Divine architect

 After the left nearly walked out of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government over the much-hyped civilian nuclear deal with the US, the beleaguered Congress managed only the smallest reprieve before another controversy erupted. Suddenly, there was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in the doldrums of late, waving its ever-ready flag of 'Hindu sentiment' over an issue that had been gift-wrapped and handed over by the Congress. This time, those fragile sentiments were said to have been hurt by the Centre's denial of the existence of the Hindu god Ram – revered, we are told, by more than 800 million Hindus.

Evidently, that very large number of Hindus does not include several venerable members of Tamil Nadu's political parties. On 10 September, on the basis of a petition filed by Janata Party president Subramaniam Swamy, who regarded the dredging of Adam's Bridge (Ram Sethu) as a desecration, the Supreme Court ordered a stay on any further scouring of the waterway between India and Sri Lanka. The following day, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi dismissed out of hand any notion that the Ram Sethu was built by Lord Ram, irately asking, "From which engineering college did he [Ram] graduate?" Even as mobs reacted against this supposed blasphemy by going on a rampage in which two were killed, Karunanidhi did not climb down. To add to the Congress's troubles, the left has also joined Karunanidhi in insisting that work on the project must continue.

Controversy surrounding the INR 22.3 billion Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project (SSCP) is not new. The idea of the SSCP has long appealed to many, with its promise of providing a vastly shorter sea route between India's western and eastern coasts. Of course, this route would also benefit anyone crossing over to the Bay of Bengal from the Arabian Sea, and vice-versa. Originally conceived in 1860, almost a century and a half passed before work began on the 'Suez of the East'. Debate has dogged the project ever since work on it finally got underway in 2005, and environmental and religious objections have been the most strident. The new route would require the dredging of the Ram Sethu, which Hindu mythology says was built by Ram's followers, led by Hanuman, in an effort to connect Rameshwaram with Sri Lanka in order to rescue Sita, who had been abducted by Ravan.

The latest brouhaha was jump-started by the Centre's affidavit in response to the petition filed in the Supreme Court. According to the affidavit, drafted by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), India's mythological texts, including the Ramayana and Ramcharitmanas, "cannot be said to be historical records … [Ram Sethu] is not a man-made structure but rather a natural formation".

The "objectionable" affidavit was hastily withdrawn after it drew the ire of the BJP. Sonia Gandhi stepped in to try to put out the fire. At a hurriedly called press conference, a red-faced Congress claimed that the affidavit was a "mistake", and heads quickly rolled. Two senior ASI officials were suspended, and Hindutva-wallahs and Congress leaders alike were tripping over themselves to demand the resignation of Culture Minister Ambika Soni. The BJP's L K Advani went so far as to term the episode the beginning of a "full-scale civil war", and the RSS lost no time in setting up a protection committee to 'save' the Ram Sethu.

Sacrificing secularism
Meanwhile, Law Minister H R Bharadwaj made an abrupt about-face, claiming that Ram was indeed an "integral part of our history and ethos, whose existence cannot be doubted" – sentiments uncannily similar to a soft Hindutva line. Such back-peddling should be unsurprising however, what with midterm polls potentially just around the corner. Furthermore, it must be remembered that it was the Congress that pioneered the notion of 'soft' Hindutva in the first place, and has resorted to it on more than one occasion, particularly when charged with 'appeasing minorities'. In the 1986 Shahbanu case, Rajiv Gandhi's government sacrificed Muslim women's rights to maintenance upon divorce, in order to appease orthodox elements of the Muslim community. This was subsequently seen by the BJP as 'playing the Muslim card'.

As though in answer, there quickly came an attempt by the Congress to pander to Hindu sentiment in the Ram Janmabhoomi case, a move that still has repercussions today. In 1986, with the blessings of the Congress, a district judge in Uttar Pradesh ordered the opening of the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi complex in Ayodhya – to Hindus. Shilanyaas, or laying the foundation stone, soon followed. Not coincidentally, one of Rajiv Gandhi's most integral campaign planks during the 1989 elections was the idea of ram rajya, or the mythical Hindu 'golden era'. The 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid was also accomplished by the Hindutva brigade during a Congress reign, under the prime-ministership of P V Narasimha Rao. The cycle of retributive violence that was unleashed has yet to be stilled.

Given this bloody history, the Congress would do well not to trade its secular image – however tarnished – for electoral gains. Keeping the coalition together is no easy task, particularly with the Dravidian politicians asserting their rationalist heritage. Tamil politicians are eager to see the completion of the Ram Sethu dredging project, given that the greatest beneficiary would be Tuticorin harbour, which they hope to transform into a shipping hub along the lines of Singapore and Colombo. The new navigation route would also help in the development of 13 proposed minor ports in Tamil Nadu.

A poll in January showed that 93 percent of urban Indians believed in god, with only 10 percent or less describing themselves as "not religious at all". As such, some might hold that religious sentiments in India must be respected at all times. Equally arguably, however, with the country's tremendous religious, ethnic and regional diversity, a major uniting factor can be rationality and scientific evidence. Accurate assessment of the ecological impact, as well as the effect on livelihoods, must guide development projects. The ASI clearly overstepped its mandate by opining on the existence of Ram, however. While faith cannot be a matter of evidence, surely the building of shipping canals must be.

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