RAM SETHU-II (Govt. Affidavit and objection of BJP)

GOVERNMENT AFFIDAVIT
• Defending the Sethusamudram shipping canal project and maintaining that the Adam's Bridge/Ram Setu formation cannot be called "a man-made structure" the Centre today told the Supreme Court that "contents of the Valmiki Ramayana, the Ramcharitamanas by Tulsidas and other mythological texts, which admittedly form an important part of ancient Indian literature... cannot be said to be historical record to incontrovertibly prove the existence of the characters, or the occurrence of the events, depicted therein."
OBJECTION TO ASI AFFIDAVIT BY BJP
• Leader of Opposition LK Advani asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to immediately withdraw the affidavit claiming it was tantamount to "questioning the faith of millions of Indians."
• BJP called the affidavit an "insult to the cultural heritage, civilisational beliefs, and Hindu sentiments." BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad mounted a spirited assault on the government and wanted to know if the Congress could take a similar stand on any other faith. Prasad said this is a "crude attempt" to insult Hindus, "questioning the very existence of Ram and Sita.
WILL CONGRESS DARE TO DO THIS TO ANY OTHER RELIGION?:- LK ADVANI
• LK Advani, blamed the Manmohan Singh government for practising the worst form of "communalism" and sought an apology from the prime minister and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi for "hurting the sentiments of millions of Hindus" across the globe by denying the existence of Lord Ram. "It is clear that the Congress party's pseudo-secularism has degenerated into sadist-secularism," he said.