Chennai: Former minister and DMK leader Thangam Thennarasu on Monday accused the BJP-led Union govt of running a politically motivated campaign to undermine the scientific assessment of the antiquity of Keeladi archaeological site in Tamil Nadu.Hitting out at Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat’s remarks in an interview that Keeladi report was “politically influenced” and was “compromised”, Thennarasu said Keeladi’s historical significance was not built on mere political rhetoric. “Keeladi’s antiquity is rooted in unshakeable scientific evidence, from rigorous stratigraphic analysis to accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating conducted independently by Florida’s Beta Analytic laboratory,” he said in his social media post.
Exploring the Past
“BJP’s persistent hostility towards Keeladi stems from a deep-seated discomfort. Once the scientifically validated timeline of Tamil history is established, the irrational historical myths pushed by the saffron party crumble under scrutiny,” he said. “History and its truths will not wait for cheap politics,” added the former minister for archaeology.Highlighting the recovery of more than 15,000 artefacts by the state archaeology department, Thennarasu said that the site provided “incontrovertible proof” of an advanced urban settlement along Vaigai river basin. Thennarasu challenged BJP govt to present credible counter-evidence to disprove the scientific data instead of attacking archaeologists.He then urged TVK govt to break its silence on the Keeladi row. “TVK govt must do more to assert the historical importance of Keeladi and defend the scientific findings of its own archaeology department. Tamil Nadu cannot afford silence when its history and archaeological evidence are being questioned,” he said.
