New Delhi, India - India's government said it was putting on hold its bid to dredge a crucial shipping lane after being accused of blasphemy by Hindu activists who argue the project will damage a sacred site.
The government denied the existence of a Hindu god to justify the half-billion-dollar project, which involves building a channel to enable ships to navigate the southern tip of India instead of skirting around Sri Lanka.
Hindus believe a string of islands linking India and Sri Lanka, known as Adam's Bridge, was made by an army of monkeys to help the warrior god Ram rescue his kidnapped wife.
With the authorities under fire for allegedly insulting Hindus, government lawyers went to the Supreme Court -- which is examining the project -- to ask for a three-month delay in legal proceedings to consider its case.
"The central government has total respect for all religions, and Hinduism in particular, in the context of the present case," Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium told the Supreme Court in a hearing on Friday.
The move to shelve the plan was, he said, because the government wanted to "bring society together rather than cause any disruption."
The possible shipping lane -- dubbed India's Suez Canal -- would cut the sea journey between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal by more than 30 hours.
The controversy sparked nationwide protests this week in Hindu-majority but officially secular India.
Tensions peaked after it emerged this week that the Archaeological Survey of India -- acting on behalf of the government -- told the Supreme Court there was "no tangible material evidence" to prove Ram and his simians existed.
The leader of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Lal Krishna Advani, said the government was "blasphemous and arrogant."
Senior BJP officials also demanded an apology from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a Sikh, and Italian-born Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi, a Catholic.
Blaming the country's education system for the Centre's affidavit doubting the existence of Lord Ram, Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh chief K Sudarshan has called for a change in it to preserve the country's social values and identity.
The education system introduced by the British was aimed to eliminate Indian culture, religion and history, said Sudarshan, adding that "they have been successful to an extent."
"Otherwise, the Archaeological Survey of India would not have dared to challenge the existence of Lord Ram," he said while addressing the general session of the three-day North-East RSS conclave in Dhanbad on Thursday.
Lashing out at the foreign media operating in the country, the RSS chief alleged that they were sponsored by the church and their sole aim was to eliminate Hindu religion, culture and defame Hindu gods and goddesses. "Campaigning against Hindu religion, cult and culture must be banned at any cost," he said.
Environmentalists have also criticised the project, saying that the required dredging of the sea bed will destroy an area of rich marine life.
Analysts said the "avoidable" controversy had surfaced at a particularly tricky moment for the ruling Congress party, which has been trying to pacify its communist allies angered by a civilian nuclear pact with Washington.
"Effectively, it (Congress) is now under fire from the right and the left," said political analyst Rasheed Kidwai.
"The Congress has also gifted the lacklustre BJP, bereft of issues to needle the ruling coalition with, a perfect opportunity to the nail the government," he added.
According to analyst Yashwant Deshmukh, "issues of religion and faith are emotive issues in India, as in other parts of the world, and Congress should have been aware that a mistake like this would invite criticism."
Kidwai said the reaction was particularly harsh because "the god Ram has a pan-India identity."
"The Indian definition of secularism is not negation of religion but respect for all faiths. If there is any infringement of this delicate balance, the repercussions are serious," he added.