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28-09-2021, 11:31 AM
SHREEJA SINGH SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 / 08:44 PM IST
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 26 reached India with 157 artefacts and antiquities that were handed over to him by the US during his visit to that country. An initiative called India Pride Project played an instrumental role in tracing these items, which were once smuggled out of India and sold in the international art market.
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If you use the art market to invest in art, it is such an opaque grey market that you can hold millions of dollars of art in safe deposit lockers and move from one locker to another, moving a million dollars with no records. ...we're talking about a high level of sophistication that comes in.
Unfortunately India is not propped up with the increased regulations of the art market, we still rely on IPC (Indian Penal Code) Section 380 which is basically housebreaking theft under which temple thefts are being classified. In principle what happens is all over India, temple theft and housebreak is classified as one, you get a maximum penalty of 6-7 years. I think there's a need for a large-scale revamp and tightening of breakage laws with stricter punishment. Plus, India needs to invest in a Natural Arts Squad like what Italy has so that this can be done in an organised manner.
......
What is India lacking that makes it such an easy target?
India has always been a target, I would say we are called a source nation. The Western world and dollar-driven collectors call us source nations. So they target us clearly because one has colonial roots, so the colonial mindset to display. So we have seen our murtis being kept in a swimming pool so there is an object... we should stop calling these returns as some benevolent gestures. These were stolen objects and they are forfeit to India. So somebody giving our goods back is not to be celebrated with the photo op. We just need to strengthen our systems to make sure that they should go back to locations from where they were stolen.
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/busine...13911.html
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 26 reached India with 157 artefacts and antiquities that were handed over to him by the US during his visit to that country. An initiative called India Pride Project played an instrumental role in tracing these items, which were once smuggled out of India and sold in the international art market.
......
If you use the art market to invest in art, it is such an opaque grey market that you can hold millions of dollars of art in safe deposit lockers and move from one locker to another, moving a million dollars with no records. ...we're talking about a high level of sophistication that comes in.
Unfortunately India is not propped up with the increased regulations of the art market, we still rely on IPC (Indian Penal Code) Section 380 which is basically housebreaking theft under which temple thefts are being classified. In principle what happens is all over India, temple theft and housebreak is classified as one, you get a maximum penalty of 6-7 years. I think there's a need for a large-scale revamp and tightening of breakage laws with stricter punishment. Plus, India needs to invest in a Natural Arts Squad like what Italy has so that this can be done in an organised manner.
......
What is India lacking that makes it such an easy target?
India has always been a target, I would say we are called a source nation. The Western world and dollar-driven collectors call us source nations. So they target us clearly because one has colonial roots, so the colonial mindset to display. So we have seen our murtis being kept in a swimming pool so there is an object... we should stop calling these returns as some benevolent gestures. These were stolen objects and they are forfeit to India. So somebody giving our goods back is not to be celebrated with the photo op. We just need to strengthen our systems to make sure that they should go back to locations from where they were stolen.
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/busine...13911.html
