Jacob is here; Kohinoor might never return

the government might be flaunting the priceless nizams' jewellery collection as reflection of rich indian heritage. but there are many other priceless items that have been taken out of india and might never return again. the kohinoor, the peacock throne, the hope diamond, the sword of shivaji are few of the items that still remain outside india. the list is long and many of these now only find reference in history books.like the magnificent golden peacock throne, which was carted away to iran by nader shah as part of his war booty in 1739. the minister for tourism and culture, ananth kumar, told times news network that these items could only return to india if their present owner wants them to. "we can only bilaterally ask them to return these pieces. but if they refuse, we cannot force them to do so," he said. even the nizams' jewellery with the government was part of two trusts out of 54 created by the last nizam of hyderabad, osman ali khan. rest of the items in possesion of various trusts are untraceable. officials say india cannot get these historic items back legally. the government can only negotiate with the owners and pay the price they want for the antique or the heritage item but it is their wish to give it back or not, said k n srivastava, joint secretary, department of culture. but this method of talks and negotiations has produced more failures than successes. the government is hoping that people who possess such heritage items would come forward and voluntarily submit them to the government. the government, on itself, is not planning to acquire any such collection or item on its own. most of the antique items flowed out from india during the british rule or they were sold by their owners, mostly the kings and princes of small kingdoms. some were also stolen and smuggled out. as there was no law or legislation governing the sale or transfer of these items, there is no record of what was taken from here. "in the case of kohinoor, the british government had set up a commission to look into the matter. this commission recommended that if the items were illegally taken from the parent nation they have to be returned - otherwise not," srivastava said. the government of india enacted a law in 1972 governing the nation's antiques and artifacts, to prevent rulers of former princely states from selling their jewellery and other property. according to srivastava: "the act came too late and we might not actually recover what was taken during the raj period or even before passing of the laws." another example he cited was that of the famous plume from the turban of maharaja ranjit singh. it is said that lord dalhouise took the plume to britain and it is believed to be with his descendants. but the government has no evidence on this. with the enactment of the 1972 act, the government of india gets the power to acquire any item of historical and antique importance. the nizam's jewellery was acquired under this act for a compensatory sum of rs 218 crore. this act also prevents sale and possession of such items and permission of the government would be required for any such item. as officials say, everything is not lost. india still has a fabulous collection of items depicting its historical heritage. the numerous museums across the country give a glimpse of what india was in the past. one recent donation has come from rulers of kochi, the erstwhile princely state which now is a part of kerala. they have not only donated their movable property to the government but their palace. the hill palace museum in kochi will now display the jewellery of these rulers. hence, do not mourn over the kohinoor or the peacock throne; rejoice over what is still in the country.