BJP to protect Ram Setu when in power: Rajnath

Chennai, Jul 31: The Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) on Thursday, July 31 alleged that despite undeniable facts regarding its history, the UPA government's adamant attitude over destroying the Ram Setu for the Setu Samudram Canal Project(SSCP) amounted to 'cultural terrorism'. Addressing a press conference here, BJP President Rajnath Singh, who demanded that Ram Setu be protected at any cost and be declared as a national monument, said if the BJP-led NDA comes back to power in the next Lok Sabha polls, it would review the SSCP.

''But we will protect Ram Setu and declare it as a national monument'', he said, adding ''if the UPA government's argument that it does not fall within the parametres for being recognised as a national monument, those parametres would have to be suitably altered.'' He alleged that the UPA government was allowing terrorism to thrive in the country on the one hand,and on the other, it was practising ''cultural terrorism'' as reflected in its approach to the Ram Setu issue.

The UPA government was targetting the cultural beliefs and icons of the majority of Indians, he alleged, adding, ''the case of Ram Setu is a classic example.'' ''The UPA governmen has not only hurt the religious sentitments, but also denied the very existence of Ram Setu and even Lord Rama.

The BJP strongly condemns such ludicrous submissions,'' Mr Rajnath Singh charged.

Ram Setu was not only a strategic buffer between India and Sri Lanka, but it also serves as a source of livelihood for millions of fishermen in Tamil Nadu, he pointed out.

UNI