The Koh-i-Noor diamond might be the artefacts from India that grabs the most headlines, but there are many other artefacts from the country also located in museums & private collections abroad.

From:
Times of India

National treasures scattered across the world
Reema Gehi, Mumbai Mirror Mar 19, 2011, 12.48pm IST

As the Pearl Canopy of Baroda goes up for auction soon, we take a look at other such national treasures scattered across the world

The remarkable objet d’art — Pearl Canopy of Baroda — will soon be auctioned at Sotheby’s, New York. It is estimated to fetch $5 million (about Rs 22.51 crore).
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Despite what press coverage may imply, the Indian Government has stated that (for whatever reasons) it is not trying to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond to India. The people of India may be asking for the return of this (& other artefacts), but clearly the government would prefer not to be involved. The statement by the government may be for diplomatic reasons as they do not want to enter into an argument with Britain, or it could be that they see it as campaign that unfortunately has little chance of success.

From:
The Hindu

New Delhi, August 18, 2010
No plans to bring back the Kohinoor: Centre

Demands from several quarters for the return of the Kohinoor from Britain notwithstanding, the government on Wednesday said it has no plans to bring the precious diamond back to the country.

It also said it was not contemplating to bring the Peacock Throne from Iran as these items are not covered under the UNESCO convention that deals with restitution of cultural property.
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Further coverage of the statements by British Prime Minister David Cameron, that he was not ready to consider Indian requests for the return of the Koh-i-Noor diamond.

From:
Desi Blitz

Cameron and The Kohinoor
Should the jewel in Britain’s crown return to India? David Cameron was challenged on his recent trip to India about the Kohinoor diamond. As Britain seeks beneficial trade with India, questions over ownership of this precious gem arise.
By Roz Euan-Smith • August 12, 2010

The Kohinoor diamond, meaning “mountain of light,” has a tumultuous history. Frequently passing hands as loot, it has belonged to the British since 1849, when the Punjab was formally proclaimed to be part of the British Empire in India. The diamond was given to Queen Victoria of England. Highly prized for its size and brilliance, the diamond is the centrepiece of the late Queen Mother’s crown.

India has repeatedly asked for the jewel to be returned, and David Cameron’s recent visit was no exception. However, he flatly refused to return the diamond.
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It is probably the most famous diamond in the world, with many parties claiming to be its true owners, but David Cameron has stated that the Koh-i-Noor should remain in the UK, with no likelihood of it being returned to India.

From:
Agence France Presse

India wants Kohinoor diamond back. Cameron says no
(AFP) – 4 days ago

NEW DELHI — The real jewel in Britain’s actual crown will not be returning to India, Prime Minister David Cameron said Thursday, as he ruled out any repatriation of the famed Kohinoor diamond.

The 105 carat gemstone set in the coronation crown of the British royals was mined in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
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More coverage of David Cameron’s comments about why he felt that the Koh-i-Noor diamond should not be returned to India.

From:
NDTV

British PM David Cameron speaks to NDTV: Full transcript
NDTV Correspondent, Updated: July 29, 2010 14:46 IST

New Delhi: British Prime Minister David Cameron who is on a visit to India, spoke about UK’s relation with Pakistan, WikiLeaks, British economy and Kate Moss among others in an exclusive interview to NDTV’s Dr Prannoy Roy.

Here is the full transcript of the interview:
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British Prime Minister David Cameron has been questioned about the Koh-i-Noor diamond during an interview on an Indian television show. I wold not say that this is an ambush as such – any high ranking British official visiting India ought to have had this item on the list of possible things that they would be asked about.

What is more disappointing is that the Prime Minister justified his answer by falling back on the many times discredited argument that returning it would set a precedent for emptying the museums & galleries of Britain. This argument has been proven in the past not to hold true though. Restitution issues are normally dealt with on a case by case basis – each is looked at on it its own merits. On this basis, the assumption that the return of one item would lead to the return of others implies that these cases have equal justification for return in the first place. So the implication of the statement that one return would lead to others is that all items in the museums are acquired in situations of dubious legality.

A second counter point is the fact that (as shown with the return of native American artefacts in the US) that many groups do not want return – in many cases, people are happy with artefacts where they are & accept that they were acquired legitimately. In other cases, they merely want their ownership of the artefact acknowledged, or rights of access to it.

From:
Daily Mail

David Cameron ambushed on Indian TV over 105-carat Koh-i-noor diamond as country demands its return
By Jason Groves
Last updated at 6:00 PM on 29th July 2010

David Cameron has rejected a plea to return the fabled Koh-i-noor diamond – now the most famous of the Crown Jewels – to India.

There has been a growing clamour on the sub-continent for the repatriation of the gem, and in an interview on India’s NDTV channel the Prime Minister was asked directly if he would give it back.
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British MP Keith Vaz has asked the government to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond to India. Moves such as this are to be welcomed, although it is unclear why he sat through thirteen years of his party being in power & showing relative ambivalence to restitution issues, before suddenly raising the issue within a few weeks of being in opposition.

From:
Calcutta Tube

British PM asked to discuss Kohinoor return to India
Posted by IANS-CT in Europe

London, July 24 (IANS) Keith Vaz, the Indian-origin British MP, wants the Koh-i-noor diamond to be returned to India and asks Prime Minister David Cameron to discuss the issue of its return during his visit to India next week.

