Dr. B.S. Harishankar, an acclaimed archaeologist and Member of the Academic Committee, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla has mentioned that attempts are being made to tamper with the archaeological findings at Keezhadi. He says that dubious organizations and individuals along with ideologically motivated academicians and certain politicians are trying to fix Keezhadi into their ideological framework by suppressing and/or tampering with the evidence.
He has raised concerns over the involvement of Father Jegath Gasper Raj and his NGO Tamil Maiyam. Jegath Casper is a Catholic priest and is also close to DMK MP Kanimozhi.
Gaspar Raj is officially referred in US crime records as ‘Gaspar Raj Maria Paulian’ according to senior national security strategist, Douglas C. Lovelace Jr. and Domestic Security and Intelligence analyst, Siobhan O’ Neil. He is charged for “involving in multiple criminal activities in support of LTTE, a Sri Lankan group designated by the US state department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization”.
It is Gasper Raj through his NGO and with the aid of DMK that has been meddling with the excavation at Keezhadi. Jegath Gasper Raj and DMK MP Kanimozhi were the first people to reach the Keezhadi once excavators announced that they had come across remarkable findings. It was DMK MP Kanimozhi who approached the Madras High Court and brought a stay order that prevented ASI from taking Keezhadi samples to labs under its jurisdiction. The stay was later vacated when ASI provided relevant proofs.
Dr. Harishankar, a dual post-doctorate holder who had earlier served as the Assistant Director of Indraprastha Museum in New Delhi says that all norms associated with excavation of a spot have been violated by ‘self-styled archaeologists’ digging at Keezhadi.
He said that those excavating did not even allow a former Director of ASI T. Satyamurthy to examine the findings.
“What is the need for such a secret operation while the entire excavations carried out in other places of the country were open books?” he asks in his paper titled Global Interventions in Keezhadi Excavations.
Dr. Harishankar says that there are people behind the project who are hell bent on coming up with the theory that there existed a separate “Dravidian civilization”, meant to serve as a fodder for separatism.
He also questioned the need for sending the samples that were dug out from the excavation site to Beta Analytics in USA when there are enough facilities available within India itself for carbon dating.
“They want a separate DNA result to establish a Dravidian race to raise separatist agitation,” Prof Harishanker, said.
Former ASI Director Dr. T. Satyamurthy said that Dr. Harishankar has flagged serious issues and goes on to say that whatever happened in Keezhadi under the pretext of archaeological excavation was dubious that needs a thorough probe.
Dr. Satyamurthy was quoted saying in The Pioneer that nobody should be allowed to manufacture or assemble history.
An intelligence official tracking flow of foreign funds said that the NGO headed by Gasper Raj that was receiving huge amounts of foreign funds has was trying to launch a secessionist movement with the help of DMK using Keezhadi. It is said that a number of Christian theologists have entered the Keezhadi seen and have vitiated the atmosphere. Earlier, the tried to do it with Pattanam excavation site under the Muziris Heritage Project that was patronised by a section of modern historians to subvert the history of south India.
Prof. C. Issac, a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) was quoted saying in The Pioneer that the entire landscape will get manipulated once these historians and dubious organizations succeed in establishing Pattanam and Keezhadi were connected through common bondage and linked to Rome.
He also said that the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to set up a museum to display the artefacts of Keezhadi was a step in the direction of DMK’s Dravida Nadu project.
Source: The Pioneer