To the urgent attention of the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu…!
A new arrangement by the Union Government for yet another North Indian–Sanskrit cultural invasion?
It deserves our strongest condemnation!!
Thiru K. Veeramani, President of the Dravidar Kazhagam and Editor, has issued a statement condemning the Union Government’s new arrangement as yet another North Indian–Sanskrit cultural invasion. His statement is as follows:
The Government of India has announced a project to preserve, protect, and digitally integrate palm-leaf manuscripts across India. The project is titled Gyan Bharatam. An allocation of ₹482.85 crore has been made for the period 2024–2031.
An international conference under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Culture!
As part of this, the Union Ministry of Culture organized an international conference in New Delhi from September 11 to 13 under the theme “Reclaiming India’s Knowledge Legacy Through Manuscript Heritage.”
The Union Minister of Culture, Mr. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, presided over the event, while the Union Culture Secretary Vivek Agarwal served as Patron.
Additionally, there are two groups: a Coordination Committee and an Advisory Committee. Members of the Coordination Committee include Amita Prasad Sarabhai, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Culture; Dr. Sachchidanand Joshi, Member Secretary of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts; its Executive President Prof. Ramesh C. Gaur; Prof. Alok Tripathi, Additional Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI); Mr. Samar Nanda, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture; and Prof. Anirban Dash, Director of the Gyan Bharatam Project.
As part of the theme “Reclaiming India’s Knowledge Legacy Through Manuscript Heritage,” Working Group Reports are being released. One such report, titled “Decipherment of Ancient Scripts: Indus, Gilgit, and Sankha,” has been published.
Those ignorant of the diversity of the Indus Valley!
This report was coordinated by Prof. Alok Tripathi of the ASI, along with Priyanka Chandra, D.J. Aloni, Hemasagar A. Nayak, Dr. Bhuvan Vikrama, Dr. Gautami Bhattacharya, Dr. Aprajita Sharma, and Dr. Deepti Agnihotri. None of them have studied the pluralism of the Indus Valley or its connection to the Dravidian heritage. From the very day the Indus Valley Civilization came to light, it has been recognized as linked to Dravidian culture—starting from John Marshall, Suniti Kumar Chatterjee, Father Henry Heras, Iravatham Mahadevan, Asko Parpola, R. Balakrishnan, and many others. Yet, the ASI operates in isolation, functioning in line with the political objectives of the rulers, promoting a unifying (monolithic) political agenda.
Only those who uphold monolithic ideology are included!
The Government’s Advisory Committee on the origins of the Indus Valley Civilization—foundational to the cultural history of the Indian subcontinent—includes: Prof. Shamu Krishna Shastri, President of Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti; Prof. Shashi Prabha Kumar, Head of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla; Prof. Shrinivasa Varakhedi, Vice-Chancellor of the National Sanskrit University; Prof. Joy Sen of IIT Kharagpur; Prof. Girish Nath Jha of JNU; Prof. Shantanu Chaudhuri, former Director of IIT Jodhpur; M.D. Srinivas, Head of the Centre for Policy Studies, Chennai; and Dr. Jitendra P. Shah, former Director of the L.D. Institute of Indology, Ahmedabad.
By merely looking at these names, it becomes clear that none of them emphasize the pluralism of the Indian subcontinent. On the contrary, only those who uphold monolithic ideology have been included.
The Union Government’s betrayal of Tamil is nothing new!
It is shocking that, despite Tamil having the richest background of inscriptions—ranging from pottery sherds, epigraphs, copper plates, palm-leaf manuscripts, and printed texts—no Tamil experts have been included. Yet, this is no surprise. The betrayal of Tamil by the Union Government is nothing new. Surprise would only arise if they had been included.
Every scholar in India knows that South India has the largest collection of manuscripts and inscriptions. How the Government proposes to reconstruct “India’s knowledge legacy” by excluding them remains a mystery.
Any serious study of India’s foundations must reflect its diversity. This report does not.
Iravatham Mahadevan
The report mentions the name of scholar Iravatham Mahadevan. Yet, it makes no reference to the Indus Research Centre, established in 2007 under his guidance. In his final paper, Iravatham Mahadevan highlighted the article “Dravidian Foundation in Indus Civilization” by Indus scholar R. Balakrishnan. He himself had suggested that R. Balakrishnan serve as an esteemed advisor to lead the Indus Research Centre.
Through the Centre, R. Balakrishnan authored “A Journey of a Civilization”—scientifically demonstrating the relationship between the Indus Valley and ancient Tamilakam. He also undertook extensive efforts to popularize Indus studies in Tamil Nadu. None of this finds mention.
Both the intent of Gyan Bharatam and the projects carried out under it undermine the pluralism of Indian history and instead reinforce monolithic ideology.
An urgent necessity!
The Government of Tamil Nadu and the Hon’ble Chief Minister must immediately register their objection and insist on the inclusion of Tamil scholars and experts (especially on palm-leaf manuscripts) from South India. This is urgent and essential.
K. Veeramani
President, Dravidar Kazhagam
Chennai
20.9.2025
