Keeladi Sparks Fresh Political Firestorm as Archaeologist Cries Foul
Satheesh Lakshmanan | 26 July 2025 | The Wire
More than two years after archaeologist Amarnath Ramakrishna submitted his detailed 982-page report on the Keeladi excavations, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has asked him to revise it, claiming it lacks authentic and scientific backing. Ramakrishna, who led the first two phases of the excavation, has refused. Days later, he was transferred from his role in New Delhi to Greater Noida.
In an interview to The Times of India on July 17, Ramakrishna minced no words: he called the demand to rework the report “criminal and immoral,” arguing that it undermines the very idea of scientific archaeology. His removal and the Union government’s stance have reignited a longstanding ideological clash between the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led Tamil Nadu government and the BJP-led Union government, one that cuts deep into questions of identity, cultural history, and ultimately who gets to write the latter…