Close X
Thursday, November 28, 2024
ADVT 
International

Australia To Return Stolen 1,800-Year-Old Buddha Statue To India

Darpan News Desk IANS, 22 Jul, 2016 12:08 PM
    An 1,800-year-old Buddha statue which was displayed in the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) is being prepared for its return to India, after it was found to have been purchased from an illegal antiquity trafficker, authorities said on Friday.
     
    The second-century statue stands at 1.3 metres tall, and was purchased from Asian art specialist Nancy Wiener by billionaire Ros Packer, on behalf of the NGA, in 2007, Xinhua news agency reported.
     
    However documents revealed that NGA staff simply accepted Wiener's story of how she came to be in possession of the antiquity, unaware that it was in fact stolen from an archaeological site in Mathura, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradhesh.
     
    NGA director Gerard Vaughan told News Corp on Friday that the sculpture would likely be returned to Indian government officials when they visit Australia for an Indian cultural festival in September.
     
    "There is a high-level delegation coming in September so we're investigating whether that will be the moment of hand over," Vaughan said.
     
    "Or (we) simply come to an agreement with India, because it is no longer our property, whether it can just be sent back to India. "
     
    The condition of the statue was so good that it was initially thought to be a fake, though when experts from the Archaeological Survey of India examined the piece, it was revealed to be genuine.
     
    "One of the reasons was because it's of great age and was in very good condition. Good condition can denote a fake," Vaughan said.
     
    "It was good for them to come back to us and say it was authentic and certainly something that should be returned to India, " he said.
     
    According to Vaughan, the NGA would be reviewing all 5,000 Asian antiquities in its collection due to the "culture" of failing to adequately check the background of its dealers.
     
    The news follows the arrest last month of one of the gallery's main suppliers, Subhash Kapoor, who was charged with illegal trafficking of antiquities.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Pakistan Cannot Conquer Kashmir Through War: Hina Rabbani Khar

    Pakistan Cannot Conquer Kashmir Through War: Hina Rabbani Khar
    Pakistan cannot "conquer Kashmir through war" and Islamabad can progress on the issue only in an environment of mutual trust with New Delhi, former Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has said.

    Pakistan Cannot Conquer Kashmir Through War: Hina Rabbani Khar

    Al-Qaeda Wanted To Swap Pak PM's Kidnapped Son For Ayman Al-Zawahiri's Women

    Al-Qaeda Wanted To Swap Pak PM's Kidnapped Son For Ayman Al-Zawahiri's Women
    Ali, who was kidnapped by six militants from Multan after an election rally in May 9, 2013, said he was first taken to the industrial town of Faisalabad where kidnappers kept him for two months before shifting him to North Waziristan.

    Al-Qaeda Wanted To Swap Pak PM's Kidnapped Son For Ayman Al-Zawahiri's Women

    Canadian Academic Homa Hoodfa Jailed In Iran For Dabbling In Feminism, Security

    Canadian Academic Homa Hoodfa Jailed In Iran For Dabbling In Feminism, Security
    Homa Hoodfar's niece, Amanda Ghahremani, said the Tehran public prosecutor made a statement to Iranian media on the case on Friday.

    Canadian Academic Homa Hoodfa Jailed In Iran For Dabbling In Feminism, Security

    Pakistan: Christian Woman Stripped Naked, Assaulted By Four Men

    Pakistan: Christian Woman Stripped Naked, Assaulted By Four Men
    28-year-old Christian woman in Pakistan was allegedly stripped naked and assaulted by four men who barged into her house after her brother eloped with a married Muslim woman

    Pakistan: Christian Woman Stripped Naked, Assaulted By Four Men

    Pakistan Would Not Accept Indian Diktat Over Kashmir: Sartaj Aziz

    Pakistan Would Not Accept Indian Diktat Over Kashmir: Sartaj Aziz
    Talking to media here, Aziz said the security establishment in all democratic countries was taken on board while making a country's foreign policy.

    Pakistan Would Not Accept Indian Diktat Over Kashmir: Sartaj Aziz

    Somali Minister Among 15 Killed In Extremist Attack On Hotel

    Somali Minister Among 15 Killed In Extremist Attack On Hotel
    MOGADISHU, Somalia — A Somali cabinet minister with links to Canada is among the 15 killed in an Islamic extremist attack on a hotel in the capital, police say.

    Somali Minister Among 15 Killed In Extremist Attack On Hotel