The Keezhadi excavation ground - why so much opposition to the ongoing excavation at the Keezhadi site near Madurai and why it is unjustified and wrong to hinder further excavation

     Tamil is an ancient language and Tamil civilisation is on par with many ancient civilisations and according to some, more ancient than others. There are of course, those of us Tamilians who believe in the age-old adage "Tamil came after the stones and sand (Kal thondri man thondri)..", this, of course, would spark an outrage among those who hold different views and who would like to lay claim to their old language as the oldest. I actually happened to come across a thread in Facebook where a Greek was arguing that Greek was the oldest language in the world, in stark contrast to what some Sanskrit scholars in India would hold. The truth however is that Sanskrit, Greek and Latin all came from PIE (Proto Indo-European language) which is a reconstructed language of origin of all the languages in the Indo-European family of languages, as this is the most widely accepted theory among linguists, historians and archaeologists alike and with regard to the claim of Tamilians regarding Tamil being the oldest language in the world, my perspective would be to take a more balanced stance and stick to the idea that Tamil is 1 of many ancient languages in the world or one of the oldest ones in the world. Keeping the above in mind, a while ago a man in Tamil Nadu near the city of Madurai happened to find some artifacts in a place near Madurai which led to the discovery of an urban settlement akin to the ones in the Indus Valley and Harappan civilisation which was always believed to be Dravidian in origin till recently. However, with the Indo-European migration to the Gangetic plains past the Ice-age in search of pastures new for their horses, since the Eurasian Steppes meant limited resources to feed their horses, Dravidians moved further South to the area of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra and Karnataka and genetic studies show that all Indians across the board including South Indians of various castes all have different degrees of genetic Indo-European admixture possibly hinting to a time in history when there were intermarriages before the Varna system came into being in India leading to different shades of brown as our Dravidian skin tone. Having said this, the settlement in Keezhadi is particularly noteworthy because till date, many thought that Tamil culture, or at least Tamil urban culture was something that was acquired by the Tamilians from the North Indians which is at least, a part of the revisionist idea that the central government under BJP with its fake IAT (Indigenous Aryan Theory) is trying to spread in order to create the impression that Aryans were always the natives of India and that they moved to Europe in stark contrast to what is considered the most widely accepted idea among archaeologists, geneticists, linguists and historians alike - that the Aryans Immigrated to India via the Khyber and Bolan passes which is what I too learnt at school and is historically more sound than the baloney that the Hindutuva proponents under BJP are trying to spread to school children in a bid to mislead them and lay the groundwork for an India where Hindutuva is the reigning ideology of all groups of Indians through systematic brainwashing via revisionist history through text books, thankfully, this is far from becoming a reality.

   Moreover, hitherto many believed that Tamil culture, language and civilisation or at least Tamil urban civilisation only dates back to the 3rd century BC. However, the Keezhadi excavation and the artifacts unearthed there which were sent to a lab in Florida in the US and on which radio-carbon dating studies were done indicated that the site and its artifacts could be far older than the 3rd century AD going back to the 6th century AD and according to the words of the professor who did an in-depth study of the site and its artifacts - Dr. Amarnath Radhakrishna, the site could be as old as the 8th century BC. However, after he submitted his report to his superiors in the same department under the central government, they told him to revise the work to make it more in line with their expectations which he thankfully did not accede to as doing so would water down the age of the site and give an incorrect estimate of the site's age. Besides his findings which are documented in his work which his superiors asked him to revise, since they are mostly guided and controlled by the Central government ruled by BJP which has sparked outrage among Tamilians and debates as to why the Central government under BJP should interfere and meddle with the course of archaeology in our state which is scientific in its methodology, Amarnath further adds the confirmation of many other colleagues from various universities in different states who came to inspect the site and corroborated with his findings in his report. Unfortunately, the BJP-led Central government which opposed his findings that go against its Hindutuva agenda as they are supposedly hell-bent on destroying India's multi-faceted ethno-lingual and cultural identity that is rooted in diversity rather than in a uniform linguistic, religious and cultural identity which they seek to impose on all Indians in all regions at the expense of the cultural, linguistic, religious and ethnic diversity of all Indians, forbade further excavation work at the site which further aggravated the outrage among Tamilians and Tamil politicians alike because Tamilians and our political representatives ruling Tamil Nadu understood that this was done to ensure that the Tamil identity does not grow further in the hearts and minds of Tamilians as the Kizhadi excavation is a confirmation of Sangam literature that urban settlements among Tamilians, were in fact much older than what was believed to be the case earlier.

