Pillaged artefacts

THE Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture has stated in its report tabled in Parliament that there is nothing to prevent India from seeking the restitution of the Kohinoor and other antiquities ‘stolen, taken or removed in whatsoever manner’ before Independence or prior to the 1970 UN Convention on prohibiting and preventing illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property. It has asked the Ministry of Culture to make efforts to ensure that the famed diamond and other historical artefacts are returned to India. The ministry had earlier told the panel that there was no legal basis for seeking the Kohinoor’s return from the UK since it was taken away before the Convention came into force. However, the committee has suggested that other options can be explored to make the parties concerned reach a ‘mutually acceptable agreement’.

The Kohinoor bears testimony to the rampant loot and pillage that marked British rule in India. Other colonial powers were no less brazen in plundering territories under their control around the world. Europe’s leading museums proudly showcase artefacts whose rightful place is in other continents. Earlier this year, a 1912 file accessed by The Guardian had revealed how priceless pieces were ‘extracted from India as trophies of conquest and later given to Queen Victoria.’ India must exert diplomatic pressure on the UK with the aim of getting these antiquities back, irrespective of the circumstances under which they were appropriated.

Such an initiative is direly needed as India has historically been indifferent to appreciating and safeguarding its heritage. The situation is hardly different today: the panel report mentions that only 30 per cent of the country’s antique treasures have been documented so far, even as just 19 per cent of the heritage objects stolen from sites protected by the Archaeological Survey of India have been recovered till now.