NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday cited the scriptures to defend the controversial Sethusamudram project, claiming that Lord Ram had himself destroyed the Ram Sethu and that there was no question of hurting religious sentiments by going ahead with the venture.
The Supreme Court, however, favoured exploring the possibility of a scientifically and “politically” viable solution to the controversy over the Rs2,400-crore project.
Urging the Supreme Court to lift the stay, eminent constitutional lawyer Fali Sam Nariman said according to the Kamba Ramayana and the Padma Purana, Lord Ram had destroyed the Ram Sethu so that nobody should come from Lanka.
“Lord Ram destroyed the bridge and details are there in the scriptures. You cannot worship something that has been destroyed,” Nariman said.
Questioning the basis of contentions raised by the anti-project groups that destruction of Ram Sethu — Adam’s Bridge — would affect the faith of people, Nariman said, “We are not destroying any bridge. Everything on the project is being done with great circumspection.”
“If we have gone wrong we will correct it. The idea is to go ahead with the project. We have to see there is no violation of law,” he said.
Though the bench of Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan, Justices RV Raveendran and JM Panchal clarified that at the moment it was averse to entering into any debate whether Ram Sethu was manmade or not, Nariman said: “If you are going to rely on faith, go into other aspects of the faith also.”
He argued that those who for centuries never bothered to declare Ram Sethu a monument of archaeological importance should know that according to the Kamba Ramayana, Lord Ram took a bow and broke the bridge into three parts.
“We are concerned that it was not a manmade structure but it was a superman-made structure which was destroyed by Lord Ram,” he said.
Nariman pointed out that the controversial affidavits questioning the existence of the Ramayana and labelling the Ram Sethu a man-made structure were withdrawn under “extraneous circumstances”..
