The central government has shied from taking any stand on the plea by Janta party president Subramanium Swamy that the mythological Ram Setu in the Palk Strait be declared a national monument. An apex court bench of justices HL Dattu and Anil R Dave on Thursday recorded that the central government does not intend to file its response to the petition of Swamy.

The case relating to Ram Setu came under judicial scrutiny due to a bunch of petitions filed in the apex court against the ambitious Sethusamudram project, whose execution allegedly was to damage the mythological bridge. Sethusamudram project is aimed at constructing a shorter navigational route around India’s southern tip by breaching the Ram Setu, said to have been built by Lord Rama’s army of monkeys and bears to the demon king Ravana’s kingdom Lanka.

Do you think Ram Setu be declared a national monument?