India

OPINION | A Science Channel Documentary on Ram Setu Has Made BJP Very Happy

Raga59

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posted on 6 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Ram Setu, also known as the Adam’s Bridge has been embroiled in controversy ever since the Sethusamudram shipping canal project was planned that required dredging in the area.

For a while now, politicians, leaders, academics and scientists have been debating over who built the 50-km stretch — between Pamban Island near Rameshwaram in India and Mannar Island off Sri Lanka. Is Ram Setu a natural phenomenon or a man-made structure?

Ram Setu, also known as the Adam’s Bridge has been embroiled in controversy ever since the Sethusamudram shipping canal project was planned that required dredging in the area. While some claim the Setu was a bridge built by Lord Rama’s “Vanar Sena” (army of apes and monkeys) and hence cannot be touched, others insist it is a naturally formed chain of lime shoals.

Now, a Science Channel documentary clip on ‘Ram Setu' has brought it back to the limelight again. The US show suggests that the bridge may not be a natural formation and may have been built by humans.

The show titled 'What on Earth', has interviewed an archaeologist who says, “The rocks on top of the sand actually pre-date the sand. So there is more to the story.”

The TV show vindicates the stand of many right-wing ideologues that the bridge was indeed built by Lord Rama.

Are the ancient Hindu myths of a land bridge connecting India and Sri Lanka true? Scientific analysis suggests they are. #WhatonEarth pic.twitter.com/EKcoGzlEET — Science Channel (@ScienceChannel) December 11, 2017

The show observed that while the stones used to build the Setu are 7,000 years old, the sand on which it is sitting is only 4,000-year-old. They concluded that the discrepancy in the age of the sand and the stone proves that the stone bridge must have been built by human beings. “There are Hindu legends that the God Rama placed a bridge here, connecting India and Sri Lanka,” Dr Alan Lester, Geologist said on the show. Naturally, the BJP supporters are overjoyed. In an interview to CNN-News18, BJP MP Subramanian Swamy said, “Ram Setu will not be touched now for any project henceforth.”

Swamy had earlier filed a petition in Supreme Court asking the apex court to order the government to declare Ram Setu a national monument as it was a matter of faith.

Information & Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani shared the video in a tweet saying: “Jai Shree Raam.”

In 2004, the UPA had mooted the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project (SSCP) project that aimed at linking the east and west coasts of India without the need to go around Sri Lanka.

"Valmiki Ramayana and Ramcharitmanas admittedly form an important part of the ancient Indian literature, but these cannot be said to be historical records to incontrovertibly prove the existence of the characters and occurrences of events depicted therein," the Congress had said in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, justifying the move to explode the Setu for the project.