— The descendants of the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, forced to give the Koh-i-noor diamond to Queen Victoria, will launch a court action Monday for his body and possessions to be returned to India.
The petition from a family claiming to be the descendants of Duleep Singh, who was exiled to Britain, aims to force the Indian government to intensify its efforts to reclaim the Koh-i-noor.
The jewel is mounted in the crown of the queen consort, last worn by the late Queen Mother.
The family is also seeking the return of the golden throne belonging to Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Duleep Singh’s father, and for both to be kept at the Golden Temple, the centre of the Sikh faith, in Amritsar.
Their case reopens a controversial chapter in British colonial history that still arouses strong passions in India, particularly in Punjab, where Sikhs regard the exile of Duleep Singh and his “gift” of the Koh-i-noor to Queen Victoria in 1850 as a national humiliation.
The legal action seeks to establish the claim of Jaswinder Singh Sandhanwalia, a 50-year-old company administrator based in Amsterdam, and his relatives, to be the rightful descendants and heirs of Duleep Singh.
According to the family, their great-grandfather, Thakur Singh Sandhanwalia, was Duleep Singh’s blood cousin and his adoptive son.
finally someone has raised voice for justice with british crown.Otherwise hardliners are used to lick feets of western governments.