New Delhi, Sept 14: Hailing the UPA Government’s decision to withdraw the affidavit in the Sethusamudram case as the ‘victory’ of Hindus, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Friday sought an apology from the Centre “for hurting the sentiments of Hindus by raising question over existence of Lord Ram”.

They also demanded that work on the Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project be stopped immediately.

"Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should apologise to the nation. They should accept that they have committed a blunder and stop the work at the ‘Ram Setu’ project,” said BJP Spokesperson V K Malhotra.

“If both of our demands will not be met and the language of the affidavit will not be changed then there would be a large nation-wide protest in which all BJP members will participate," Malhotra added.

VHP leader Praveen Togadia said: “By withdrawing both the affidavits, the Central Government has accepted its mistake.”

The VHP has called an emergency meeting of the leaders from across the country on September 18-19 in the national capital to work out the future action plan.

Earlier today, seeking three months time to examine the Sethusamudram project issue, the Central Government withdrew the affidavit relating to the mythological "Ram Setu" from the Supreme Court.

"It is a sophisticated way of saying I surrender," said Subramaniam Swamy, former Union Law Minister and President of Janata Party, who has filed an appeal in the apex court against the Sethusamdram project.

The Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balkrishnan allowed the withdrawal of affidavit and posted the matter for next hearing in the first week of January 2008.

Meanwhile, the apex Bench said that the August 31 interim order restraining any construction at the "Ram Setu" or Adam's bridge area will continue.

The Centre said that there was no intention to cast aspersions on a religious faith or to divide the society.

The affidavit filed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on behalf of the Centre on Wednesday stated that there was no evidence to prove “the existence of the characters or the occurrence of events” in the Ramayana.

The Government today said that it wanted to resolve the matter in a "constructive and mutually acceptable manner".

Union Law Minister H R Bhardwaj on Thursday said that the statements in the three paragraphs (5, 6 and 20) of the affidavit that were found objectionable would be withdrawn.

Bhardwaj further said that: “Lord Rama is an integral part of Indian culture and ethos and cannot be a matter of debate or subject matter of litigation in court.”

Hindu groups have called on the government to stop the Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project, saying it will demolish the mythical bridge linking India and Sri Lanka, believed to have been built by Lord Ram.

Opposing the 560 million dollars project, they say it would destroy the Ram Sethu, a 48-kilometer chain of limestone shoals that once linked Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu to Mannar in Sri Lanka.

The Sethusamudram Project will dredge a channel in a narrow strip of sea between India and Sri Lanka, reducing distances and cutting costs for freight traffic.

According to the Central Government, research has shown that the bridge was a series of sand shoals created by sedimentation.

Dredging for the project began in 2005 and the channel -- 12 metres deep, 300 metres wide and almost 90 km long -- will provide a crucial link between the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar. (With Inputs from ANI)