ไOutlook’s latest issue examines the ASI’s role in shaping India’s historical narratives and how critics say archaeology is being pulled into political and ideological battles
🔴The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has found itself at the heart of heated debates in recent years—whether in Ayodhya, Mathura or Gyanvapi. Outlook’s latest issue, “What ‘Lies’ Beneath,” examines the ASI’s role in shaping India’s historical narratives and how critics say archaeology is being pulled into political and ideological battles.
ꦓThe question of India’s earliest civilisations continues to spark debate, with Hindu nationalists asserting the Harappan civilisation was Vedic—an idea many archaeologists firmly dispute. The ancient Harappan site of Rakhigarhi for similar reasons, remains a puzzle.
⛎In Kerala’s Pattanam, an excavation site remains shrouded in secrecy. Work came to a halt after Hindutva groups alleged that the project aimed to fabricate evidence of St. Thomas’s arrival in India—the apostle who is believed to have brought Christianity to the subcontinent.
ꦛArchaeologist Ashish Avikunthak sheds light on the workings of the ASI, questioning its excavation methods, its meagre funding, and the bureaucratic red tape that often hinders research. He also highlights the influence of nationalist ideologies on how archaeology is practiced in India today.
🀅JNU professor Y. S. Alone warns that India’s knowledge systems are being shaped more by myth than by historical facts. He critiques the growing push for a Vedic civilisational identity, arguing that it is driven by Brahmanical cultural nationalism at the cost of scientific rationality.
⭕This issue also takes a global view—exploring how sacred sites like the Hagia Sophia, the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba, Babri Masjid, and Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque have been reshaped by political and religious forces over centuries.
𝐆The issue also features the Mahakumbh in Prayagraj looking at it from a political lens, a gathering which has attracted numerous prominent political figures over the years. Trump’s ongoing spree of policy reversals in the US also finds space in the next issue.