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Government to set up panel to go into Ram Setu issue

	October 01, 2007

With the DMK, the ruling party in Tamil Nadu, toning down its tough line on the Sethusamudaram project, the Centre plans to set up a joint mechanism to hear out reservations on the shipping canal project. The committee is likely to have ten members to be appointed in consultation with the Department of Geology as well as the Ministries of Culture and Road Transport.



“The joint mechanism will be in place within a week from now. The Prime Minister’s Office and the Law Ministry are work¬ing out its structure, the mechanism will address all issues related to the project,” DMK’s T.R. Baalu Union Minister for Shipping, said on Sept. 27. He had earlier said his Ministry would approach the Supreme Court to seek its nod for resuming the project work.



The joint mechanism will involve the Ministry of Shipping, the Ministry of Law and the Ministry of Tourism and Culture. The Government had told the Supreme Court last month that it would be setting up this mechanism to resolve all objections to the Sethusamudaram project.



It is learnt that Baalu was not very keen on instituting any such joint mechanism as the DMK felt that the project had gone through this process in the early stages itself with public hearings and Baalu himself clarifying to objections several times in Parliament.



Since the government had assured the court that it would set up such a mechanism, there was pressure on Baalu to accept the proposal.





Supreme Court stays DMK-sponsored bandh



In a major setback for the Karunanidhi Government in Tamil Nadu, the Supreme Court on Sept. 30 stayed a ruling party-sponsored bandh slated for today (Oct. 1) on the Sethusamudram project.



After three hours of arguments on a petition filed by AIADMK, a bench headed by Justice B N Aggarwal stayed the bandh called for today, Oct. 1, or on any other day.



The Court had especially met on a Sunday, a rare occurrence, to dispose of the AIADMK’s petition. Seldom does the apex court take up for open hearing any matter on Sundays and holidays unless the issue involved is of grave importance.



The AIADMK had filed the SLP, after the Madras High Court on Friday, Oct. 28, declined to accept the party’s plea for re¬straining the ruling combine from going ahead with the bandh call.



The AIADMK sought special hearing of its SLP on the plea that its petition would become infructous if no decision was taken before Sunday. The parties in the SLP had contended that the proposed bandh was unconstitutional and violative of the apex court’s directive on the issue.



On Friday, Sept. 28, the Madras High Court had directed the Tamil Nadu Government to ensure that the October 1 bandh called by the ruling DPA-the DMK and its allies-to press the Centre to speedily implement the Sethusamudram project, was not forced on people and that normal life was not disrupted.



The Court order, while effectively refusing to stay the bandh, ensured that the Government could not resort to the Nego¬tiable Instruments Act to declare October 1 a public holiday for Government offices, public undertakings including the state transport corporations and other industrial establishments.



A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice A P Shah and Justice P Jyotimani, noted the submissions made by the AIADMK and other petitioners that the bandh was state-sponsored and was violative of the citizens’ fundamental right to freedom of move¬ment and association guaranteed under Art 19 and 21 of the Con¬stitution as also Supreme Court judgments on bandhs, hartals and strikes.





Communal forces trying to create trouble : Karunanidhi



Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi, while preaching restraint to his DMK partymen and allies, accused communal forces of trying to create law and order problems in the state to stop the Sethusamudaram project. In a statement issued in Chennai on Tuesday, Sept. 25, Karunanidhi asked his party cadres and al¬liance party leaders not to get provoked by infuriating remarks made by Hindutva outfits against him. His statement came in the wake of the attack on the BJP state headquarters in Chennai over the weekend. Karunanidhi said, the people of Tamil Nadu have had to wait till the United Progressive Alliance government came to power at the Centre to implement their long-cherished dream, the Sethusamudram project.



Many had tried to implement the project but there were many hindrances. Though the Vajpayee government had issued an order for the implementation of the project and Bharatiya Janata Party Ministers signed it, there was no forward movement.



Now when the project was being implemented and at a time when the people of the State were looking forward to reap the consequent economic benefits, some realised that if the project made progress, the DMK and its allies would get credit for rea¬lising this dream.



The opponents were desperately looking to stop the progress of the project and decided to inflame communal passions, he alleged.



Karunanidhi urged the allies and DMK cadres to be on the lookout for such elements and foil their designs. It was the duty of all to protect law and order. The allies should create aware¬ness among the people of how anti-social elements exploited the circumstances to create trouble, he said.





