Return looted goods including Tawai, Kohinoor to Britain?

- As the campaign to get back the looted items by the British has started in other countries including Egypt, South Africa, this issue is now being heard all over the world.

- Just as Indians want the Kohinoor and South Africans want back the 'Great Star of Africa', Greece wants back the Elgin Marbles, a valuable sculpture looted by the British from the Acropolis of Athens. The Egyptians want the Rosetta Stone of old, the Nigerians the Benin bronzes. These are just a few examples, but the British have looted millions of things and are demanding to return them all.

With the death of Queen Elizabeth of Britain, in many countries of the world, a campaign has started to recover the valuables that the British seized from other countries. Among these items is a valuable Kohinoor hero of India. Several celebrities in India requested the new ruler, King Charles, to return the Kohinoor immediately after the Queen's death. Similar campaigns have started in parallel in other countries and have gained momentum. Indians are also trying to take back the Kohinoor, so this issue is being heard all over the world as the campaign to get back the things looted by the British has started in other countries including Egypt, South Africa.

Once upon a time it was said that the sun never sets under the rule of the British. British ruled many countries of the world. At that time, the regime was run by the force of the army. Taking advantage of it, the British seized the treasures of kings, emperors, etc. from all over the world. Apart from this, Britishers took to England after looting unique and valuable items from elsewhere.

Most of these items went to the British royal family. Some things also went to museums and other places. Queen Elizabeth was repeatedly offered to return these items, but Elizabeth refused. He never considered these things. Many governments have demanded that Charles be perceived as a liberal. In countries including India, when governments do not say anything, people have started spontaneous movements.

The most aggressive of these movements is the campaign by South Africans to reclaim their 'Great Star of Africa'. While the South African government has officially requested the British government, people have also taken to social media. The 'Great Star of Africa' is considered to be the most valuable item looted by the British. This 500 carat diamond is also known as the Cullinan One.

The diamond found in Thomas Cullinan's mine in 1905 is the largest uncut diamond ever found. The 'Great Star of Africa' embedded in a cross in the Queen's Aquarius is worth billions. Among the 2,900 diamonds encrusted in the Queen's crown are the Kohinoor and the 'Great Star of Africa' in her Kumbh.

Like South Africa, Greece wants back the Elgin Marbles, a valuable sculpture looted by the British from the Acropolis of Athens. Egyptians want back the Rosetta Stone of old, Nigerians want Benin bronzes. These are just a few examples, but the British have looted millions of things and are demanding to return them all.

All these things are valuable but Indians are more interested in Kohinoor because Kohinoor is the pride of India. It is not clear who had the Kohinoor first, but there is no doubt that it came from India. It is first mentioned in Mughal Emperor Babur's autobiography 'Babarnama'. The 187 carat diamond mentioned by Babur is believed to be the 186 carat Kohinoor. Found in a mine on the banks of the Krishna river in Golconda, this diamond belonged to a king of the Kakatiya dynasty of Warangal.

When Allauddin Khilji invaded South India, this hero was seized and came to the rulers who sat on the throne of Delhi. Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan installed Kohinoor in his Mayurasana. Aurangzeb cut the diamond and made it smaller.

When Nadir Shah of Iran plundered Delhi in 1739, Kohinoor was taken to Iran. After Nadirshah's death, his grandson, who became emperor, gifted Kohinoor to Afghan emperor Ahmad Shah Durrani. Durrani's heir fled to Lahore when Shuja Shah was overthrown. Sikh Maharaja Ranjit Singh sheltered him and Shuja gifted Kohinoor to Ranjit Singh.

When Ranjit Singh died in 1839, he made a will to give Kohinoor to the temple of Jagannath Puri, but it was not implemented immediately. Ranjit Singh made his eldest son Khadak Singh his heir, but after Khadak Singh mysteriously died in Lahore within two years, the British took advantage of the opportunity to launch attacks. In 1845, the Sikhs were defeated in the first war between the Sikhs and the British, so their strength was completely reduced. In the second war in 1849, the British occupied Punjab by expelling the Sikhs.

As the Sikhs lost to the East India Company, Governor Dalhousie seized Kohinoor along with other properties of the Maharaja. Dalhousie decided to please the Queen of Britain because Kohinoor was famous all over the world. Dalhousie took the Maharaja's youngest 13-year-old son Dulip Singh to England. An English couple was kept as his guardian so that there would be no gossip. After going to England, Dulipsingh gave a gift of Kohinoor diamond to Queen Victoria so that it would not be known that Kohinoor had been captured.

The British did not tell Dulip Singh at the last minute what gift to give to the Queen. At the last minute, Kohinoor grabbed the diamond box and gave it to the Queen. Queen also took away the hero, dazzled by the glow of Kohinoor. The Kohinoor has been with the British ever since and adorns the crown of the Queen of Britain.

There have been repeated demands to bring back the Kohinoor diamond, but none of our governments had the strength, so the Kohinoor could not come back to India. Governments raised their hands even in petitions in the Supreme Court. Finally in 2019, when the hearing was held in the Supreme Court, the Modi government gave an affidavit that we cannot bring back the Kohinoor hero because the British did not capture Kohinoor. Maharaja Ranjit Singh gifted Kohinoor to Queen Victoria in 1950 in return for the help given by the British to the Sikhs in the war, so we have no right over it.

It is clear from this answer that the government cannot bring Kohinoor back. Even the British are not willing to give back Kohinoor as it is worth crores. Currently, the price of Kohinoor is 600 million dollars, that is, about 4800 crore rupees. Because of this, the British government is also playing the same record that Kohinoor was not captured by us but was gifted to the Queen.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said in a debate at Oxford University in July 2015 that Britain should return the Kohinoor to India as an atonement for the atrocities committed on Indians, the British should give India 1 pound per year as a symbolic apology for 200 years of atrocities and looting in India. The British heard this from one ear and dismissed it from the other.

Now, if King Charles takes mercy and accepts to return the looted goods from the countries of the world, then India can also get Kohinoor, the rest should be happy by saying that Kohinoor was originally ours.

The Supreme Court rejected the petition to bring back Kohinoor

A petition was also filed in the Supreme Court to bring Kohinoor back to India. Organizations named All India Human Rights and Social Justice Front and Heritage Bengal filed a petition in the Supreme Court and launched a campaign to return this hero to India. The Supreme Court ruled in 2017 that Kohinoor is now with Britain and the power of the Supreme Court of India does not apply to Britain. We cannot ask foreign governments to return Kohinoor. If the British government wants to sell this diamond, we cannot stop it.

There was a review petition against this judgment of the Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court did not change its stand. In 2019, a five-judge bench headed by the then Chief Justice Justice Ranjan Gogoi clearly refused to consider the earlier judgment of the Supreme Court. Modi government has also given an affidavit that we cannot bring back the Kohinoor hero as this hero was given as a gift.