Editorial: Returning spoils of colonisation

As the birthplace of one of the oldest civilisations in the world, India has a pride of place in the global cultural arena. Unfortunately, owing to the 200 years of British colonisation and looting as well as a greed among black marketers to amass riches, even at the cost of loss of cultural heritage, tangible proofs of civilisation are more visible outside our geographic boundaries. The nation’s treasures are seen in museums across Europe, America and other first world nations, rather than in the archives of the country where such artefacts were created in the first place.

Last week, reportedly, a 500-year-old Hanuman idol which was stolen from a temple in Ariyalur, and was auctioned off the prestigious Christie’s in New York to an Australian for $37,500, was expected to be returned to the State in a month’s time. A senior police officer from TN had chanced upon the artefact at the auction house’s webpage, and suspected it might have been the one stolen from the Varadharaju Perumal temple at Velur in April 2012. His intervention led to the Idol Wing touching base with the US’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for legal assistance in ensuring the antique is repatriated safely. Neither the auction house nor the Australian buyer was aware that the idol was a stolen artefact.

In October 2021, America also repatriated 248 antiquities, which included a 12th century bronze Shiva Nataraja, valued at about $15 mn. This was said to be the largest transfer of antiquities to India. Also, in July 2021, the National Gallery of Australia had announced that it would return 14 stolen artefacts (eight statues and six paintings) from its Asian Art collection worth Rs 22 cr to the Indian government. About 13 of these artefacts were bought from Subhash Kapoor, a notorious international dealer who was based out of New York and is now imprisoned in India. He was known in the global art scene as the go-to man for museums that procured a range of antiquities from the Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia. Between 2011 and 2020, the Manhattan DA’s Office and HSI recovered over 2,500 items trafficked by Kapoor. The net value of recovered pieces tops $143 mn.

India has a wishlist regarding the return of antiquities from its chief occupier – Great Britain. A prime example is the 105.6-karat Kohinoor diamond, which once adorned Queen Victoria’s brooch. Now it’s a jewel in Queen Elizabeth’s crown. Similarly, Buddha’s shrine from the Amaravati monument and a wooden tiger seized from Tipu Sultan, after his defeat at the hands of the English soldiers in the 18th century are being sought by India. Today, these artefacts are exhibited in the British Museum, the Pitt Rivers Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. The UK’s argument to keep these artefacts in their custody is so people from all over the world can come and see them. Back in 2010, when the question of returning the Kohinoor was raised, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office said the British Museum Act, 1963, prevents national museums from removing items, and that the government had no plans to change the law. In 2020, Britain returned three 15th century idols of Lord Ram, Lakshman and Sita to India, stolen from a temple in TN, along with a few other artefacts.

The UNGA in its resolution from 1972 referred to the return and restitution of cultural property and said that artefacts stolen from a nation must be returned if they belong to that country. And rightly so, as the argument of being able to preserve artefacts better in their museums should not give another nation the right to hold on to them endlessly.