India:India's federal culture minister has offered to resign in a furious political row over the existence of the Hindu god Lord Ramaa, a figure worshipped by millions.
Ambika Soni yesterday said she would no longer take responsibility for an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court by the Archaeological Survey of India that denies the existence of Rama.
Archeological officials had presented the argument in court to support construction plans for a canal between India's southernmost tip and neighbouring Sri Lanka which Hindu devotees oppose, believing it would destroy the remnants of a bridge built by Rama tens of thousands of years ago.
The government plans on building the $560 million Sethusamudram Ship Canal to link the Palk Strait with the Gulf of Mannar by dredging the peak of the mythological bridge - now known as Adam's Bridge.
The proposed project is expected to provide a continuous navigable sea route around the Indian peninsula, thereby saving ships several hours of commuting time.
But many Hindus want the canal alignment to be shifted, believing it would destroy the bridge, which according to tradition was built tens of thousands of years ago by Rama, supported by an army of monkeys.
Rama had used the bridge to cross over into Lanka - modern day Sri Lanka - to rescue his wife Sita, kidnapped by the demon king of the island, Lord Ravana.
Scientists and archaeologists, however, claim Adam's Bridge to be a natural formation of sand and stones.
Last week the Archaeological Survey of India declared that religious texts were not evidence that Lord Ram ever existed.
In response, hard-line Hindu opponents of the government accused the administration of blasphemy.
Realising its error, in a country where more than 80 per cent of the 1.20 billion or more population are Hindus and facing the possibility of elections over the next few months, the government withdrew the offending affidavit the following day and asked for three months to file another response. Two senior officials responsible for the affidavit were sacked.
Lord Rama has long been a controversial god, used by Hindu nationalists and other political parties for electoral profit.
In the early 1990s, Hindu zealots tore down a 16th-century mosque at Ayodhya in northern India built by the Mughal King Babar, claiming that he had constructed it after razing a temple that marked Ramaa's exact birthplace.
Within hours of the mosque's demolition, sectarian riots broke out across India, especially in the western port city of Mumbai (formerly Bombay), in which more than 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, died.