Setu rethinkThe article by Ramaswamy R. Iyer on Sethusamudram project (‘Bridge over troubled water’, IE, September 24) is spot on. The issues are economic and ecological rather than religious or sentimental. In the days of super tankers and mega ships will the new route, reportedly designed for smaller ships, prove commercially viable? Will the movement of ships drive fishing out of business? Can the fisherfolk be rehabilitated, assuring them a new source of income? Is the project going to benefit the common man or is it going to be an opportunity for politicians and government officials to make their mega bucks, as it has happened in the ambitious highways project and dozens of similar projects that have made millionaires of politicians and contractors? Even those who are opposing the project in Ram’s name are not strictly ‘maryada purushottams’ themselves — their real intentions are not above board. As Iyer has rightly said, the issue needs to be looked into afresh. — Kishore KarnadSunnyvale, CARESPONDING to a petition challenging the legality of the Sethusamudram project the Supreme Court called upon the ASI to file an affidavit stating whether the Ram Setu below water in the Palk Straits was man-made or a natural phenomenon. The ASI stated that Ram Setu was the result of sandstone accumulation over a period of millions of years. It added that Ram and other Ramayana characters were myths and did not exist in reality. It was totally irrelevant to the matter before the Court and uncalled for. The real question is whether the project is economically viable and eco-friendly. One columnist has argued, “The Suez and Panama Canals save ships thousands of miles that makes them profitable. Sethusamudram is not remotely comparable. It’s designed for small ships. The Suez and Panama were dug through land corridors that did not face sand inundation from the sea. But Sethusamudram will be a furrow in the sea-bed, at the constant mercy of currents bearing sand.” The state, in addition to the initial heavy costs, will have to bear recurring expenses of clearing the sands. Will this project be self-financing? Karunanidhi and his followers, who swear by the rationalism of Periyar, should consider this dispassionately and not disturb peace. — M.A. RaneMumbaiCall this patriotism?The reported hurling of abuses and muck on British citizens visiting the sites associated with the Mutiny by some ‘patriotic’ Indians was most embarrassing and saddening. If these youths are thinking that they were bringing glory to the nation through such abominable acts, they are awfully wrong. It has never been our tradition to abuse harmless visitors in such a manner nor was our freedom struggle itself built on such a base combination of cowardice and insensitivity. The Gandhian upsurge was in fact the epitome of deep patriotism alloyed with an equally passionate humanism which respects all. No doubt Indians have the right and the duty to not forget the inhumanities perpetrated by the Havelocks and the Neils in 1857. Yet the best traditions of nationalism do not permit us to attack their descendants today. I am sure true patriots of our magnanimous nation would join me in unequivocally condemning such misguided assaults and in welcoming those who come to pay homage, irrespective of nationality or creed. — Devesh Vijay New Delhi
