VHP launches nationwide rallies to protect Ram Sethu
March 4th, 2008 - 4:50 pm ICT by admin
New Delhi, March 4 (IANS) The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Tuesday launched rallies all over the country demanding ‘monument of national importance’ status to Ram Sethu, popularly known as the Adam’s Bridge, a chain of limestone shoals the group believes dates back to the Ramayana. “These protest marches, spread over two days, are being organised all over the country on Tuesday and Wednesday. We are protesting the union government’s affidavit in the Supreme Court in which it denied the existence of Lord Ram and the Ram Sethu,” Rajendra Singh Pankaj, national secretary of the VHP, told IANS.
Around 2,000 members of VHP’s Delhi unit took out a procession on two-wheelers and around 80 four-wheelers here Tuesday morning. The procession, which started from Ramlila grounds, culminated at Rajghat.
The gathering was addressed by office-holders of the Rameshwaram Ramsethu Raksha Manch, comprising mainly of VHP members.
“We demand an apology from the union government for giving the affidavit in the Supreme Court denying the existence of Ram. We want Ram Sethu to be declared a monument of national importance,” Pankaj said.
The Adam’s Bridge comes in the way of the controversial Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project, which proposes linking of the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar between India and Sri Lanka through a shipping channel.
The Hindu group opposes the project because the Ram Sethu, which they argue is sacred as it was built by Lord Ram to cross the sea to kill Ravana, would have to be drilled.
The issue is high on the Bharatiya Janata Party agenda for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
- SC gives more time to centre on Palk Strait channel - Sep 03, 2012
- Declare Ram Sethu a national monument: Jayalalithaa - Mar 28, 2012
- Complete Sethusamudram project at earliest: DMK - Mar 29, 2012
- New alignment of Sethusamudram not feasible, court told (Lead) - Jul 02, 2012
- Centre shies from naming Rama Sethu a national monument - Apr 19, 2012
- Government plans environmental study of Sethusamudram channel - Jan 14, 2010
- Quickly build Sethusamudram canal, says CPI-M (Lead) - Feb 12, 2010
- CPI-M youth wing strikes for implementation of Sethusamudram canal - Feb 12, 2010
- New alignment of Sethusamudram not feasible, court told - Jul 02, 2012
- Union Govt. says Ram Sethu not a place of worship - Oct 14, 2008
- VHP rejects Governments claim that Lord Rama destroyed Ram Sethu - Jul 28, 2008
- Can Rama Sethu be made national monument, asks apex court - Mar 27, 2012
- Malhotra criticises central government stand on Ram Setu - Oct 15, 2008
- British governor wanted Ram Sethu declared national monument in 1914 - Jun 06, 2008
- Centre says, Rama Sethu not a national monument - Jul 29, 2008
Tags: bharatiya janata party, four wheelers, gulf of mannar, hindu group, lok sabha elections, lord ram, national secretary, palk bay, pankaj, party agenda, rajendra singh, ram sethu, rameshwaram, s bridge, sethusamudram, ship channel, shipping channel, tuesday morning, union government, vishwa hindu parishad