India to expect antiquities as US offers 1,440 artefacts for repatriation

NEW DELHI: India is expecting the biggest haul of its antiquities from abroad as the United States (US) has offered 1,440 artefacts, which are in possession of its museums or authorities, for repatriation. A team of experts from the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) has already been dispatched to New York to examine their antiquarian value.

The secretary, ministry of culture Govind Mohan said it could be the biggest ever repatriation of cultural heritage objects which were stolen from sites across states and smuggled out of the country over the decades.

“Large scale activities are going on this front. The US is keen to return 1,440 antiquities, which are with their provincial museums. The team of ASI is already in New York. We will check whether they belong to us and worth taking back after checking records. It may take some time. However, we are moving very fast,” he said.     

Since Independence, around 350 heritage objects have been brought back from different countries including France, Germany, Singapore, Australia and Canada. According to the ministry, around 190 were retrieved from the US. The arrival has increased since 2014 as only 13 objects could be fetched since 1947. Most of these articles were smuggled by the notorious art dealer Subhash Kapoor, who is serving a jail term in Tamil Nadu.

Another team to authenticate Indian antiquities is in Singapore, Mohan also informed. Separate teams of ASI have recently visited museums in London, Glasgow and Birmingham.

“British Library has also offered us to take digitized versions of Indian manuscripts. We will soon sign a memorandum of understanding for the same with them,” added the official.

The national library in London has vast collections of more than 10,000 Sanskrit and Pali manuscripts from pre-modern and modern periods.    

The ministry is also working on to ensure retrieval of about 700 pieces belonging to the Aural Stein Collection of Central Asian antiquities belonging to the ASI, said the secretary. The collection was lent to the Victoria and Albert (L&A) Museum in London about 100 years ago. 

The 31-member parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture has recently asked the ASI to establish contact with the London museum and set off the process of repatriating.