There should be no politics on certain issues. If someone politicises projects taken up in the national interest, he is a politician and not a statesman.

• But this is not just politics; this is also religion.

No, no. Where is religion in this?

• Well, because there’s a belief that Ram Sethu was the bridge built by Lord Ram.

I’m not a detractor of Ram. Let them keep Ram. I am no enemy of Ram. I have even written about this. Was the Ram issue raised when Vajpayee sanctioned the scheme? Or when three or four BJP ministers, in charge of surface transport, passed orders and chose the sixth alignment? It was not raised at that stage.

• You say Vajpayee approved it (the Sethusamudram channel project). But now it has become a religious issue because people will say that this bridge was constructed by Lord Ram. Lots of people believe in that; they think it’s sacrilege to cut through the bridge (for the Sethusamudram project).

It is not necessary to cut through this bridge. But let me ask: why can’t we cut the bridge even if it is named after Ram? Why can’t we cut through this bridge for the good of the people and build a new one? Jawaharlal Nehru did not accept Ram (as a divine being); he calls him a hero, not a god. C. Rajagopalachari wrote a book called Chakravarthi Thirumagan (The Emperor’s Blessed Son) that says Ram is a prince, not a god. It is not as if only the DMK is saying it.

... contd.