The transfer of senior archaeologist K Amarnath Ramakrishna — the lead excavator of Tamil Nadu’s Keezhadi archaeological site — has triggered a political uproar, with opposition parties accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union government of “suppressing” Tamil heritage. They accuse the BJP of deliberately sidelining scientific evidence that challenges its preferred historical narrative.
Condemning the action, CPI (M) general secretary MA Baby said that Amarnath Ramakrishna was transferred for upholding the scientific finds in Keezhadi. “BJP's attempts to suppress Tamil heritage & rewrite history won't succeed. Stand with CM Stalin & Tamil people in defending their ancient culture!” he expressed on X (formerly Twitter).
CPI(M) MP Su Venkatesan, who represents Madurai, said Amarnath Ramakrishna was being “relentlessly hunted” for “uncovering the truth behind Keezhadi.” Villupuram MP and VCK leader D Ravikumar echoed this sentiment, terming the transfer an act of “vindictive attitude towards Tamils,” and urged the Union Minister of Culture to revoke the transfer order.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), in a circular dated June 17, reassigned Ramakrishna from his role as Director (Antiquity) and the National Mission on Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA) in New Delhi to a reportedly defunct post in Greater Noida.
According to The Week, the new posting has been largely non-functional since it was created during the UPA regime in 2007, leading many to view the transfer as punitive.
Opposition leaders have rallied around Ramakrishna, viewing the move as a continuation of the BJP’s alleged attempts to homogenise Indian history at the expense of regional narratives.
At the heart of the controversy is Keezhadi, a major archaeological site near Sivaganga district in Tamil Nadu, where excavations led by Ramakrishna unearthed evidence of a sophisticated urban civilisation dating back to at least the 5th century BCE. The findings include Tamil Brahmi script, terracotta tools, industrial pottery kilns, and artefacts indicating textile production and trade — painting a picture of a complex, literate society predating northern empires like the Mauryas.
This timeline significantly disrupts the dominant civilisational narrative upheld by many in the BJP and its ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which often places Vedic culture from the north at the centre of India’s ancient past. In contrast, the findings in Keezhadi bolsters the Dravidian model of history long promoted by Tamil scholars and the DMK — asserting an indigenous Tamil civilisation that evolved independently of northern influence.
Ramakrishna’s 982-page report, submitted in January 2023, has been a point of contention. The ASI had directed him to revise it and reduce the dating range from the 8th–5th century BCE to “at the maximum” pre-300 BCE — a timeline more aligned with the Mauryan period. However, in a letter dated May 23, 2025, Ramakrishna firmly rejected the directive.
“The chronological sequence of the Keezhadi site was clearly explained in the report. The view expressed by you for further examination of sequence is against the well-reasoned conclusive finding of the excavator,” he wrote to the ASI. Weeks later, he was transferred.
The Keezhadi excavation has long challenged conventional historical narratives, especially the idea that urbanisation began in South India only after Ashoka’s Mauryan intervention. Ramakrishna and other experts argue that the material culture unearthed at Keezhadi bridges the timeline between the Indus Valley Civilisation and early South Indian urbanisation. The 11th phase of excavation at Keezhadi is set to begin later this month under the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin condemned the government’s demand that the report be redone, calling it a reflection of “anti-Tamil bias.” He accused the Union government of trying to rewrite history to suit its ideology. “It is not the reports which have to be corrected, but it is the minds that have to be corrected,” he said.