    Thankfully, the state government's court gave the Tamil Nadu archaeology board the right to continue working at the site, irrespective of the central government's insecurities and work is ongoing at the site. A museum has been built not far from the site by our hon'ble Chief Minister M.K. Stalin where the artifacts, ornaments, pottery work and many other findings are put on display that further highlight the importance of the site as an important link that connects the history of the Tamil people from the Indus valley times to the Sangam times in Madurai. Further excavations would help to create a seamless continuity of Tamil history linking the Indus Valley with the Vaigai river site in Kizhadi all the way to the present. If further sites are discovered in Tamil Nadu tying up our identity with a rich history spanning several centuries, our identity would be further backed up not just by the literary works of great writers from the past but also archaeology which the Hindutuva politicians of the BJP dread - something that becomes irrefutable proof that our culture, language and ethnic identity differs greatly from those of the various dynasties that ruled the North in the Gangetic plains. An interesting facet of the Kizhadi site is that there are ornaments and certain semi-precious stones that did not originate from India or Asia, rather from the Italian peninsula pointing to the early Romans - specifically to the period when Rome was a kingdom - the earliest period of Roman history when Etruscan kings like Tarquinus Priscus ruled Rome - a time when coins with insignia of emperors were not minted but bartering was common which could explain the lack of coinage from the early Kizhadi period at the site. Alongside various Roman coin hoards, if we are able to find coinage from the later Keezhadi period, it serves as further proof that the Tamil people in ancient times always had a flourishing trade with the Romans which is key to further reinforcing the age of the site based on ancient Roman works. Why? - the Romans always had the habit of writing down history including trade-related history with various nations and kingdoms they were involved in trade with, unlike many of their foes or people of other cultures, very few cultures did the same like the Chinese.  

    The BJP in a desperate scramble to portray itself as a government that favours the Tamil language and its culture never finds itself wanting when it comes to the promises that it makes to the Tamil masses that it would support such endeavours to promote the Tamil language and culture - the archaeological work at the Kizhadi site is an area where they could have aided the TN government by providing financial and moral assistance without seeking to scuttle the research work through its attempt to stall the work at the site by forbidding further work there and by moving professor Amarnath to places just in order to prevent him from further contributing to the excavation work at the Kizhadi site. This has proven to the Tamil people who are already wary of the BJP that its cadres and their agendas only seek to wipe out the Tamil and in particular the Dravidian identity which forms the backbone not just of our Dravidian politics and the values that we all stand for as a people but also our very Tamil cultural and linguistic identity, all while stating things that are diametrically opposed to their preposterous actions. In essence, their deeds do not conform to their words of promoting Tamil language, culture and identity as part of a cunning ploy to win over the support of the Tamilian people under the cloak of Hindutuva politics but they fail to comprehend that the Tamilian people are more intelligent than to fall for their acting along with snakes in the grass like those of the AIADMK party which was started by a good man MGR but fell into the hands of those who betrayed the Tamilian people and our distinct politics that do not harp on any religious identity akin to the Kizhadi's site which lacks any religious artifacts or temples or anything that would allude to a Hindu religious identity. To these enemies of the truth, I would remind them of an ancient Roman saying in Latin, since the Tamilians at Keezhadi also had trade with the Romans - ACTA, NON VERBA (Actions speak louder than words) - if you do what you say, people will believe you but you have just proven beyond any shadow of a doubt that you are not trustworthy, therefore no Tamilian in his right senses will ever support you or your allies in the TN political stage no matter what you do. 

   Finally, I hope that more such sites are found across Tamil Nadu and further research work is conducted by our state's archaeological department that not just unearths the truth but also spreads such information to the public domain so that the people themselves can discern and understand truth from lies backed up by evidence both from experts who corroborate with the findings but also via established methods like Radio Carbon Dating aside from pottery, coinage and other findings instead of seeking the opinion of those fake archaeologists who seek to curry favour with the dishonest liars of the Central government under the BJP, and in so doing, do a terrible disservice to their profession. Long live our beloved Tamil language, our distinct culture and our unique identity that will never allow religious politics inside our state!