Chennai, March 2 Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Monday urged the Centre to immediately grant approval for archaeological excavations at 8 sites in the state to showcase the antiquity of the Tamil civilization.
Questioning the Centre for repeatedly "ignoring" the state's request for the excavation, the chief minister said, "I want to ask, why this hesitation? The antiquity of the Tamil civilization does not diminish India. It adds to India's civilizational pride."
"What is the BJP government afraid of? Approve the excavations and let history speak," the chief minister said in a post on the social media platform 'X'.
He sought the Union government's immediate approval to commence the excavation at 8 archaeological sites, including Keeladi, Adichanur, and Nagapattinam.
"The proposals were submitted in July 2025 and taken up at 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," he said.
The excavation season in Tamil Nadu runs only from January to July. If this window is missed, then monsoon conditions will stall fieldwork, delay vital research, and waste funds already allocated for 2025-26, Stalin said.