July 22, 2024
Sukhendu Sekhar Ray’s Special Mention on the repatriation of smuggled Indian antiquities from foreign countries
As per reports published in indianculture.gov.in and various news reports published in national dailies till recently, it appears that many Indian antiquities stolen from different temples and museums across the country were smuggled out from time to time found to be stored in various museums and private galleries/auction centers in foreign countries. However, some of those antiquities started being repatriated to India since past few decades due to bilateral investigations and diplomatic initiatives taken by India and the concerned countries. The Metropolitan Museum of New York alone returned hundreds of such stolen Indian antiquities in 2015-2016. Again in July, 2023, US Metropolitan Museum returned 105 trafficked Indian artefacts. Out of the latest repatriated antiquities, a few date back to 1st century BC to 16th CE and originated from UP, West Bengal, Bihar, South India and other parts of the country. It is not known as to where the repatriated hundreds of antiquities are presently stored in India. I would request the Government to inform about the exact number of antiquities recovered from foreign countries, their places of origin and present places of storage. I would also urge upon the Government to return the recovered antiquities originated from Chandraketugarh and other archaeological sites of West Bengal to the State Archaeological Museum or Indian Museum in Kolkata so that the people of Bengal can have a sight of those invaluable artefacts and feel the pride of the past glories and rich histories of the concerned places.
