Rama Setu -1

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<b>July 22 deadline</b>
<b>Hindu leaders' ultimatum to UPA on Ram Sethu</b>
By Pramod Kumar
Organiser
June 10, 2007

Giving an ultimatum to the UPA government, the saints have warned the government
to stop destruction of Ram Sethu forthwith. They set July 22 as deadline for the
government and made it clear that if it did not take any decision before the
deadline, they would be compelled to take a strong decision. “There will be a
Dharma Sansad in Delhi on July 22 and the saints from all parts of the country
will participate in it. If the government fails to take a concrete decision
before that, the saints will be forced to take any strong decision to save the
Ram Sethu,” declared VHP president Shri Ashok Singhal while addressing a
gathering of more than 25,000 people at Ramlila Grounds in Delhi on May 27. The
rally was organised by Shri Ram Sethu Raksha Manch, Delhi. Before the rally, the
saints addressed more than 150 public meetings across Delhi to expose the
conspiracy on the part of UPA government to demolish the Ram Sethu.

“The political leaders could be coward, but the people of this country are not
coward or weak. When the structure at Ayodhya was demolished, they did not
bother about their lives. Now too they are ready for any sacrifice,” added Shri
Singhal. The people participating in the rally responded in affirmation to this
call of Shri Singhal by shouting the slogan of Jai Shri Ram. Shri Singhal
warned the government not to play with the sentiments of Hindus and also do not
test their patience.

Explaining the conspiracy behind the demolition of Ram Sethu, he said the people
of Europe do not recognise the history and culture of Bharat and they want to
destroy it. That is why they call Shri Ram and Shri Krishna the mythological
characters. The British did not accept this fact and now Smt. Sonia Gandhi too
does not accept it. They do not recognise the Indian history prior to the
Buddhist era. They feel if the historiy of Sethu is accepted, then the
historicity of Shri Ram will continue to be proved. That is why Smt Gandhi went
to inaugurate the project on July 2, 2005, he added. Shri Singhal again made it
clear that the saints are not against the Sethusamudaram Project. “The
government is bent upon spending Rs 2400 crore on the project by dredging the
Ram Sethu. If it adopts the alternate route and dig a canal in the barren land
the project will cost only Rs 1200 crore,” he said.

VHP general secretary Dr Pravin Togadia said if it were Ali Sethu the Manmohan
Singh government would not have dared to touch it. Besides preserving it, the
government would also have declared subsidy for Muslims to visit it. “Ram Sethu
is a teerth for us and we will not allow anyone to destroy it at any cost,” he
said adding that the government is making all efforts to destroy the identity
and culture of Hindus. He said the governments of Egypt and China are spending
crores of rupees to preserve their ancient sites but our government is spending
cores of rupees to destroy our ancient sites, which are internationally
important.

Senior BJP leader Dr Murli Manohar Joshi gave a detailed account of his visit to
the site and also the scientific facts about the Sethu. He said those who claim
that it is not Ram Sethu are the biggest liars. Even the government documents
prove that it is Ram Sethu and there are also evidences that it is man made. It
is a unique example of our ancient glorious know-how. It is the only man made
bridge in the world,” he said.

Janata Party president Dr Subramanian Swamy called upon the people to be ready
for a bigger battle. He said the main battle is between “Om” and “Rome” and
“Om” would defeat “Rome”. Ramjanmabhoomi Trust president Mahant Nritya Gopal
Das warned those who think that the Hindu society is coward and weak. He said
if the government does not stop the dredging work, the saints would take a
tough decision on July 22. Dr Bajranglal Gupt, Kshetra Sanghachalak of RSS,
said the Hindu society needs to adopt the same way, which was adopted by Shri
Ram when the sea did not give Him way to reach Lanka.

Shankaracharya Vasudeva-nanda Saraswati said those who feel that only the saints
of North India are fighting for the Sethu, should see that a prominent saint
from the South, Pejawar Swami, is presiding over this rally in Delhi. Swami
Parmatmanand said the saints presented all kinds of evidences to the government
proving that it is Ram Sethu. But it is not ready to accept the truth. Presiding
over the rally, Pejawar Swami Shri Vishveshteerth appealed to the people to
stand unitedly as they had stood unitedly during the Banga-bhanga movement,
which forced the British government to cancel the Partition of Bengal. He said
the Hindu should be ready for big satyagraha.

Swami Sureshananda, a close associate of Sant Asaram Bapu, said those who are
trying to demolish the Ram Sethu are bhagwatdrohi and the God would definitely
punish them. He said the demolition of Ram Sethu is not good with regard to the
security of the country. Swami Narendranand Maharaj said talking in peaceful
manner must not be taken as cowardness. “Shri Ram had also sent various
proposals of peace to Ravana, but he did not accept them. And what happened
later, is known to everyone,” he added. Dr Ramvilas Das Vedanti, Mahant
Sudhirdas, Swami Vishwadevananda Maharaj, Shri Naval Kishor Das and various
other saints also spoke on the occasion. Convener of Shri Ram Sethu Raksha
Manch, Delhi, Shri B.L. Sharma “Prem” proposed a vote of thanks.

Ram Sethu is world heritage

Well-known writer Padamshri Dr Shyam Singh “Shashi”, on the basis of his
anthropological studies, has said that Ram Sethu from Rameshwaram to Sri Lanka
was constructed by Lord Rama with the help of south Indian tribes. In this
regard, on behalf of the Research Foundation International and other
organisations, he has written to the Presidents of India and Sri Lanka, Prime
Minister of India, Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala and UNO to save the
Ram Sethu from demolition and declare the same the international heritage. He
said there might be Hanuman temple, Ram Darbar and Ravana’s yajna type of
picnic spots for attracting the tourists from all over the world. Dr Shashi
expressed the need for international dialogue on the subject among the
Indologists, archeologists, anthropologists, historians and geologists. (FOC)

Akhand Kirtan at Jantar Mantar to save Ram Sethu

The entire Hindu society is agitated over the efforts of the Government of India
to demolish the Ram Sethu. A telling evidence of this agitation was the
collective kirtan performed by hundreds of women belonging to Akhand Hindusthan
Morcha at Jantar- Mantar in New Delhi on May 17. Performing the kirtan the women
prayed to the God to cleanse the mind of the rulers. Smt. Suman, convener of
Akhand Hindusthan Mahila Sankirtan Mandal, Dr Annapoorna Mishra, Smt. Laxmi
Dhasmana and Smt Nisha gave detailed information about the reprehensible
efforts of the UPA government to demolish the Ram Sethu under foreign diktat.
They said it is not only the question of the cultural heritage of the country
but also of the beliefs of the entire Hindu world. Protection of this ancient
heritage is the duty of the entire mankind. (FOC)