The Hindu : Front Page : Parts of ASI affidavit to be withdrawn

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Sep 14, 2007
ePaper

Front Page

Front Page

Parts of ASI affidavit to be withdrawn

J. Venkatesan

Existence of Rama cannot be doubted: Bhardwaj

New Delhi: The Centre announced on Thursday that it would withdraw objectionable paragraphs in the affidavit filed by the Archaeological Survey of India in the Supreme Court which said that there was no evidence to prove “the existence of the characters or the occurrence of the events” in the Ramayana.

Union Law Minister H.R. Bhardwaj announced this at a hurriedly-called press conference here. He said that the averments in three paragraphs (5, 6 and 20) that were found objectionable would be withdrawn and a supplementary affidavit would be filed on Friday when the case was taken up for hearing.

The affidavit filed by the ASI in the Sethusamudram case had come under attack from the Sangh Parivar, which blocked traffic in the Capital and other places, and the Bharatiya Janata Party, which demanded its withdrawal.

Mr. Bhardwaj said: “Lord Rama is an integral part of Indian culture and ethos and cannot be a matter of debate or subject matter of litigation in court.”

Asked what clarification the government would give, he said, “This is in regard to our averments in the affidavit that there is no evidence to prove the existence of Rama or other characters in the Ramayana.”

A question of faith

He said a wrong impression had been created by media reports on the affidavit. “The existence of Rama cannot be doubted. As Himalaya is Himalaya, Ganga is Ganga, Rama is Rama. It is a question of faith. There is no requirement of any proof to establish the existence based on faith.”

Mr. Bhardwaj added: “Rama is inbuilt into the sentiments of Hindus. Indian theology derives its belief from Vedas, puranas and epics and these are part of Indian belief. Religion should never be made a subject matter in court.”

“An integral part”

Asked whether the government would not resort to demolition of Ramar Sethu in the Sethusamudram project, he refused to comment on the project saying: “I am not an expert on Ramar Sethu, but I believe in Rama. Rama is an integral part of the lives of Hindus. It cannot be alienated from our ethos. This was never the intention in the affidavit that Rama never existed or never appeared on the earth.”

Asked whether the BJP leader L.K. Advani met him on this issue, Mr. Bhardwaj said, “Yesterday [Wednesday] Mr. Advani was at the dinner hosted by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the visiting Bulgarian Prime Minister and he said that the affidavit should be withdrawn. I told him that there can’t be any controversy on that.”

Mr. Bhardwaj added: “We have equal faith in Rama or Shiva. I myself will sit with Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam and the Law Secretary T. K. Viswanathan and finalise the supplementary affidavit to be filed tomorrow [Friday], particularly in relation to paragraphs five, six and 20.”

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page