The rhetoric last week similarly drew on the divisive: “The government would not have dared to destroy a Muslim heritage structure,” asserted VHP international secretary Pravin Togadia. “They are protecting the Qutub Minar, by changing the path of the Metro rail; they are building an expensive sea link in Mumbai to protect the Haji Ali shrine. But when a Hindu says don’t break this historical bridge because I worship it, no one cares.”
Doesn’t matter that Nasa, which has been mapping the earth for decades through satellite images, has written to the Sethusamudram Corp. Ltd, which is handling the project, that its pictures suggest the bridge—or sand bars or small islets connecting India and Sri Lanka, were “a variety of natural geological processes and their occurrence is not evidence of any human activity.”
But, huddled among the sadhus were people who were asking their own questions as well.
What did the bridge have anything to do with Muslims? Why protest the demolition of the bridge strictly on religious grounds? Why not bolster arguments with valid environmental, security and economic reasons? Several talked to this reporter but none of them wanted to be named, citing the sensitive nature of what they were raising.
The Sethusamudram project, inaugurated two years ago by Congress party president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is expected to “redefine shipping in South India.”
Right now, all ships between India’s east and west coasts circumvent Sri Lanka. The project involves breaking the bridge and dredging a channel to create an easier passage for ships. Still, the government’s claim that this will reduce navigation time by one day and reduce fuel costs has been disputed by some who have nothing to do with the VHP.
Harihar Balakrishnan, a Chennai-based naval expert who has examined the plans and economics of the Rs2,426-crore project, maintains “ships will save two hours at best.”
According to some other analysts, the project comes with too many price tags and risks—they say another tsunami might have a deadlier impact on the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Kerela because of the project; it will mean a loss of livelihood for thousands of fishermen; and, once the bridge that protects the gulf disappears, its biodiversity will vanish, too, they say.
So, some VHP dissenters last week were wondering: should the purpose not be to save the bridge—by any and all means?
Later, in an interview, Togadia said the VHP does plan to meet others interested in saving the bridge in separate forums. “This conference was only to discuss this attack on Hindu culture,” he said. But, by the end of the week, the sadhus had made plans to call for rallies around Rameswaram, the city on the Indian side of the bridge. In October, Rath Yatras led by prominent religious figures will wind their way through the country and end in December outside the Prime Minister’s house in the Capital.
Politicians such as ex-BJP member, Uma Bharti, who was a part of the Ayodhya campaign, have rejoined forces with the VHP. Bharti, suspended from the BJP in 2004, also began a week-long fast in Ayodhya to save the relic. Not all leaders from the Ayodhya campaign plan are so keen. L.K. Advani, former deputy prime minister and a key player during the Ram Janmabhoomi campaign, cautioned that the bridge was a national issue with national interests at stake.