The Ram Setu controversy is not a controversy at all. It is a conflict between faith and research and both can’t be questioned.
Ram Sharan Sharma
My first name is Ram. But I do not believe in Ram. I don’t think he existed. The Ramayan, for instance, initially had 6,000 shlokas, which increased to 12,000 and then to 24,000 by 12th century AD. So, it is like a novel.
But the idea of Ram has not changed over the years. People believe in him as a God. Did Ram exist in reality is a question, which cannot be answered because it is a matter of faith.
The Ram Setu controversy is not a controversy at all. It is a conflict between faith and research and both can’t be questioned.
If people have to worship Ram, they worship him in their homes; nobody goes to Ram Setu to worship him. Progress is more important. If building the new bridge would help the country’s development then it is more important than faith.
The faith that people have in Ram is subjective and differs from individual to individual. But faith cannot be allowed to hamper national interest. The current controversy is being made into a controversy by the politicians for political gains. Nobody is thinking about India, it is all only politics.
Sharma is a historian. He spoke to Ameya Bhise
Not a big deal
MSS Pandian
The controversy over Karunanidhi’s comments is a big deal for L K Advani and the cow belt. The average Hindu in Tamil Nadu is still largely unaffected by Karunanidhi’s comments.
This is not surprising, considering that Tamil Nadu’s politics is entrenched in caste narratives and has had its beginnings in anti-Brahminical movements.
But a halt in the Sethusamudram project will be viewed by the people of the state, especially the middle-class, as an interference with South India’s development by politics in the north. DMK’s plank in the 1950s was of north obstructing south. The same memories are being revived.
The way Ramayan is read in Uttar Pradesh is not the same way it is read in Tamil Nadu. In Tamil Nadu, Ramayan is also a narrative on caste distinction; of a text that treats the shudras as inferior.
The incident where Sambu, a shudra, is slain by Ram for performing penance, a prerogative of Brahmins, is just one of the many examples. If politicians in the North are incensed by Karunanidhi’s comments, rest assured that Karuna will win this round for he knows his Ramayan better than Advani.
Pandian is Economic Historian, Visiting Fellow, CSDS. He spoke to Lakshmy Ramanathan
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