<span style='color:red'>Is it a conspiracy to destroy Hindu heritage?</span>
Dinanath Mishra
In India we have been callous towards our heritage and legacy. Destruction of setubandh has already started. International companies have been engaged. One should not be surprised if Ram setu is totally destroyed
What is Setu-Samudram project? The project envisages a path for ships between India and Sri Lanka by creating two sea-canals. Total length of the canal would be about 89 km. The cost of the project is Rs 24 billion. It would be managed by Setu-Samudram Corporation. Twenty per cent of the aid would come from the Centre.
Some contribution would come from four Tamil Port Trusts. The implementing authority would be the Tuticorin Port Trust. Public issue of Rs 3 billion would be managed by UTI Bank. Central Government would guarantee all loans raised by the Corporation. Navigational financial benefits are the moving force behind it. Increasing foreign trade, Indian ambition, as well as Tamil Nadu's development are cited as reasons for the project. Additional reasons being strategic needs.
There are objections to the project from Kerala as it saved Kerala from big apprehended loss of human life due to Tsunami, for the setubandh mellowed the Tsunami thrust. Environmental issues are also involved. The fishing community fears drop in their income. The biggest factor, which would play its own role, is that Setu-Samudram would destruct Ram setu, the invaluable human heritage. That apart, sentimental attachment of Hindus with Ram setu is also very relevant and they too are raising their voice against its destruction. This ambitious project is hanging in the balance for over a century. The NDA Government had also cleared it but the plan remained untouched. But when Manmohan Singh launched this project, it had under gone changes, which included destruction of Setu-Samudram.
The destruction of setubandh Rameshwaram is being carried out by foreign contractors. The Ramayana depicts this bandh vividly. It is a great center of Hindu pilgrimage since it was constructed by Shri Ram. Hindus are agitated over its ongoing destruction.
Setubandh might have been dismissed as mythology. But a few years back NASA based report released by PTI stated, "The NASA Shuttle has imaged a mysterious bridge between India and Sri Lanka, as mentioned in the Ramayana. The evidence, say experts matter of fact, is in the Digital Image Collection. The recently discovered bridge, currently named as Adam's Bridge and made of a chain of shoals, 30 km long, in the Palk Straits between India and Sri Lanka, reveals mystery behind it. The Bridge's unique curvature and composition reveals that it is man-made. Legend as well as Archeological studies reveal that the first signs of human inhabitants in Sri Lanka date back to about 1,750,000 years ago and the bridge's age is also almost equivalent."
However, the fact is that Hindu cosmogony contains descriptions of jal plavan or pralaya followed by total destruction. A small number of survivors had to perform the task of recreation unto them. The tectonic movements of plates also changed geography of the earth and impacted the history of human civilisation. After the great revelation of NASA, the Setubandh Rameshwaram has to be preserved as one of the greatest human heritage. The UN bodies care for such heritage. There are a number of international laws to preserve it. In Australia, the aboriginals as per their faith believe in some mountains to be as sacred as god. The Australian Government had to recognise their faith in mountain gods and the construction of national high way passing over these mountains was shifted.
Even before NASA's discovery, the existence of the setubandh was known. But NASA's revelations enthralled Indian heart and soul with a sense of pride in its history and civilisational development, including science, technology and architecture of ancient India. Had such discovery been related to any developed country, it would have opened floodgates of research. As per Hindu cosmogony it was during treta yug when the Ram setu was constructed. NASA has assessed the time frame as 17,50,000 years old.
In India we have been callous towards our heritage and legacy. The destruction of setubandh has already started. International companies have been engaged. One should not be surprised if Ram setu is totally destroyed in the name of building Tuticorin sea-port and a sea-canal between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. There can be ways to save the setubandh as well as go ahead with the development.
But who cares for preservation of Hindu - heritage and sensitivities. About a month back, a person called Krishna Swarup Pandey came to me and showed me some documents. I was amazed, as the way the Government did every thing in a hurry. After Shankaracharyas and other saints started speaking on it, 140 Tamil Nadu organisations launched an agitation to save it. They are now approaching the Supreme Court with a PIL to save this great Indian heritage.
