Keezhadi Archaeologist Amarnath Shunted to ‘Defunct’ Post, Second Time in Six Months
18 June 2025 | The News Minute
In a move that has sparked widespread political uproar in Tamil Nadu, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has transferred senior archaeologist K Amarnath Ramakrishna, the lead excavator of the Keezhadi archaeological site, to a reportedly defunct post in Greater Noida. The decision, which became public on Tuesday, June 17, has reignited the controversy surrounding the ASI's repeated attempts to question and alter Ramakrishna’s 982-page report detailing evidence of an early Tamil urban civilisation.
The ASI’s official circular dated June 17 announced Ramakrishna’s reassignment from his position as Director (Antiquity) and National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA) in New Delhi to Director of NMMA in Greater Noida. According to The Week, this post has remained largely non-functional since its creation during the UPA regime in 2007….