The Sethu Samudram Panel has constituted a committee of eminent persons calling for objections/suggestions to reach the Member Secretary by 31-10-2007 and simultaneously personal hearing is also being conducted from 29-10-2007 to 06-11-2007. The Save Sethu Forum strongly denounces the formation of the said committee on the following grounds:
The terms of reference for formation of the committee is conspicuously not spelt out, which means the purpose and the object of formation of the said committee is not spelt out and as such the same is to fulfill a formality vague in nature and an eye-wash to camouflage the evil design of destructing or blasting the Ram Sethu.
The formation of the said committee is sub judice more so when the matter is pending before the apex court and the Supreme Court is seized of the matter and also issued certain directions.
The committee is beset with infirmities primarily because the departments, authorities, jurists and personalities concerned are not included, who are likely and are in a capacity to give a conclusive opinion. The departments like 1) Archaeological Survey of India, 2) Geological Survey of India, 3) National Institute of Oceanography, 4) Ministry of Culture, 5) Ministry of Labour, 6) Department of Atomic Energy and 7) Department of Marine Ecology are not part of the committee, which are competent to give a decisive opinion. The matter is also involved with the faith of the majority community and as such the absence of representation by a spiritual personality, well-versed and has studied the ancient evolution of Ram Sethu, its description in the scriptures, its length and breadth and how it was formed throws a dark shadow on the religious aspect of the said committee.
The committee constituted is only an eye-wash as the committee has called for objections and suggestions till 31-10-2007, however, the personal hearing, which is restricted to the persons, who have field their objections, from 29-10-2007 to 4-11-2007, which means the committee is least interested to go into the objections and the same is a statistical routine. Logically the personal hearing should start only after the last date of receiving of objections/suggestions, i.e., after 31-10-2007 and not earlier. Further, the intention of the committee is only to consider the views of the persons attending the personal hearing and not to consider the objections filed per se.
In the light of the above observations the committee so formed is inadequately represented, sub judice without any objective and incompetent to arrive at any conclusion and as such the Save Sethu Forum deprecates the formation of the said committee and demands that the committee be scrapped taking the above points into consideration.