Dinanath Mishra
In India we have been callous towards our heritage and legacy. Destruction of setubandh has already started. International companies have been engaged. One should not be surprised if Ram setu is totally destroyed
What is Setu-Samudram project? The project envisages a path for ships between India and Sri Lanka by creating two sea-canals. Total length of the canal would be about 89 km. The cost of the project is Rs 24 billion. It would be managed by Setu-Samudram Corporation. Twenty per cent of the aid would come from the Centre.
Some contribution would come from four Tamil Port Trusts. The implementing authority would be the Tuticorin Port Trust. Public issue of Rs 3 billion would be managed by UTI Bank. Central Government would guarantee all loans raised by the Corporation. Navigational financial benefits are the moving force behind it. Increasing foreign trade, Indian ambition, as well as Tamil Nadu's development are cited as reasons for the project. Additional reasons being strategic needs.
There are objections to the project from Kerala as it saved Kerala from big apprehended loss of human life due to Tsunami, for the setubandh mellowed the Tsunami thrust. Environmental issues are also involved. The fishing community fears drop in their income. The biggest factor, which would play its own role, is that Setu-Samudram would destruct Ram setu, the invaluable human heritage. That apart, sentimental attachment of Hindus with Ram setu is also very relevant and they too are raising their voice against its destruction. This ambitious project is hanging in the balance for over a century. The NDA Government had also cleared it but the plan remained untouched. But when Manmohan Singh launched this project, it had under gone changes, which included destruction of Setu-Samudram.
The destruction of setubandh Rameshwaram is being carried out by foreign contractors. The Ramayana depicts this bandh vividly. It is a great center of Hindu pilgrimage since it was constructed by Shri Ram. Hindus are agitated over its ongoing destruction.
Setubandh might have been dismissed as mythology. But a few years back NASA based report released by PTI stated, "The NASA Shuttle has imaged a mysterious bridge between India and Sri Lanka, as mentioned in the Ramayana. The evidence, say experts matter of fact, is in the Digital Image Collection. The recently discovered bridge, currently named as Adam's Bridge and made of a chain of shoals, 30 km long, in the Palk Straits between India and Sri Lanka, reveals mystery behind it. The Bridge's unique curvature and composition reveals that it is man-made. Legend as well as Archeological studies reveal that the first signs of human inhabitants in Sri Lanka date back to about 1,750,000 years ago and the bridge's age is also almost equivalent."
However, the fact is that Hindu cosmogony contains descriptions of jal plavan or pralaya followed by total destruction. A small number of survivors had to perform the task of recreation unto them. The tectonic movements of plates also changed geography of the earth and impacted the history of human civilisation. After the great revelation of NASA, the Setubandh Rameshwaram has to be preserved as one of the greatest human heritage. The UN bodies care for such heritage. There are a number of international laws to preserve it. In Australia, the aboriginals as per their faith believe in some mountains to be as sacred as god. The Australian Government had to recognise their faith in mountain gods and the construction of national high way passing over these mountains was shifted.
Even before NASA's discovery, the existence of the setubandh was known. But NASA's revelations enthralled Indian heart and soul with a sense of pride in its history and civilisational development, including science, technology and architecture of ancient India. Had such discovery been related to any developed country, it would have opened floodgates of research. As per Hindu cosmogony it was during treta yug when the Ram setu was constructed. NASA has assessed the time frame as 17,50,000 years old.
In India we have been callous towards our heritage and legacy. The destruction of setubandh has already started. International companies have been engaged. One should not be surprised if Ram setu is totally destroyed in the name of building Tuticorin sea-port and a sea-canal between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. There can be ways to save the setubandh as well as go ahead with the development.
But who cares for preservation of Hindu - heritage and sensitivities. About a month back, a person called Krishna Swarup Pandey came to me and showed me some documents. I was amazed, as the way the Government did every thing in a hurry. After Shankaracharyas and other saints started speaking on it, 140 Tamil Nadu organisations launched an agitation to save it. They are now approaching the Supreme Court with a PIL to save this great Indian heritage.