A scientific research paper authored by Dr B S Harishankar, internationally known archaeologist and member, academic committee, Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla and which was published in the ideological weekly ‘Kesari’ has stirred a hornet’s nest in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
The archaeologist, through meticulous analysis and documentary evidence substantiated by scientific findings has charged that the Archaeological Survey of India’s excavation at Keezhadi in Tamil Nadu’s Sivaganga district is with ulterior motives and for manufacturing history by hook or crook. Kanimozhi, MP and daughter of late M K Karunanidhi, has been described as a person trying to manipulate and meddle with the excavation.
“All norms associated with excavation of a spot have been violated by the self styled archaeologists who are digging at Keezhadi. The whole process was shrouded in mystery and they did not allow even a former director of the ASI to examine their findings. What is the need for such a secret operation while the entire excavations carried out in other places of the country were open books,” Harishankar who is credited with two post-doctoral researches, asks in his paper.
The paper “Global Interventions in Keezhadi Excavations” charges that the persons behind the project are out to prove that there existed a separate civilization in Keezhadi/South India independent of the civilization that existed in North India. “It is a welcome move but they should have done it in a transparent manner. While archaeologists like Dr T Satyamurthy, former director, ASI were kept away from the site, the materials they dug out were taken to a laboratory in the USA to find their antiquity. Though there are enough facilities in India itself to test the materials, they would not give the result what they expect. They want a separate DNA result to establish a Dravidian race to raise separatist agitation,” said Prof Harishanker.
Dr Satyamurthy said that Harishankar has raised important reservations against the Keezhadi excavations. “They failed to publish at least one in situ picture of the excavated materials. Whatever has happened in Keezhadi under the pretext of archaeological excavation is dubious and need thorough probe. We should not allow anyone to assemble or manufacture history by fame means,” Sathyamurthy told The Pioneer.
The first persons to reach Keezhadi once the excavators announced to the outside world that they have come across startling proofs were M K Kanimozhi MP and her long time associate Jegath Gasper Raj , a Catholic priest who was closely associated with the LTTE, the Tamil terrorist organisation banned in India. Kanimozhi even approached Madras High Court pleading for an order staying the ASI from taking the samples of Keezhadi to laboratories which are under its jurisdiction.
Though the court had obliged by issuing an interim stay, it vacated the stay when ASI furnished the relevant details. But a number of Christian theologists entered the scene and this vitiated the atmosphere. “The NGO headed by Gasper Raj who was receiving foreign donations was trying to launch a secessionist movement in Tamil Nadu aided by the so called Keezhadi finsings,” said an intelligence official tracking the flow of foreign funds to the NGOs actively engaged in Keezhadi.
Pattanam, an excavation site in Kerala too is a site created by a section of modern historians to subvert the history of South India, said Harishankar and Prof C I Issac, member, Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR). “Once they succeed in establishing that Pattanam and Keezhadi were connected through common bondage and linked to Rome, the entire landscape could be manipulated,” Prof Issac told this newspaper.
Tamil Nadu Government’s recent decision to set up a modern museum to display the artifacts from Keezhadi is a major win for DMK’s Dravidian Nadu project, said Prof Issac.
