Dear brothers and sisters,
Participating in the ‘Mupperum Vizha’ held at Erode on 15.9.2007, I proposed a resolution at the end of my speech and adopted at the meeting. The resolution was as follows:
“When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Tmt Sonia Gandhi helped a lot and came forward to implement Sethusamudram project, which was the dream of Tamils for about hundred years and a demand of the Dravidian movement, we, on behalf of people of South India raise voice through this meeting from the land of Periyar who fought to uproot communal superstitions, that the Centre should not yield fearing communal forces standing against it in the name of Ramar bridge and spoil it and deny economic prosperity of people of South India”.
While this was the resolution in DMK public meeting, there was another resolution against it, adopted at the national council meeting of the BJP on 3.3.2013 which was:
“If the Centre tried to damage Ram Sethu in the name of Sethusamudram project, the BJP will severely oppose it. The BJP will not accept any project that damages Ram Sethu. There will not Ramayana without Ram Sethu” Moreover in that meeting they had pointed out in the resolution, “The BJP appreciates the cooperation rendered by the Tamil Nadu ADMK government for declaring Ram Sethu as national monument”.
When the government of the UPA at the Centre was formed in 2004 and the DMK partook in it, we took lot of efforts to add Sethusamudram project somehow in the Common Minimum Programme. Following this in the CMP placed by the UPA clearly stated ”Long pending schemes in states that have national significance, like Sethu Samuthiram Proect…will be completed expeditiously”.
Moreover, it was added in the budget of the UPA government, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Tmt Sonia Gandhi, myself and leaders of other fraternal parties participated in the grand inaugural function held in Madurai. It was not only us who raised voice for this project in those days.
In the election manifesto of the ADMK for the 2004 Parliament elections it was stated,
“The country knew well as to how the DMK, PMK and MDMK which had Ministerial berths for five year in the rule at the Centre (under NDA) failed to take steps for implementing the Sethusamudram project which would play an important role in the economic progress of Tamil Nadu and the overall industrial development of the State. The ADMK would urge the prospective government at the Centre after the polls to immediately allocate sufficient for this project and execute it within a prescribed time schedule.”
It is the Tamil Nadu government led by Jayalalitha who contended the need for Sethusamudram project in her election manifesto, that has filed affidavit in the Supreme Court to scrap the project. Is this not double role and dubious drama.
All studies undertaken since 1955 have only established that this project is feasible. And nobody had even an iota of doubt over it.
To carry out new studies, during the NDA regime Union Minister for Surface Transport Arun Jaitley of the BJP gave approval on 9.3.2001. The responsibility was vested with NEERI in October 2001.
The NEERI with headquarters in Nagpur took up the study and held that the best route that will not cause any damage and fit for shipping at least cost was the Sixth alignment in the area of Adams bridge.
Finally on 31.3.2005 the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests gave its environmental clearance for the project after its proper procedures and extensive studies.
From the various studies and inquiries undertaken so far it has been made clear that there was no categorical scientific evidence for any man-made construction in this sea water of ‘Adam’s bridge’.
It was only because there were no categorical evidence that any of the successive governments at the Centre including the NDA government led by the BJP did not either announce the project area as national monument or undertook any step for that.
Minister Arun Jaitley on 9.3.2001, Minister S.Thirunavukkarasar on 25.10.2002 and Minister V.V.Goyal on 20.10.2002 and Minister Shatrugan Sinha prior to that had accepted the sixth alignment via Adam’s bridge.
In the petition filed by TN government in the Supreme Court on 29.4.2013 it had been stated that Sethusamudram project should be reconsidered and Ram Sethu should be declared as national monument and the Centre should be directed not to damage of break the bridge, and the ADMK government is opposing the project now. But what did Jayalalitha say in her election manifesto for 2001 elections:-
“So far there is no suitable route for continuous shipping around Indian sub continent. If ships have to sail through sea from west to east, they have to sail around Sri Lanka. Sethusamudram project is the solution for this. According to the project, the primary aim of it is to set up a canal by deepening in Adams bridge area between Rameswaram and Talaimannar in Sri Lanka by removing sand dunes and rocks that hinder shipping.”
How is it that Jayalalitha who said in her election manifesto as ‘Adams bridge’ and ‘sand dunes’ now suddenly says ‘Ram Sethu’? Why?
In his letters to Indira Gandhi Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (‘Discovery of India’) points out that “Ramayana is not an epic. It is an imaginary story exaggerating the struggle between Aryans and Dravidians inserting many unwise stories”
A sincere devotee of Ram Rajaji himself stated “The Ramayana is not history or biography. It is a part of Hindu mythology”.
