The Ram Setu issue rears its head again, as the government tries to fight faith with faith. As the BJP waits to pounce on any hint of godlessness and the DMK is impatient to get on with the project, the government, in an effort to keep faith and public works separate, quotes the Padma Purana and the Kamba Ramayanam to suggest that Lord Rama himself destroyed the Setu. Tridivesh Singh Maini traces the controversy.

•The Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project proposes linking of the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar between India and Sri Lanka by creating a shipping channel through the shallow sea commonly referred to as Sethu Samudram, and through the island chain known as Rama’s Bridge/ Adam’s Bridge.

• The Manmohan Singh Government announced the inauguration of the project on July 2, 2005.

• In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) said on September 11, 2007 that there was no archaeological evidence to establish the existence of Lord Rama or other characters of the Ramayana. Denying that Ram Setu or Adam’s Bridge is a man-made structure, the ASI argued that Ramcharitmanas by Tulsidas cannot be taken as a historical record. The Director-General’s remarks led to widespread protests by opposition leaders of the BJP. In fact even certain members of the government were livid — saying that such an affidavit was offensive to the religious sensibilities of the Hindu community. The government was quick to withdraw the affidavit.

... contd.