Outlook India: New Delhi: Friday, August 24, 2018.
The
Archaeological Survey of India should start publishing alerts, photographs and
FIRs about thefts of antiques from historical sites to make their smuggling
difficult, the Central Information Commission has said.
Information
Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu also directed that a centralised public
documentation system containing the details and photographs of stolen antiques
should be set up by the ASI.
He said
criminals are mutilating artifacts and removing them for smuggling. They cut
off the head of a sculpture to steal, smuggle and sell it, he said.
"Tragedy
is that there is no centralised documentation in India about thefts or
smuggling of art objects. Actionable information is not made available by the
ASI" he said.
Acharyulu's
directives come on the plea of B K S R Ayyangar who had sought to know from the
Prime Minister's Office the efforts made by the government to bring back iconic
antiques such as Koh-i-Noor diamond, Sultanganj Buddha, Nassak Diamond, the
sword and ring of Tipu Sultan, the golden throne of Maharaja Ranjit Singh,
Royal Jade wine cup of Shahjahan, among others.
The PMO
transferred the application to the ASI last year but no satisfactory response
was provided to the applicant.
"The
information requested under RTI demand an initiative from the PMO to secure the
details from the concerned, possibly including Ministry of External Affairs or
of Culture to take needful measures. If they have initiated any such measures,
they should have given the details," he said.
Acharyulu
said if some measures were taken but not fruitful, or if they are still in the
process, that information could be satisfactory.
"Unfortunately
there was no such exercise from any office including PMO. How can ASI or
officers above them tell anything to appellant about Kohinoor and other high
valuable artifacts of our ancient times," he said.
He directed
the PMO, the ASI and Culture Ministry officials to collect information about
efforts and their effects to reclaim the ancient artifacts within one month.
PTI ABS TIR TIR