yet another goof up in the name of religion

all rite, this is too much, the indian politicians raising a hue and cry in the name of religion. i m so glad i m agnostic. for the uninitiated the story goes this way. the ship route from the west of india to the east of the country rite now is negotiated using a labourious route, using the territorial waters of its neighbour sri lanka. the reason: the portion of sea that cud have connected the west to the east is a narrow strait (the palk strait) between india and sri lanka. but thats not really the problem. the problem is that rite through this strait, there is a stretch of solid ground joining the two countries together!!! the land is mainly rock and coral reef. now the catch is that the religious texts in india claim that this in reality is a bridge built by ape deity hanuman for yet another deity ram to cross over from india to sri lanka. they call it the Ram Setu (Ram's Bridge).
the central govt wants to raze down some of this land formation so that ships can pass this length of water. a lot of fuel, money and shipping time can b saved as a result. but as usual religious sentiments win over the practicality and pragmatism of the modern world and its applications. a huge hue and cry has been raised by the fanatically religious political parties, opposing the clearing of land as a blasphemous act.
now come on ppl, hearing stories in childhood abt ape men braving the harsh seas to build a bridge is a very gud thing for a bed time story, but actually believing tripe like that and using it as a basis for impeding progress is nonsensical.