When MGR was the Chief Minister a resolution was adopted in the Assembly on 10.5.1986 demanding the Centre to implement Sethusamudram project.
Is it correct for Jayalalitha now to suddenly try to block the Sethusamudram project after foundation stone was laid in July 2005 and implemented spending so far Rs.829 crore keeping mum till all these moneys were spent?
If Sethusamudram project is implemented, industry and trade in Tamil Nadu will expand through that; foreign exchange earnings of the nation will increase; shipping distance and time will drastically reduce; in the ports of Tamil Nadu and neighboring states cargo handling capacity will increase; new minor port will be developed in Rameswaram or Mandapam; As fishing harbours are developed under the project trade in marine commodity will increase and the economy and living standards of fishermen will improve; this canal will provide facility for fishermen to sail from Mannar bay to Palk straits; the exchange of Indian cargo in the ports of other countries including Sri Lanka will be avoided; the coastal security of the nation will be strengthened; by this project over 50,000 persons will get continuous direct and in indirect employment; through the project employment of 8 crore mandays per annum will be created.
Lot of direct and indirect employment opportunities will be created; about 10,000 persons will get direct employment opportunities with the development of Rameswaram and Nagapattinam ports; by using Sethusamudram canal the shipping distance between east and west coast of India will get reduced by about 424 miles.
Through this there is chance for reduction of shipping time by 30 hours; considerable saving of fuel and foreign exchange will take place. There will also be considerable saving in shipping rent.
With reduction in shipping time through additional trips additional cargo can be handled; one of eastern ports of South India will be developed into an integrated port for cargo container transport; Tuticorin port will develop much; ships of Navy and Coast Guard can sail very faster; through which India’s military capacity will be developed to a great extent; infrastructural facilities in Ramanathapuram, Nagapattinam and Tuticorin districts will develop.
When the inaugurated Sethusamudram project was progressing fast due to good effort of the then Minister T.R.Baalu, for the only reason that if the project got completed DMK will get big credit, the ADMK government with animosity has filed petition in the Supreme Court to close this project also when Rs.829 core has already been spent, and this is the truth!
Affectionately,
M.K.
Participating in the ‘Mupperum Vizha’ held at Erode on 15.9.2007, I proposed a resolution at the end of my speech and adopted at the meeting. The resolution was as follows:
“When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Tmt Sonia Gandhi helped a lot and came forward to implement Sethusamudram project, which was the dream of Tamils for about hundred years and a demand of the Dravidian movement, we, on behalf of people of South India raise voice through this meeting from the land of Periyar who fought to uproot communal superstitions, that the Centre should not yield fearing communal forces standing against it in the name of Ramar bridge and spoil it and deny economic prosperity of people of South India”.
While this was the resolution in DMK public meeting, there was another resolution against it, adopted at the national council meeting of the BJP on 3.3.2013 which was:
“If the Centre tried to damage Ram Sethu in the name of Sethusamudram project, the BJP will severely oppose it. The BJP will not accept any project that damages Ram Sethu. There will not Ramayana without Ram Sethu” Moreover in that meeting they had pointed out in the resolution, “The BJP appreciates the cooperation rendered by the Tamil Nadu ADMK government for declaring Ram Sethu as national monument”.
When the government of the UPA at the Centre was formed in 2004 and the DMK partook in it, we took lot of efforts to add Sethusamudram project somehow in the Common Minimum Programme. Following this in the CMP placed by the UPA clearly stated ”Long pending schemes in states that have national significance, like Sethu Samuthiram Proect…will be completed expeditiously”.
Moreover, it was added in the budget of the UPA government, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Tmt Sonia Gandhi, myself and leaders of other fraternal parties participated in the grand inaugural function held in Madurai. It was not only us who raised voice for this project in those days.
In the election manifesto of the ADMK for the 2004 Parliament elections it was stated,
“The country knew well as to how the DMK, PMK and MDMK which had Ministerial berths for five year in the rule at the Centre (under NDA) failed to take steps for implementing the Sethusamudram project which would play an important role in the economic progress of Tamil Nadu and the overall industrial development of the State. The ADMK would urge the prospective government at the Centre after the polls to immediately allocate sufficient for this project and execute it within a prescribed time schedule.”
It is the Tamil Nadu government led by Jayalalitha who contended the need for Sethusamudram project in her election manifesto, that has filed affidavit in the Supreme Court to scrap the project. Is this not double role and dubious drama.
