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 antiquity of the Keeladi excavations in Tamil Nadu.Hitting out at Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat’s attempts to cast doubt on the archaeological findings, Thennarasu declared that 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.“History and its truths will not wait for cheap politics,” Thennarasu said.Highlighting the recovery of more than 15,000 artefacts by the state archaeology department, Thennarasu noted that the site provided incontrovertible proof of an advanced urban settlement along the Vaigai river basin. “The 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.Calling out the Union govt’s repeated delays in formally publishing the excavation report, Thennarasu challenged the BJP govt at the Centre to present credible counter evidence to disprove the scientific data instead of attacking archaeologists.He continued that the TVK govt in the state could not afford silence or weak resistance when its civilisational heritage and hard scientific data were actively being questioned.
