Keith Vaz’s comments came in response to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s speech in May calling on Britain to pay reparations to India. Earlier today Keith Vaz said:
I welcome Dr Tharoor’s speech and the endorsement of its message by Prime Minister Modi. I share their views. These are genuine grievances which must be addressed.”
There is no excuse for not returning precious items such as the Koh-i-Noor diamond, a campaign I have backed for many years. What a wonderful moment it would be, if and when Prime Minister Modi finishes his visit, which is much overdue, he returns to India with the promise of the diamond’s return.
Bhai Amrik Singh, the Chair of the Sikh Federation (UK), has said:
India has no claim on the ‘Koh-i-Noor’ diamond.
It has been stated in debate in the UK Parliament that it is a Sikh artifact. There were many others that were stolen from the Sikh Kingdom that need to be catalogued and preserved for the worldwide Sikh community.
The Indian regime is the last one on earth Sikhs can trust in preserving the rich Sikh heritage following the confiscation and destruction of priceless documents and scriptures in the Sikh Reference Library in June 1984.
Indian politicians, whether it be Narendra Modi, Shashi Tharoor or Keith Vaz can demand whatever they want, but they can not re-write the Anglo-Sikh history or deny what happen in 1984.
The diamond belonged to the Sikhs and the Koh-i-Noor should remain in Britain until the re-establishment of the Sikh homeland when such matters can be discussed and resolved.
The Koh-i-Noor belonged to the Sikh ruler, Maharaja Ranjit Singh who died in 1839. This was followed by the First and Second Sikh Wars (1845 and 1848) and the annexation of the Sikh Kingdom by the British.
On 29 March 1849, the British flag was hoisted in Lahore and the Sikh Kingdom came under occupation and was annexed. One of the terms of the Treaty of Lahore, the legal agreement formalising this occupation, was as follows: ‘The gem called the Koh-i-Noor (belonging to Maharajah Ranjit Singh) shall be surrendered by the Maharajah of Lahore to the Queen of England.” Lord Dalhousie arranged for the diamond to be presented by Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s successor, the young Maharaja Duleep Singh, under duress to Queen Victoria in the UK in 1851.
There are many countries that have tried to claim the Koh-i-Noor, including the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. In 1976, Pakistan prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto asked British Labour Prime Minister Jim Callaghan for the Koh-i-Noor to be returned to Pakistan. The prime minister replied to Mr Bhutto with a polite “No”.
There have been repeated requests by India. When the Queen made a state visit to India to mark the 50th anniversary of India’s independence from Britain in 1997, many Indians demanded the return of the diamond. In February 2013 David Cameron on the final day of a three day visit to India said the Koh-i-Noor would stay in Britain and ruled out returning the gem to India.
Bhai Amrik Singh added:
“The UK Government should once and for all tell the likes of India, Pakistan and others the rightful ownership and future of the Koh-i-Noor is a matter for Britain and the Sikhs with whom they have a number of treaties.”
Gurjeet Singh
National Press Secretary
Sikh Federation (UK)
As usual in every article that I have ever seen written by an Indian person, you ave depicted the WRONG DIAMOND.
That is the Imperial State Crown which contains the large, square cut diamond known as the Second Star of Africa, Cullinan II.
You are right in saying that the Cullinan II is on the queens crown.
The diamond depicted in this article is the one above the Cullinan.
None of the nations made by Britain following partition of the sub-continent have a legitimate claim to the jewel in the crown. If there is a claim to be made, it must be with the last indigenous nation proven to hold possession of the original diamond – the Sikh empire.
Dear Mazo, though I won’t support claims by Mr. Amrik Singh, but you somewhere proved you’re dumb to extreme limit. The mughals who looted India were not termed ‘Looters’ by you. But Sikhs who paid mughals in there own coin, you consider them looters……!!!!! When Sikhs migrated from India’s part that’s now in Pakistan you consider them refugee, but for every person settling from eastern India to Mumbai/Delhi you will never use this term. You are a big shame for your patents.
British Sikhs have no business and no claim to ANYTHING in India, from India or of India. They are neither citizens of India nor do they have any legitimate claim to represent anybody in India. They are British citizens and as such have no right to any claims on Indian reparations diamond or otherwise.
The Koh-i-noor diamond was a Mughal Empire artifacts Looted by Sikh Warlord Ranjit Singh in his sack of Delhi. Consequently it fell into the hands of the British after the Sikh kingdom was dismantled in a classic case of “easy come, easy go”.
Ultimately the Koh-i-Noor (mined from the Golconda mines of South India) belongs EXCLUSIVELY to the people of Republic of India – not to Pakistan, Bangladesh or the Sikh refugees and migrants in Britain who have taken up British citizenship.
The Sikhs did not “buy” or “mine” the diamond – they obtained it through war – not unlike the British and as such they have no legitimate claim to it. The original owners being the Mughal Empire – which passed on without any legitimate heirs, except the people of India.
Calm down buddy. India, purely a British construct, didn’t even exist prior to 1947. Time for you to open a history textbook.
The last sovereign nation to have possession of the Koh-i-Noor diamond was the Sikh Empire, to whom the diamond will return, one day.
Need a history lesson there as india was a concept well before the British and the Mughals. The Mauryan empire covered much of modern india including Pakistan, Bangladesh and parts of Afghanistan. The Sikh empire you refer to was merely the last in several Punjabi empires that controlled Punjab. British based khalistanis do not hold the monopoly on Punjab or Punjabi culture.
Time for you to read some REAL history textbooks from OUTSIDE of India, not some Hindoo textbooks written by RSS.
The Mauryam Empire existed more than 2,300 years ago lol. You’re using that bronze-age Empire to justify “unified India” existing before British lol? Also, Mauryam Empire didn’t include Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Sikh Empire from only 150 years ago wasn’t just (Indian) Punjab: it also included Pakistan Punjab, Kashmir, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Western Tibet and Khyber Pass in Afghanistan. It was formed after the Sikh Misls destroyed the Mughal Empire once and for all. Maharaja Ranjit Singh united all the Misls and the Sikh Empire was formed.
Sikh Empire was the last to be conquered by the British. “India” was never a united country. It was basically a un-united collection of many small city states.
That’s why it was so easy for the British to conquer all of it. To conquer Sikh Empire, British had to wait for death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Even then, British came very close to losing to Sikhs in two wars and the only reason they won was because British used treachery and Dogras betrayed the Sikh Empire.
Unified “India” was created by the British in 1947 when they left.
“India is a geographical term. It is no more a united nation than the Equator.” Winston Churchill
Mughals the original owners? LOL, you do know that Mughals (muslims) looted the diamond from hindus who owned the diamond longer than any other group. its original owners were Kakatiya dynasty who kept the diamond in a hindu temple, which later was looted by the delhi sultanates(muslims). the diamond should be returned to the temple or the state that it was originally found in which I think is Andhra pardesh. im a Sikh my self but I don’t agree with what those Sikhs are demanding. Sikhs owned the diamond for less than 50 years. it should be returned to its original owners/state .
the muslims/Mughals are he ones who invaded india and were doing all the looting lol
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