Kohinoor issue rocks Lok Sabha, MPs demand return

Tearing into the government’s recent submission before the Supreme Court that the Kohinoor diamond was given away as a “gift” to the erstwhile East India Company by rulers of Punjab, a lawmaker from Orissa on Thursday said it was taken away forcibly by the colonial rulers and made a strong pitch in Parliament for bringing it back from Britain. The demand received instant support from several MPs, including those from the Akali Dal.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Bhartruhari Mahtab, a Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP from Cuttack dismissed the government’s stand that the diamond was given as a gift to the British, as he insisted that it was taken away forcibly by them from Duleep Singh, son of Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

The Centre had earlier this month told the SC that Kohinoor was not forcibly taken away or stolen by the colonial British rulers, but was given to them as a “gift” by Punjab rulers.

Mr Mahtab said that in a calligraphic letter written by the British political agent stationed in Lahore to governor-general Lord Dalhousie in 1839, Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s last wish of donating the famed diamond to Lord Jagannath temple of Puri, is clearly mentioned. However, his last wish remained unfulfilled as after the Anglo-Sikh war of 1849, the British forcibly acquired the diamond.

The MP said the way it had gone to the Queen of England was an “act of cheating” and a “surrender under duress”. He claimed that Kohinoor was the “syamantak mani”, associated with Lord Krishna.

Further, he asked the Centre to impress upon the UK to give the diamond back notwithstanding the PM’s recent statement that the British Museums and treasury would be empty if it returned all its treasures.

Referring to Vijay Mallya, he recalled that Tipu Sultan’s was brought back to the country from the “tainted money of a liquor baron whose passport has recently been revoked.”

Prem S. Chandumajra, a lawmaker from the SAD attacked the culture ministry for its stand in the SC and wanted steps to bring it back.