Tamil civilisation like volcano, dangerous to provoke it: Vijay on Keeladi row
He alleged that the Centre asked archaeologist Amarnath Ramakrishnan to make changes to the report, but when the latter refused, Amarnath was transferred to Noida.'Keeladi is not some mythical story used to fool people but a report based on scientific evidence which, once out, can destroy the stories made by BJP,' he said, suggesting that the excavation's findings challenge dominant historical narratives supported by the ruling party.Ramakrishna in his Keeladi excavation report stated that the findings were based on 'extensive research'.According to Vijay, the Keeladi site could potentially prove that the Tamil civilisation is older than the Indus Valley civilisation. He said the Centre's reluctance to publish the report was part of a broader attempt to 'cover up our proud Tamil land, civilisation and culture using Hindi and Sanskrit.'advertisementHe also accused the BJP of 'playing with the emotions' of Tamil people, adding, 'Tamil land is like a volcano. Even a child would know what would happen if you try to touch it.'Turning his criticism towards the DMK as well, Vijay said the ruling party speaks about Tamil identity only when it suits them. 'DMK's drama is much worse as they use Tamil and Thamizhar (Tamil people) when something goes against the government or the rulers,' he remarked.The remarks come amid renewed attention on the Keeladi archaeological site in Tamil Nadu, which has been at the centre of debates over Tamil history, which pushes back Sangam age to be even before the Harrapan age, and the supposed political control of historical narratives.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Indian Express
27 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
BJP set to announce new party president after August 15, four candidates among front-runners
NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party is set to announce the consensus candidate for the party's new national president after Independence Day, following the completion of organisational elections in some states. The delay in selecting the new president has created an unfavourable impression, even among party cadres. The RSS – the ideological mentor of the BJP – has reportedly advised reaching a consensus on a candidate with organisational experience and a neutral stance within the party. Sources also stated that the BJP has zeroed in on four potential candidates, all of whom have organisational experience. Union ministers Bhupendra Yadav, Dharmendra Pradhan, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and senior BJP leader BD Sharma are said to be the front-runners as they meet the criteria for the post. The party is preparing to first call a meeting of its central council to build a consensus around one of the names under consideration.
The Hindu
27 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Plea in SC says Bhopal gas victims are ‘misclassified'
A petition filed by the Bhopal gas disaster victims' rights groups claiming that survivors with lasting, severe injuries and illnesses have been wrongly classified under 'temporary disablement' and 'minor injury' and under-compensated for years has been lined up for hearing in the Supreme Court. The petition filed by organisations such as the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha urged the top court to direct the Centre to identify these 'misclassified' victims and classify them correctly under the provisions of the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster (Processing of Claims) Act, 1985 so that they receive adequate compensation to cover their medical treatment. The Centre has termed the Bhopal gas leak tragedy 'the world's largest industrial disaster'. Both the government and the Supreme Court have agreed the loss of innocent lives in the aftermath of the fatal escape of Methyl Isocynate (MIC) gas from the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984 was 'horrific' in every sense. Centre's responsibility 'A long history of litigation attempting to recover damages from the U.S.-headquartered Union Carbide Corporation (now part of Dow Chemicals Corporation) ended with the dismissal by the Supreme Court of the curative petitions in July 2023 wherein it was made clear that any shortfall in compensation to be paid to the victims were a responsibility of the Union government,' the petition said. The organisations said they had data to show that survivors suffering from cancer and kidney failure as a result of toxic gas exposure were classified under the category of 'minor/temporary injury'. 'All these cases ought to have been added as a permanent disability category. Even as far back as in 1974, Union Carbide's internal document, titled MIC Plant Safety Considerations Report, had very clearly stated that in cases of inhalation of MIC 'major residual injury is likely in spite of prompt treatment'... This petition seeks to enforce that responsibility of the Union government, pointing out a certain category of cases in which the damages awarded and paid to be manifestly unjust and arbitrary,' the organisation submitted. The case was listed for hearing before a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai on July 14. However, the Bench did not assemble due to the inavailability of the Chief Justice. The case status shows the next date as July 18. The petitioners are represented by senior advocate S. Muralidhar and advocate Prasanna S. Focusing the extent of the disaster's impact on public health even decades later, the petition said records of the hospitals run by the government show that 'more than 30 years after the disaster, 95% of the population officially acknowledged to have been exposed to the toxic gas required hospital visits for their medical needs'. 'Data from the Central government-run hospital show that the incidence of heart ailments, neurology disorders, gastro and kidney ailments, psychiatric disorders and other chronic diseases is very high among gas-exposed patients. Records from eight community health units of the ICMR-run Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre [BMHRC] in Bhopal from 1998 to 2016 show that 50.4% of gas-affected patients suffer from cardiovascular problems and 59.6% suffer from pulmonary problems… In 2023 alone 2,06,016 gas victims visited the BMHRC,' the plea submitted.
