Puri Sankaracharya on Ram Sethu

BY: DEBABRATA MOHAPATRA

Jul 25, JAGANNATHA PURI, ORISSA — Puri Sankaracharya urges SC to consult religious experts on Ram Sethu issue.

Sankaracharya of Puri Nischalananda Saraswati urged the Apex Court to take the opinions of the religious scholars, including the four Sankaracharyas in the country, before delivering any judgment on the contentious issue of implementation of Sethusamudram project involving the Ram Sethu row. The Puri seer was peeved at the Center's assertion before the Supreme Court (SC) that Lord Ram himself had destroyed the Ram Sethu.

"Sentiments of hundreds of Hindus are hurt after Center told the Supreme Court that Lord Ram had destroyed Ram Sethu. The UPA government is consistently misleading the Apex court by presenting irrational and bogus information on Ram Sethu," Sankaracharya said. A few days back the Center derived some verses from Kamban Ramayan, asserting that the Tamil scripture described the destruction of the bridge by Lord Ram. The Puri seer however did not buy the story written in Kamban Ramayan, nor did he want to talk on Kamban Ramayan.

"The Supreme Court should not rely on the Center's misleading assertions. Earlier the Center had filed an affidavit with the SC denying the existence of Lord Ram. Now it claimed Ram Himself had destroyed the bridge. Considering its religious depth, the Court should approach the Sankaracharyas and other religious experts to resolve the issue," the Puri Sankaracharya said.

Asked about his future course of action if the Apex Court passes the order in favour of the government, the seer said he would choose the path of violence. "I have been posing a silent and peaceful protest till now. But I will break my calmness if the SC's decision goes against the sentiments of Hindus," Nischalananda Saraswati remarked.

"It is matter of great sorrow that our nation's politicians and ministers had vigorously indulged themselves in a tug-of-war on the Indo-US nuclear deal in the parliament. But none of them showed an iota of interest to save Ram Sethu," the Sankaracharya rued.

"Bharatiya Janta Patry (BJP), which has been blowing its own trumpet on Hindutwa, has also shown little interest to fight for the cause of the Hindus when the Ram Sethu is in danger.

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