Koh-I-Noor

[Shrinivas Tilak]

    In 1999 a parliamentary committee was set up in Britain to consider the
return of the famous Elgin Marbles, which are presently in the possession of
the British Museum, to Greece.
    This move has prompted demands for the return of art objects (including
the famous Koh-I-Noor diamond given away by Prince Duleep Singh to Queen
Victoria in 1849) taken by the British from India.
    In a recent (Sept 2000) article in the New York based The Diamond
Registry "Whose Diamond is it Anyway?" Syeda Sara Abbas writes that the
Committe for the Restoration of the Cultural Heritage of India wants to take
the matter to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
    The Committee is headed by Bhaskar Ghorpade, a practising barrister in
London, who earlier successfully brought about the return of an eighth
century Pathur Nataraja statue to India.
    But the British have denied the possibility that the diamond will move
out of Britain any time soon. The Queen Mother's spokesman said, according
to Abbas, "If anyone wants the Koh-I-Noor, they would ask us directly. So
far nothing has come to Clarence House."
    This week, eighteen Rajya Sabha members in India have done just
that--they have sponsored a motion asking Britain that the diamond be
returned to India.
    S.Tilak
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