Keezhadi row: EPS backs TN stand, but says ‘museum initiative ours’
Speaking to the media after visiting the Keeladi museum in Sivaganga district, Palaniswami said that the archaeological excavations at Keeladi had commenced when the AIADMK was in power.
Edappadi K Palaniswami (IANS)
CHENNAI:AIADMK general secretary Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday said that his party would fully support the State government’s stand on the Centre disputing the report of former Tamil Nadu Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) director Amarnath Ramakrishna regarding the Keezhadi excavation findings.
Speaking to the media after visiting the Keezhadi museum in Sivaganga district, Palaniswami said that the archaeological excavations had commenced when the AIADMK was in power. “Thousands of artefacts were unearthed in various phases of the excavation during our regime. It was the AIADMK government that allocated funds and took initiatives to establish the Keezhadi museum,” he said. He recalled that in 2018, samples collected from Keezhadi were sent to a laboratory in Florida, USA, which confirmed that the artefacts dated back to the 6th Century BCE.
“Since the AIADMK was not in power at that time, we do not know the details regarding the clarification sought by the Centre from Amarnath Ramakrishna,” Palaniswami stressed.