News18
30 minutes ago
- News18
Sentimentalism Is Poor Substitute For Good Governance
Last Updated: Punjab govt will be better advised to—instead of spending time and energy on constitutional, legal minutiae—focus on fiscal prudence, economic policy framework, good governanc What does our political class do when they fail on all fronts? Well, it takes recourse to religion, hoping that it could be a useful opiate to numb the cognitive and cogitative faculties of people, thus diverting their attention from the real issues. So, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab, having failed to improve the situation in the state, is trying to bring a piece of legislation to provide for stricter punishments against sacrilege, including the death penalty. 'We will be convening a special session of Vidhan Sabha on July 10 and 11 to bring a historic legislation for stricter punishment against those found guilty of sacrilege. The Centre should have done it. However, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government is bringing it in Punjab as it understands the emotions of the people of the state," AAP spokesperson Neel Garg recently said. The spokesperson, indeed the state government, needs to understand that there are more important things for people than emotions—things like jobs, decent and healthy life, good human and physical environment. On every count, the AAP government in Punjab has failed. According to the latest report from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for October-December 2024, there was a steep rise in youth unemployment in urban Punjab. The rate in the 15-29 age group soared from 12.2 per cent in the July-September 2024 period to 14.9 per cent in October-December 2024. Female unemployment rates were higher than male. It is hardly surprising that the lack of opportunities at home fuels the young Punjabis' impulse to seek greener pastures in other countries. Many of them go to countries like the US and Canada by illegal means. When the US deported many Indians in a humiliating condition, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann urged the youth to learn lessons from the recent mass deportation of illegal migrants. He beseeched them to work hard in their native state to make it a frontrunner in the country. That, however, will be predicated upon objective conditions in the state: that is, fiscal policies and a sound policy framework, which are the sine qua non of growth and development. But the state is spending 86 per cent of its new borrowing to repay old loans. But legacy debt is not the only burden the AAM regime is condemned to bear; it is doing its own bit—more than a bit actually—to augment the burden. It continued its tryst with freebies. Unsurprisingly, the economy continues to underperform, growing at a pace lower than the national average. Punjab's agriculture, once booming which made the state the breadbasket of the nation, is worse than languishing. Subsidy-oriented and MSP-based farm policies, both of the Centre and the state, have introduced distortions in the farm sectors and made it adopt anti-environment practices like stubble burning and drawing excessive groundwater. There is scarcely any spark in the industrial sector; the state rarely appears on the manufacturing map of India. And then there are drugs. Early this month, the Punjab and Haryana High Court highlighted the dangerous ramifications of the use of cocaine, heroin, etc. Justice Sumeet Goel warned that the crisis is no longer confined to personal addiction but has begun to threaten public order, national security, and the rule of law itself. 'It is the considered view of this Court that cases pertaining to the drug menace, especially those involving manufactured drugs, must be dealt with the utmost strictness and resolve," the High Court declared. This, four months after the Punjab government set a three-month deadline to declare the state free from drugs! Chief Minister Singh Mann called the time of that decision 'a historic moment as the state government has adopted a zero-tolerance policy against drugs and is launching a crusade against this menace." Only if government decisions and announcements could transform the world into a paradise! Since the AAP government in Punjab has failed to save the state and its people from various menaces, it has now decided to shield religion and gods. Sacrilege has long been an emotionally-charged issue in Punjab. There was an incident of sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib at Bargari in 2015. This badly hurt the electoral prospects of the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government; specifically, it hurt the Akali Dal; the party is yet to fully recover from it. Since then, successive governments have made repeated efforts to introduce laws mandating harsher penalties for sacrilege. CM Mann has emphasised that while the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) includes specific provisions related to religious places, it does not explicitly address Sikh scriptures. He believes that since this issue falls under the Concurrent List, the state has the jurisdiction to frame its own legislation on the matter. Mann and his government will be better advised to—instead of spending time and energy on constitutional and legal minutiae—focus on fiscal prudence, a sound economic policy framework, and good governance. The author is a freelance journalist. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18's views. view comments Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: July 09, 2025, 19:30 IST News opinion Opinion | Sentimentalism Is Poor Substitute For Good Governance Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
