ASI-Keeladi row: Do you have evidence for Saraswathi civilization? Stalin throws down the gauntlet at BJP

The DMK stalwart reminded BJP that Tamil Nadu was part of India and Tamil language is included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.

Chennai: Terming as “blatant attack” on Tamil culture the Union Government demanding additional evidence from archaeologist K Amarnath Ramakrishna on the Sangam Era site of Keeladi, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday said the DMK’s struggle on this matter will not cease until the pride of Tamil culture is firmly established. 

Stalin, in a letter to cadres of the DMK’s students wing appreciating them for a protest on June 18 in Madurai against the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) asking Ramakrishna to rework on his report of the first two phases of excavation in Keeladi, sought to know whether the BJP has evidence to prove the existence of “imaginary” Saraswathi civilization. 

“Keen on suppressing Tamil cultural pride, the BJP-led Union Government has demanded additional evidence on Keeladi over two years after a detailed report was submitted to the ASI in 2023. This is a blatant attack on Tamil culture,” Stalin said, putting his weight behind Ramakrishna, whose name is now synonymous with Keeladi. 

Ramakrishna was in May asked by the ASI to “rework” his 982-page report and provide more evidence on the existence of Keeladi between 5^th Century BCE and 8^th Century CE, but the archaeologist flatly refused to do so, saying he stands by his report.

On June 17, Ramakrishna was transferred from ASI headquarters in New Delhi to National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA), Greater Noida. 

Stalin, who has been asserting that his government would scientifically prove that India’s history should be rewritten from the Tamil landscape, also reminded the BJP that Tamil Nadu was part of India and Tamil language is included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. 

 “Tamils are Indians. However, neither the Prime Minister nor the BJP government post a tweet acknowledging the significance of findings by the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology (TNSDA) that Iron Age in the state could go back to 5,200 years ago,” Stalin said. 

He added that the final report submitted in 2023 by Ramakrishna was based on scientific results obtained from laboratories in Pune, Bengaluru, Florida (US), and Italy, analyzing artifacts from the Keeladi excavations.

“The responsibility to protect and establish the glory of Tamil culture lies solely with the DMK and its allied forces. 

The slogans raised in Keeladi and Chennai are just the beginning. They will continue to echo until Delhi. The DMK’s struggle will not cease until the pride of Tamil culture is firmly established,” Stalin added. 

Artefacts unearthed from Keeladi, 12 km southeast of Madurai, have been dated to 585 BCE, pushing the literature-rich Sangam Era back by 300 years from what was earlier thought.

Ramakrishna’s tenure as the officer in charge of Keeladi was mired in controversy after he was abruptly transferred to Assam in 2017, and his successor claimed that there were no “significant findings” in the third phase.

However, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court intervened and asked the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology (TNSDA) to take over the excavations, which will enter the 11th phase this June. About 20,000 artefacts have been recovered from Keeladi since 2014.

DH had reported on February 3, 2023, that the voluminous report, which contains detailed photographs and diagrams of the trenches, has 12 chapters that explain the historical background and objective of the excavation, besides delving into the structural remains, pottery, graffiti sherds, and terracotta objects that were found between 2014 and 2016.