Vaz said in a statement: ‘I believe that this is the perfect opportunity for the prime minister to discuss the issue of the Koh-i-Noor. It would be very fitting for the Koh-i-Noor to return to the country in which it was mined so soon after the diamond jubilee of the Indian republic and 161 years after its removal from India.’
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More coverage of the attempts by India to secure the return of various historic artefacts.

From:
Little India

India Seeks Lost Treasures
By: LIFS

India is seeking UNESCO support to retrieve priceless antiquities, such as the Peacock Throne and the Kohinoor, looted by foreign invaders.
Archaeological Survey of India Director General Gautam Sengupta says, “Information is that most of the precious antique items which we lost in raids, attacks or loots during foreign invasions in the pre-independence period are spread over museums, mostly in European countries.”

No information is available about Shah Jahan’s Peacock throne, inlaid with precious stones, including the Kohinoor diamond, which was plundered by Nader Shah and taken to Persia in 1739.
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Further coverage of India’s new attempts to secure the return of numerous artefacts held in institutions outside the country.

From:
Thaindian News

India to join global campaign to retrieve captured heritage treasures
June 1st, 2010 – 1:16 pm ICT by ANI -

London/New Delhi, June 1 (ANI): Indian authorities have announced they will try to recover and retrieve thousands of allegedly looted objects held in Western museums.

The head of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Dr. Gautam Sengupta, told The Independent that the list of his country’s treasures held abroad was “too long to handle” and there was a need for a “diplomatic and legal campaign” for their restitution from institutions including the British Museum, the Royal Collection and the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
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Among the vast numbers of disputed artefacts in museums & galleries, some have a high profile, whilst others are barely known. Time Magazine has attempted to draw up a list of what they feel are some of the most currently significant cases.

This article was published a few months ago, but I only recently came across it – explaining the fact that the information on the Louvre’s Egyptian Frescos is already out of date.

From:
Time

Top 10 Plundered Artifacts
History is big business. Plundered art and antiquities trade to the tune of at least $3 billion a year, much to the chagrin of nations struggling to reclaim their lost artifacts. In honor of a recent spat between the Egyptian government and the Louvre museum in Paris over the fate of fresco fragments, TIME examines 10 plundered antiquities and the conflicts they’ve created.

The Louvre’s Egyptian Frescos

A set of ancient fresco fragments is at the center of a nasty feud between Paris’s Louvre Museum and the Egyptian government. Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt’s antiquities department, claims the Louvre bought the fragments last year despite knowing they were taken from a tomb in Egypt’s storied Valley of the Kings in the 1980s, a prime spot for grave-robbers. Egypt, which has made reclaiming ancient art taken from its country a top priority, said they would sever cooperation with the Louvre unless the fragments were returned. A museum representative claimed on Oct. 7 that the Louvre was unaware the fragments were stolen, and said the museum would consider sending the fresco pieces back to Egypt.
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The initial history of the Elgin Marbles in this article is over-charitable to Lord Elgin (who had for instance never visited Athens at the time that he instructed the removal of the sculptures from the Parthenon to start). The key point to consider though is that no precedent would necessarily be set by the reunification of the surviving Parthenon Sculptures in Athens. It has long been understood that in cases such as this, each case is assessed on its own strengths & weaknesses. No two restitution cases are identical. Not only do you have to consider how artefacts were acquired, but also the significance of the artefacts, their uniqueness, what they represent etc before any decision can be made. In the case of the Parthenon Marbles, there is a strong case, not least because they are fragmented parts of a whole. If the pages of a book were spread randomly between different locations, few would be able to argue that this was the best way that the book could be displayed.

Further to the whole argument of precedent though (which has been gone over many times by many people), surely doing an arguably right act now should not be stopped because you fear that doing what is morally right once may mean that you are then encouraged to make similar commitments again in the future?

From:
Dawn.com (Pakistan)

The debate over the Elgin marbles
By Irfan Husain
Wednesday, 22 Jul, 2009 | 08:48 AM PST

Ever since the end of the colonial era, countries whose cultural heritage was looted by European powers have been demanding the return of their treasures. And yet decades later, these priceless objects continue to fill the display areas of hundreds of museums, private collections and auction houses in the West.

Perhaps the longest outstanding claim has been for the return of the Elgin marbles from the British Museum to their home in Greece. This stunning collection was removed from its resting place in the Parthenon in Athens. Built 2,500 years ago on the Acropolis as a temple to honour the goddess Athena, the Parthenon served as a church for another thousand years before being converted into a mosque by the conquering Ottoman Turks who turned Greece into a province of their far-flung empire. It then fell into disuse and was a dilapidated ruin when Lord Elgin arrived in Constantinople as the British ambassador in the late 18th century.
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The Elgin Marbles & what their return would represent is something that has implications for many people – not just Greeks, archaeologists & museum curators. Around the world are numerous restitution cases, each different in its own way, but each having a significance for the people involved. During the last year for instance, publicity has been generated by various artefacts from India that people would like returned (or even just an acknowledgement of the real ownership.

From:
Livemint

Why India should root for the return of the Elgin marbles
Manidipa Mandal – Thursday, July 09, 2009 1:25 PM

“Both sides stand on shaky ground,” prevaricates NYT critic Michael Kimmelman, in today’s Business of Life lead story.

The Greeks, never in fear of racial stereotyping, have been emphatic in their demands. (What’s to worry about? Everyone just knows they are the guys with the big weddings, the voluble chatter, the long community lunches, dinners and and dances, the quick and loud tempers a la Hollywood cabbies — and all that surprisingly, uncharacteristically subtle and contemplative, ancient art and literature, as well as balanced modern views on them.)
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