The AIADMK defends its role in Keeladi excavations, wants politics out of the issue

The AIADMK has defended its role in the Keeladi excavations when it was in power. It also accused the ruling DMK of “indulging only in politics” on the issue.

On Wednesday, the main Opposition party, long criticised for being silent on the issue, claimed credit for the Keeladi excavations during April-August 2018. Puratchi Thalaivi Peravai secretary and Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly R.B. Udhayakumar made these remarks in a statement. The next day, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin attacked the AIADMK for “maintaining silence”.

On Friday, the party fielded deputy propaganda secretary K. Pandiarajan, who was the Minister for Tamil Language and Culture and Archaeology during 2017-21, to explain to the media the AIADMK government’s record in archaeology in general and Keeladi in particular.

The former Minister pointed out that the average annual allocation for the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology (TNSDA) was hardly ₹2 crore once. This went up to ₹105 crore, including the Centre government’s share. Touching upon the archaeological work at Adichanallur in Thoothukudi district, he said that it was Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami who got the Union government to sanction the establishment of a site museum (which is being built at a cost of ₹17 crore).

Litigation before Madurai Bench

Tracing the origin of the Keeladi controversy, Mr. Pandiarajan recalled that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had, at one stage, decided not to pursue the project further. Jayalalithaa was the Chief Minister then, and she decided that the State government would step in if the Centre walked out. So, the AIADMK government applied to the Central government for approval, even as litigation was pending before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court. Later, the Central Advisory Board of Archaeology (CABA) permitted the TNSDA to conduct excavations, which were done in stages. The reports were submitted to the Union government. At the 2019 Book Fair in Chennai, Mr. Palaniswami released the first report.

When the ASI did the work in Keeladi, it confined itself to a few acres of land. But when the TNSDA stepped in, about 100 acres was acquired. It was from the Beta Analytic Testing Laboratory, Miami, Florida, U.S., that the dating report was obtained for the Keeladi findings, the former Minister said, adding that the proposal for a site museum at Keeladi was approved when Mr. Palaniswami was the Chief Minister.

‘Culture of sticking posters’

Acknowledging that the TNSDA was created in the late 1960s when the DMK was in power, Mr. Pandiarajan, however, said that of a total of 39 excavations done so far, 33 were carried out when the AIADMK was in power. But the DMK government wanted to “take credit for all the work” done by the AIADMK government. “This is the height of the culture of sticking posters [on what the previous government had achieved],” Mr. Pandiarajan said, wondering how much the ruling DMK had allocated for the Keeladi excavations and whether those who were agitating on the issue had read the reports produced by the AIADMK government.

It was for ASI official Amarnath Ramakrishna to clarify the points raised by the ASI on the Keeladi excavations, and there was no room here for politics, Mr. Pandiarajan said, adding that the ASI did not question the antiquity of the Keeladi civilisation but raised some questions based on the reports submitted by the State government when the AIADMK was in power.

A ‘blatant lie’

Speaking to reporters at Anna Arivalayam, DMK MLA N. Ezhilan said the Edappadi Palaniswami-led AIADMK government started the Keeladi excavationS based only on a Supreme Court verdict. He said the AIADMK government allocated funds only for two excavations: ₹5 lakh for Pattaraiperumpudur in Tiruvallur district and ₹55 lakh for Keeladi. He termed the AIADMK’s claim of allocation of ₹105 crore a “blatant lie”.