Could we have the Kohinoor back, please?

Could we have the Kohinoor back, please?
TANMAYA KUMAR NANDA

NEW DELHI, MAY 16: If all goes well, the most prominent symbol of colonial plunder, the Koh-i-noor diamond may be back in India, thanks to Kuldip Nayar, eminent journalist and Rajya Sabha MP, and former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Following a letter signed by about 50 MPs from both houses and Nayar a few days ago, the Indian Government has officially written to the British government to return the Kohinoor diamond.

"The Greeks have been asking for the return of the Elgin marbles for a long time now and the Blair government has even set up a committee to trace cultural relics to the country of their origin," said Nayar, adding, "And if they can consider returning the Elgin marbles, why not the Kohinoor?"

More importantly, Nayar has sponsored a motion in the Rajya Sabha pressing for the return of the gem, which will be discussed in Parliament. And to put pressure on the British government, a group of Indians in the UK have even formed a Committee for the Return of Cultural Relics of India in London.

The Kohinoor, a part of which now adorns the Crown of England, was perhaps the most famous piece of plunder of the British Raj. "It belonged to Dalip Singh, the son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, and was forcibly taken from him by the British," says Nayar, pointing out that even UNESCO has a clear policy on looted relics.

Nayar, who was the Indian High Commissioner in 1990, recalls that a Nehru Gallery was opened in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London to showcase objects of Indian culture. "But what they displayed was only about four per cent of what they have in the basement. The basement has gems, cultural relics of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Chhatrapati Shivaji and even documents from the Raj."

Nayar says that requests were made that more relics be displayed or be loaned to the High Commission for display but these were turned down. "We wanted that the documents, which pertain to the Mughal period, the Sikh period be photocopied for scholars but they didn't agree to that either. I have even heard that the basement contains the plume that Guru Gobind Singh wore on his turban," he said. The British authorities reportedly also claimed that they didn't have an inventory of all they had.

As for the status of the stone once it comes back, if it does, Nayar says it should be treated as national property.