa Sankalana Yojana, Prof. Tad S. Murthy, Vice President, The Tsunami Society, Ottawa and Sri. T. Sathyamurthy, Sr. Supt. (Retd), Archeological Survey of India.

Close on the heels of the seminar, a huge rally for the protection of Ram Setu is being organized in New Delhi on Sunday the 13th of May 2007, which will be attended by the Sankaracharyas and other swamijis & leaders.

The Congress, which has been continuously facing defeat in the recent elections may not like the BJP getting one more strong ammunition in the form of ‘Ram Setu’, similar to ‘Ram Temple’ and hence, it may refrain itself from destroying the Ramar Bridge and may opt for another alignment to the dismay of its Tamil Nadu alliance partners.

Ultimately the word “Ram” has become ‘dangerous’ and ‘Ram Setu’ has become a ‘nemesis’ for the Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA) in Tamil Nadu and despite the callousness & indifference shown by the media in TN, the movement is expected to gain speed in the coming days, resulting in its victory.

SRI RAM! JAYA RAM! JAYA JAYA RAM RAM! 

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