DMK claims tacit support from Sonia



The DMK on Sept. 24 claimed that it has the tacit support of Congress President Sonia Gandhi who following the reported ‘fa¬twa’ issued against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, said all should unite to face threats from religious fundamental¬ists and not be cowed down.



Sonia Gandhi reportedly told Union Shipping Minister and DMK leader T.R. Baalu over the telephone, “We will not be cowed down by threats and continue to work for the people.”



Baalu has written letters to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well as Sonia Gandhi demanding stern action against former BJP MP Ram Vilas Vedanti for saying that he would weigh a person in gold if he “beheaded Karunanidhi”.



The Congress party’s official magazine Sandesh has criti¬cised its own Government’s affidavit on the Sethusamudram Canal Project (SSCP) and called it as “distinctly unfortunate, unfair and downright derogatory” not only to Hindus but also to those who treasure the country’s cultural heritage.



The magazine has lambasted Archaeological Survey of India’s (ASI) affidavit. In an article “The Ram I know” senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Karan Singh said: “... they (ASI) shocked the nation by going far beyond that and making certain sweeping obiter dicta that questioned the very existence of Ram as a historical figure, although they have now withdrawn it.”



Singh, who is the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Department of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), said there were numerous places in India and Sri Lanka which were closely linked with events in Lord Ram’s life, including Ayodhya and Janakpuri, Rameshwaram and Dhanushkodi.



“It is now well accepted by historians that so called `myths’ and `legends’ very often have a strong basis in actual events and personalities,” he said.



Culture Minister Ambika Soni said on Thursday that the Government was very keen on investigating at what level the affidavit “mistake” took place.



“Though no time-frame can be immediately given, we are trying to complete the inquiry at the earliest, without rushing the matter through,” Soni added. The Minister has been absolutely tight-lipped since the controversy. “I am not going to say any¬thing on this,” she said.





BJP demands dismissal of Karunanidhi Government



Continuing its offensive on the Ram Setu issue, the BJP has demanded the dismissal of the Karunanidhi Government in Tamil Nadu. The party has charged DMK leaders with what it called instigating violence against BJP cadres and attacking the party headquarters in Chennai. A BJP delegation submitted a memorandum to President Pratibha Patil at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sept. 27 asking for action against the perpetrators of the attack on the party office in Chennai.



Talking to newsmen after submitting the memorandum, BJP president Rajnath Singh said: “A situation of constitutional machinery breakdown prevails in Tamil Nadu. Ministers instigated, provoked and also led attacks on the BJP headquarters as well as cadres. Nothing short of the dismissal of the Karunanidhi govern¬ment will satisfy us.” Demanding that DMK Ministers in the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre be dismissed, the BJP chief sought security for the life and property, including that of the opposition, during the October 1 bandh (now stayed) called by the DMK in support of the Sethusamudram project.



Singh also demanded that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karun¬anidhi apologise for his statement on Lord Ram.



The BJP delegation was led by the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, L.K. Advani, and included senior leaders Jasw¬ant Singh, M. Venkaiah Naidu, Sushma Swaraj, Vijay Kumar Malhotra and Ravi Shankar Prasad.





Third Front criticises Govt. over Ram Setu



The United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) has begun to prepare for possible mid-term polls by intensifying its attack on the Congress-led UPA on the Sethusamudram project and the gover¬nment’s economic policies.



The combine would come out with a set of alternative econom¬ic policies and programmes when the UNPA leaders meet in Delhi within a fortnight, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu told reporters on Wednesday, Sept. 26. Earlier on Tuesday, leaders of four of the eight UNPA parties had met in Ambala to discuss their future plans. The UNPA includes the TDP, the Samajwadi Party, the Asom Gana Parishad, the AIADMK, the INLD, the MDMK and the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha.



The TDP leader blamed the Congress for the Setu row, saying the country has to pay for the ruling party’s “political blun¬ders.”



He said: “The fact that the party filed an affidavit and then withdrew it is an indication of guilt. Why did they change the affidavit?’’ He believed that though development is import¬ant, so are people’s sentiments.



Naidu blamed the ruling party for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and Babri mosque demolition. He criticised the UPA on economic issues. “The benefits of economic reforms are not reaching the common man. The gap between the haves and the have-nots is in¬creasing,’’ he said.



On Wednesday, Naidu had a separate meeting with SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. “I am also in regular touch with the Left parties. We will soon meet them,” he said.