All studies undertaken since 1955 have only established that this project is feasible. And nobody had even an iota of doubt over it.
To carry out new studies, during the NDA regime Union Minister for Surface Transport Arun Jaitley of the BJP gave approval on 9.3.2001. The responsibility was vested with NEERI in October 2001.
The NEERI with headquarters in Nagpur took up the study and held that the best route that will not cause any damage and fit for shipping at least cost was the Sixth alignment in the area of Adams bridge.
Finally on 31.3.2005 the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests gave its environmental clearance for the project after its proper procedures and extensive studies.
From the various studies and inquiries undertaken so far it has been made clear that there was no categorical scientific evidence for any man-made construction in this sea water of ‘Adam’s bridge’.
It was only because there were no categorical evidence that any of the successive governments at the Centre including the NDA government led by the BJP did not either announce the project area as national monument or undertook any step for that.
Minister Arun Jaitley on 9.3.2001, Minister S.Thirunavukkarasar on 25.10.2002 and Minister V.V.Goyal on 20.10.2002 and Minister Shatrugan Sinha prior to that had accepted the sixth alignment via Adam’s bridge.
In the petition filed by TN government in the Supreme Court on 29.4.2013 it had been stated that Sethusamudram project should be reconsidered and Ram Sethu should be declared as national monument and the Centre should be directed not to damage of break the bridge, and the ADMK government is opposing the project now. But what did Jayalalitha say in her election manifesto for 2001 elections:-
“So far there is no suitable route for continuous shipping around Indian sub continent. If ships have to sail through sea from west to east, they have to sail around Sri Lanka. Sethusamudram project is the solution for this. According to the project, the primary aim of it is to set up a canal by deepening in Adams bridge area between Rameswaram and Talaimannar in Sri Lanka by removing sand dunes and rocks that hinder shipping.”
How is it that Jayalalitha who said in her election manifesto as ‘Adams bridge’ and ‘sand dunes’ now suddenly says ‘Ram Sethu’? Why?
In his letters to Indira Gandhi Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (‘Discovery of India’) points out that “Ramayana is not an epic. It is an imaginary story exaggerating the struggle between Aryans and Dravidians inserting many unwise stories”
A sincere devotee of Ram Rajaji himself stated “The Ramayana is not history or biography. It is a part of Hindu mythology”.
When MGR was the Chief Minister a resolution was adopted in the Assembly on 10.5.1986 demanding the Centre to implement Sethusamudram project.
Is it correct for Jayalalitha now to suddenly try to block the Sethusamudram project after foundation stone was laid in July 2005 and implemented spending so far Rs.829 crore keeping mum till all these moneys were spent?
If Sethusamudram project is implemented, industry and trade in Tamil Nadu will expand through that; foreign exchange earnings of the nation will increase; shipping distance and time will drastically reduce; in the ports of Tamil Nadu and neighboring states cargo handling capacity will increase; new minor port will be developed in Rameswaram or Mandapam; As fishing harbours are developed under the project trade in marine commodity will increase and the economy and living standards of fishermen will improve; this canal will provide facility for fishermen to sail from Mannar bay to Palk straits; the exchange of Indian cargo in the ports of other countries including Sri Lanka will be avoided; the coastal security of the nation will be strengthened; by this project over 50,000 persons will get continuous direct and in indirect employment; through the project employment of 8 crore mandays per annum will be created.
Lot of direct and indirect employment opportunities will be created; about 10,000 persons will get direct employment opportunities with the development of Rameswaram and Nagapattinam ports; by using Sethusamudram canal the shipping distance between east and west coast of India will get reduced by about 424 miles.
Through this there is chance for reduction of shipping time by 30 hours; considerable saving of fuel and foreign exchange will take place. There will also be considerable saving in shipping rent.
With reduction in shipping time through additional trips additional cargo can be handled; one of eastern ports of South India will be developed into an integrated port for cargo container transport; Tuticorin port will develop much; ships of Navy and Coast Guard can sail very faster; through which India’s military capacity will be developed to a great extent; infrastructural facilities in Ramanathapuram, Nagapattinam and Tuticorin districts will develop.
When the inaugurated Sethusamudram project was progressing fast due to good effort of the then Minister T.R.Baalu, for the only reason that if the project got completed DMK will get big credit, the ADMK government with animosity has filed petition in the Supreme Court to close this project also when Rs.829 core has already been spent, and this is the truth!
Affectionately,
M.K.
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