A petition for the UK to return the Kohinoor to India is making the rounds on social media. For the uninitiated, the call for the UK to return the diamond to India grew louder after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Indian Twitterati said that the “loot” must now be returned to India, the place where Kohinoor originated, and from where it was taken away eons ago.
Founder and Managing Partner of investment company Monta Vista Capital, Venktesh Shukla, who started the petition, aims to get 1 million signatures. In the LinkedIn post where he shared the petition, Shukla said, “The British should return the Kohinoor diamond to India now. Every time the crown appears with Kohinoor as the jewel of the crown, it reminds the world of Britain's colonial past and the shameful way they got a five year old prince to "gift" it to Britain. UK is an honorable country and let us remind it that the honorable thing to do is to return such "loot" to its rightful owner.”
The petition recounts the journey of the Kohinoor from its mining to the hands of the UK royals. The petition said that after Kohinoor changed hands among various kings, it found its way to Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who was ruling Punjab at the time.
“The British conquered Punjab Kingdom after his death in 1849 and put his five year old son, Daleep Singh as the King under the Regency of the British. Later they got this child to "gift" this diamond to the British. They also moved Daleep Singh to England, converted him to Christianity and did not allow him to meet his mother or any other Indian so he won't be aware of his heritage,” it stated.
In the petition, Shukla said that it is no longer “morally defensible” for the UK to hold on to this loot. It said that the honourable thing to do now is to return the Kohinoor to India voluntarily, which will also in some way act as its washing away of sins of the colonial past.
Shukla aims to get 1 million signatures on this petition. “In addition, on January 26, 2023, we should all go to the closest Embassy/Consulate/High Commission of UK wherever we are in the world and present this petition to them - peacefully and honorably,” the petition read.
It concluded by saying that the UK wants to be an honourable country that does good in the world and they should be given this opportunity.
However, it must be mentioned here that the British government does not think there is any legal ground for the restitution of the Kohinoor. The Indian government has made attempts to negotiate the return of the diamond.
Shashi Tharoor, in his book An Era of Darkness, said, “The diamond was formally handed over to Queen Victoria by the child Sikh heir Maharaja Duleep Singh, who simply had no choice in the matter. As I have pointed out in the Indian political debate on the issue, if you hold a gun to my head, I might ‘gift’ you my wallet — but that doesn’t mean I don’t want it back when your gun has been put away.”
The Queen’s crown that has the Kohinoor set in it was handed over to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, mother of Queen Elizabeth II. It subsequently went to Queen Elizabeth II. Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, who will become the Queen consort will receive the Kohinoor after Queen Elizabeth II.
Also read: The centuries-long journey of Kohinoor to the crown of Queen Elizabeth II, and now Camilla