Let Keeladi speak. Let history rise. Tamil Nadu has sought immediate approval from the Union BJP Government for 8 archaeological...
M.K. Stalin said Tamil Nadu has been waiting 8 months for the Union Government's approval to conduct 8 archaeological excavations, including at Keeladi, Adichanur and Nagapattinam, despite submitting the proposals in July 2025 and their review by the Archaeological Survey of India's Director General in November. He warned that further delay risks missing the state's January-July excavation window and wasting allocated 2025-26 funds.
M.K.Stalin@mkstalinOriginal post
Let Keeladi speak. Let history rise.
Tamil Nadu has sought immediate approval from the Union BJP Government for 8 archaeological excavations including #Keeladi, Adichanur and Nagapattinam. The proposals were submitted in July 2025 and taken up in a meeting under the Director General, ASI in November, yet permission remains pending for 8 months. Time and again we have raised this demand, and time and again it is being ignored.
The excavation season in Tamil Nadu runs only from January to July. If this window is missed, monsoon conditions will stall fieldwork, delay vital research and waste funds already allocated for 2025-2026.
I want to ask, why this hesitation? The antiquity of Tamil civilisation does not diminish India. It adds to India’s civilisational pride. What is the BJP Government afraid of? Approve the excavations and let history speak.
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin criticised the Union Government for delaying approval of 8 archaeological excavations in Tamil Nadu, including at the Keeladi, Adichanur and Nagapattinam sites. According to Stalin, Tamil Nadu submitted the excavation proposals in July 2025, and they were taken up in a meeting under the Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in November, but approval has still not been granted after 8 months. He warned that Tamil Nadu's excavation season runs only from January to July, and that missing this window would let monsoon conditions stall fieldwork, delay research, and waste funds already allocated for 2025-2026. Stalin argued that the antiquity of Tamil civilisation revealed through Keeladi adds to India's civilisational pride rather than diminishing it, and questioned why the BJP-led Union Government was hesitant to approve the excavations. The tweet reflects an ongoing dispute between the Tamil Nadu government and the Union Government over the pace of archaeological clearances for Tamil heritage sites.