12-29-2006, 08:48 AM
PM debated diamond's ownership
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According to the archives, the then Pakistan prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto wrote to Jim Callaghan asking politely for the diamond's return.
Mr Bhutto said there was a "sense of cultural deprivation or historical disinheritance" caused by Britain hanging on to precious objects collected around the British Empire.
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The prime minister consulted the Queen. However, her exact reply is not known as a note from Martin Charteris, her private secretary, to the PM remains secret.
But one Foreign Official, CO Hunt, was rather annoyed at all the time and energy being expended on the issue.
"I can work up no enthusiasm whatsoever about the historical legal minutiae... nor do I think we need to," he said.
"The stark facts are these: we have the Koh-i-Noor diamond, whether or not our possession of it is legally justified. We have made it clear that we are keeping the diamond, adducing the best arguments to support our contention."
In other words - tough luck. The prime minister replied to Mr Bhutto with a polite "No".
The Koh-i-noor Diamond
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Conflicting Claims
In October 1997, Queen Elizabeth II made a State Visit to India and Pakistan to mark the 50th anniversary of Independence. Many Sikhs in India and Britain used the occasion to demand the return of the Koh-i-noor diamond, which had been won from the Sikhs (whose ruler was Duleep Singh, a young boy at the time) after a fierce battle. But the Sikhs had surrendered, and one of the terms of the surrender was that they hand over the diamond. A simple Punjabi farmer in his 70s, Beant Singh Sandhawalia, has claimed to be the last surviving descendant of Duleep Singh, through adoption. He wrote to Buckingham Palace and to Prime Minister Tony Blair asking for the return of the Koh-i-noor. Sandhawalia says he doesn't want the Koh-i-noor for himself, but will give it to the museum at the Golden Temple of Amritsar, the holiest Sikh shrine.
The Sikhs, however, are not the only people who want the diamond. In November 2000 the Taleban regime demanded the return of the Koh-i-noor diamond to Afghanistan, saying that the British should hand the gem back to them as soon as possible. They have claimed that it is the property of Afghanistan, and that history shows that it went to India from Afghanistan and therefore the Afghans have a stronger claim than the Indians. While an Indian parliamentary committee has insisted that the gem be sent back to New Delhi, the Taleban have claimed that Maharajah Ranjit Singh (the father of Duleep Singh) stole it from Afghanistan while he was ruler of the Punjab.
<b>British officials take the view that the multiplicity of competing claims makes it impossible to establish the gem's former ownership. Thus, for now, at least, it looks likely to remain one of the jewels in the British Crown.</b>
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According to the archives, the then Pakistan prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto wrote to Jim Callaghan asking politely for the diamond's return.
Mr Bhutto said there was a "sense of cultural deprivation or historical disinheritance" caused by Britain hanging on to precious objects collected around the British Empire.
-----------------------
The prime minister consulted the Queen. However, her exact reply is not known as a note from Martin Charteris, her private secretary, to the PM remains secret.
But one Foreign Official, CO Hunt, was rather annoyed at all the time and energy being expended on the issue.
"I can work up no enthusiasm whatsoever about the historical legal minutiae... nor do I think we need to," he said.
"The stark facts are these: we have the Koh-i-Noor diamond, whether or not our possession of it is legally justified. We have made it clear that we are keeping the diamond, adducing the best arguments to support our contention."
In other words - tough luck. The prime minister replied to Mr Bhutto with a polite "No".
The Koh-i-noor Diamond
---------------
Conflicting Claims
In October 1997, Queen Elizabeth II made a State Visit to India and Pakistan to mark the 50th anniversary of Independence. Many Sikhs in India and Britain used the occasion to demand the return of the Koh-i-noor diamond, which had been won from the Sikhs (whose ruler was Duleep Singh, a young boy at the time) after a fierce battle. But the Sikhs had surrendered, and one of the terms of the surrender was that they hand over the diamond. A simple Punjabi farmer in his 70s, Beant Singh Sandhawalia, has claimed to be the last surviving descendant of Duleep Singh, through adoption. He wrote to Buckingham Palace and to Prime Minister Tony Blair asking for the return of the Koh-i-noor. Sandhawalia says he doesn't want the Koh-i-noor for himself, but will give it to the museum at the Golden Temple of Amritsar, the holiest Sikh shrine.
The Sikhs, however, are not the only people who want the diamond. In November 2000 the Taleban regime demanded the return of the Koh-i-noor diamond to Afghanistan, saying that the British should hand the gem back to them as soon as possible. They have claimed that it is the property of Afghanistan, and that history shows that it went to India from Afghanistan and therefore the Afghans have a stronger claim than the Indians. While an Indian parliamentary committee has insisted that the gem be sent back to New Delhi, the Taleban have claimed that Maharajah Ranjit Singh (the father of Duleep Singh) stole it from Afghanistan while he was ruler of the Punjab.
<b>British officials take the view that the multiplicity of competing claims makes it impossible to establish the gem's former ownership. Thus, for now, at least, it looks likely to remain one of the jewels in the British Crown.</b>