Worship Ram, demolish Setu
P Venugopal, MSN News
March 1, 2008
http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1269364

The UPA-led government may just lose all the popularity it purchased through the Union Budget, thanks to its muddled handling of the sensitive Sethusamudram project off the Rameswaram coast in Tamil Nadu. Its lawyers have submitted a fresh affidavit before the Supreme Court giving the go-ahead to demolish the "Ram Setu" but withdrew their earlier stance on Rama being part of mythology and not history.

What they have failed to fathom is the saffron tsunami that could lash the coast of Tamil Nadu if the Supreme Court agreed to the demolition of the stone bridge, purported to have been built by Lord Rama and his Vanar-Sena (army of monkeys). For tThe BJP and its allies, already feeling hard-done by Finance Minister P Chidambaram and his colleague Lalu Prasad Yadav's largesse to the electorate, this could quite literally prove to be Lord Ram's electoral gift!

The new affidavit is so cleverly worded as to placate the DMK, the major ally of the Congress in the South, which was cut up over the delay in going ahead with the project. But what it obviously overlooked is the handle it could give to the sangh parivar to whip up Hindu sentiments and exploit it for electoral gains. Much will depend on what verdict the apex court will give when the Centre’s fresh affidavit and the report of the committee of eminent persons come up before it on March 5.

If the court rejects Centre’s affidavit and upholds the stay on the project, the DMK is certain to pull out of the UPA and make the issue its main election plank in the next state assembly and Lok Sabha elections.

If, on the other hand, the court clears the project in any manner necessitating the demolition of Ram Setu, it could trigger off massive mobilization by the Hindutva forces, a la the Ram Janmabhoomi campaign, reaping rich electoral dividends in the process.It was the Ram Janmabhumi campaign that catapulted the BJP from a two-member party in the Lok Sabha to the seat of power in Delhi.

On the Ram Setu issue, the BJP can count on the support of many organizations of environmentalists, social activists and fishermen who have come out against the project. Several leading scientists too have joined the BJP bandwagon by terming the project as an `environmental disaster’ on the plea that the canal digging will not only kill fish and marine organism in the area but also upset the ecological balance, inviting disasters like tsunami.

The Centre is thus caught in a faith versus realpolitik cross-fire on the Ram setu issue which will generate lot of heat in the days to come.

The Centre’s affidavit reflects an undesirable trend of modern times among central and state governments to leave all highly contentious issues to court, thereby subjugating the elected government’s primary duty to resolve disputes through dialogue in the best democratic tradition. If the court is to resolve all issues confronting the nation, what is the government for?