It took an army of vanar to build the Ram Sethu bridge between Mannar Island (Sri Lanka) and Rameshwaram (India), but it has taken less than a barrel full of monkeys to propose, re-propose, retract, litigate and leave at an awkward standstill the project to cut a naval passage through it.

Naturally, the UPA - thronging with Communists, p-secs and followers of non-Indian religions - were keen to pulverize our marine mytho-historical heritage. But the UPA has only been in power for three years now. Which anti-Hindu vandals guided this project through its early policy approvals?

Can you guess who received credit, in a recent session of Parliament, from the Minister of Shipping, TR Baalu?

Fill in the blanks!

____________ (1) authorized a report by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute on the enviromental implications of dredging the canal.

The research report, titled the 'Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment for Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project,' made the recommendation, "[the channel] should originate from the Tuticorin new harbour in the Gulf of Mannar, extend [...] up to south of Pamban Island, then cut through the Adam's Bridge, thereafter proceed [...] to the Bay of Bengal channel.”

The report was reviewed by Minister of State for Shipping _____________ (2) and forwarded to Union Minister for Shipping _____________ (3), to seek a decision on the depth of the channel. He, in turn, approved the constitution of a Coordination Committee to put the project on fast track, which brought it as disgracefully far as it has now come.

The next year, _____________ (4), the new Shipping Minister, addressed the Upper House on the status of the Channel project.

Who were these thoughtless apostates?

**** ANSWERS ****

(1) Arun Jaitley, BJP Minister for Law and Justice in 2001, subsequently national party spokesperson, presently BJP General Secretary and Rajya Sabha MP.

(2) S. Thirunavukkarasar, BJP Minister of State for Shipping in 2001, presently Rajya Sabha MP

3) VP Goyal, BJP Minister of Shipping in 2001, Road Transport and Highways in 2001, presently Rajya Sabha MP

4) Shatrughan Simha, BJP Minister of Shipping in 2002.