latest news that Netherlands will return 484 valuable artefacts It was looted from Indonesia and Sri Lanka during the colonial period – including the famous “Lombok Treasure” of precious stones, gold and silver jewelery for Indonesia and exquisitely decorated bronze and gilt cannons from Kandy for Sri Lanka – a Keeps the bar focused on an issue that won’t go away. Should colonial countries keep cultural artifacts and valuables stolen during the period of imperial domination, or accept their abuse and return them to their original homeland?
The British have for decades refused to return the so-called Elgin Marbles, a collection of classical Greek marble sculptures stolen by Lord Elgin from the Parthenon temple in Athens, or the Rosetta Stone taken from Egypt in 1802. But he had shown more generosity. In repatriating some bronzes from Benin (looted by British forces in 1897) to Nigeria. Yet, when it comes to their extensive treasure trove of Indian artefacts, from the Kohinoor diamond to the sculptures of the Amaravati Stupa, they bite their heels for fear of starting a haemorrhage, in the words of former Prime Minister David Cameron . Leave the British Museum empty soon.
We cannot blame the British for whatever is wrong with our country today; Nor should we see the return of such loot as a panacea for all the ills and wrongs of colonialism. One can also accept that there is a statute of limitations on colonial wrongdoing, but there is no statute of limitations on human memory, especially living memory, because as I point out in my book, An Era of Darkness, even today Lakhs of Indians are alive. Which remembers the wrongdoings of the British Empire in India. History deals with the past; But it is the duty of the present to understand it, and to do whatever we can about it.
a trauma that persists
Equally, we must understand that the return of stolen property is not a substitute for the trauma and horrors caused by colonialism, as the suffering suffered through such belated reparations can never truly go away. can be done. The same applies to financial reparations, as the value of human lives lost due to colonial indifference or brutality can never be accurately calculated. The return of cultural artifacts is a moral obligation the West owes to its colonies, such that reparations can be morally justified because the wealth and economic success of these former colonial powers was built on the broken backs of their colonies. The return of cultural objects offers a semblance of justice as well as atonement of a legal and moral obligation that cannot and should not be ignored.
The return of some of the treasures looted from India during colonialism is also a much easier solution than financial reparations. The money extracted from India by the British in the form of taxes and exploitation has already been spent, and cannot realistically be recovered. But the individual fragments of statues kept in the British Museum cannot be anything other than their symbolic value. After all, if looted Nazi-era art could be (and is still being) returned to their rightful owners in various Western countries, why is the principle any different for looted colonial treasures?
The hoisting of the Kohinoor onto the Queen Mother’s crown in the Tower of London is a powerful reminder of the injustices perpetrated by the former royal power. Until it is returned – at least as a symbolic gesture of atonement – it will remain evidence of the pillage, plunder and abuse that colonialism really was. This is perhaps the best argument for leaving the Kohinoor in British hands, where it officially has no right.
the need for true atonement
Of course, the process should not end with just a few pieces of idols or jewellery. I have argued for some time that the question of retrospective justice for colonialism is answered not just by financial reparations, but by moral atonement.
In my view, this should take three forms, in addition to the (still impossible) return of looted colonial-era artefacts: teaching British colonial history in schools in the United Kingdom, setting up a museum for horrors and iniquities with British tax money . of colonialism in the imperial capital. and, above all, to express regret to the victims of colonialism.
When Willy Brandt was Chancellor of Germany, he knelt down in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1970 to apologize for the genocide of Polish Jews. There were hardly any Jews left in Poland, and Brandt, persecuted by the Nazis as a socialist, was completely innocent of the crimes for which he was apologizing. But in doing so – as with his historic ‘Kneifol von Warschau’ (Warsaw Genflection), he was recognizing the moral responsibility of the German people whom he led as chancellor. This is why, when I released my book, Inglorious Empire, in the United Kingdom, I called for atonement for India rather than financial or other compensation.
what could britain do
While no British government of 2023 bears any responsibility for the horrors of colonialism, as a symbol of the nation that once allowed it to happen, the British government could atone for the nation’s past sins. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did the same in 2016 when he apologized on behalf of Canada for the actions of his country’s authorities in refusing to allow Indian immigrants to disembark in Vancouver a century ago on the Komagata Maru, Due to which most of them were sent back. for his death. Mr Trudeau’s Willy Brandt moment needs to find its British resonance.
This is not likely to happen. Britain continues to stick to its dogma. Britain still lags behind the Dutch in the restoration of colonial artefacts. It is sheltered behind de-accessing laws which prevent anything in the British Museum from being returned to the place from which it was looted. Since almost every museum in London is a thieves’ market, the British can afford to lose a lot, from the Elgin Marbles at the British Museum to a mechanical tiger swallowing a British redcoat (commissioned by Tipu Sultan) at the Victoria and Albert Museum. It’s safer to say no to everything than to return one item and inadvertently open the door to rewards.
But when they say no, they are not ready to say sorry. An apology – ideally, an act of genuine remorse at Jallianwala Bagh, as Mr Trudeau did on the Komagata Maru – may serve best as a significant gesture of atonement. And the creation of a museum of colonialism, in a cosmopolitan country, would show a determination to learn the lessons of empire – to teach British schoolchildren how plunder, robbery and what sources of profit built their homeland, like German children are taken to concentration camps to see the horrific reality of what their forefathers did.
If all this is done, then true atonement – of the purely moral kind, involving serious consideration of historical responsibility rather than simply admitting guilt or paying money – can be achieved. Is it really too much to hope for?
Shashi Tharoor is a third term Lok Sabha MP (Congress) from Thiruvananthapuram, and a Sahitya Akademi Award winning author. dark ages and of battle of belonging, his latest book is Ambedkar: A Life