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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Sethusamudram: Karunanidhi blames religious leadersSethusamudram: Karunanidhi blames religious leaders

Statesman News Service
Chennai, May. 5. — With the Sethusamudram project facing some rough weather on the religious front, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr M Karunanidhi today charged that religious leaders from the North were trying to stop the project as they had some vested interest in doing so. Replying to a issue raised in the Assembly by the CPI-M member Mr Govindasamy who wanted the project to be implemented as planned which was objected to by the AIADMK leader Mr O Pannerselvam, the Chief Minister said that a North-South jealousy was driving the religious leaders to introduce the name of Ram in order to stop the project.
“These leaders want to stop the project as they are jealous that the project would usher in growth and make the southern region the fountainhead of prosperity. You must not forget to take note of that,” Mr Karunanidhi told the members even while cautioning that his statement on the North-South divide must not be interpreted as a return to the idea of a separate “Dravida Nadu” (Dravidian nation), which the DMK gave up in 1962.
“Some people are trying to forment communalism just as in Ayodhya, and I am stating that a majority of the religious leaders who are doing this are from the North. These religious heads are trying to sow seeds of division by attempting to recreate an incident similar to the one at Ayodhya where the Babar Mosque was broken in the name of Ram temple which led to blood flow across India,” he said.
Referring to the AIADMK demand to spare the ‘Ramar bridge’, locally termed as Adam Bridge at Rameshwaram, Mr Karunanidhi pointed out that the AIADMK chief had not only taken credit for the project when it was cleared, but also quoted from the party’s 2001 election manifesto which stated that the sand mounds and the stones that obstruct transport at sea between Rameshwaram and Sri Lanka’s Talaimannar in the Adams bridge region must be removed and the canal must be deepened.
Miss Jayalalitha has given a statement that she would take legal action if the Ramar bridge is not spared. “Without breaking the Ramar bridge how can the channel be constructed? Mr Pannerselvam wants to comb hair without using oil,” he said turning to an old proverb. “I do not want to elaborate further. The Sethusamudram project is good for Tamil Nadu as it would bring prosperity. Only those who are against prosperity would stand in its way. I request you all to stay clear of the subject and not obstruct the project,” he said, adds PTI

BJP Response
Taking exception to Tamil Nadu chief minister Mr M Karunanidhi’s remarks that religious fundamentalists were opposing the SethuSamudram Canal project, the <b>BJP today said the issue was not a religious one, but that concerning protecting of an “ancient monument.”</b>
“Portraying agitations to protect Ramar Sethu bridge as opposition to the SSCP and labelling them as communal is condemnable,” BJP’s state unit president Mr L Ganesan said in a statement here.
Demands for archaeological research on Ramar Sethu bridge was <b>as justifiable as those for excavation of Lemuria continent (a land mass under the Indian Ocean</b>, said to be the home of Tamils) and Poompuhar (an ancient port city of Tamil kings of Chola dynasty), he said, adding if the Ramar Sethu bridge was demolished, no archaeological research was possible.
It was the government’s duty to protect ancient monuments.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->