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Saturday, October 15, 2011

Indian Honour Under Hammer


The valuable gold Rolex watch of our first President, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, will soon be auctioned at Sothby’s in Geneva. It is pathetic that this has not made more than a passing news item in papers.

We all know that antique items have their own value and charm which attracts a lot of art curators and aficionados across the globe. But in this case, more startling is the fact that this watch was reported stolen in 1963 from Dr. Prasad’s Museum in Patna. The Indian government as usual is too busy to even investigate how a memorabilia item reached up to Sothby’s in the first place, let alone to make efforts to bring it back to India. Although the legal heirs of Dr Prasad are doing all what they can but Indian government is sick as usual. Is this the way we honour the people who sacrificed so much of their lives for us?  

What makes the watch extremely valuable is not that it is of Rolex brand or it has a map of India made on its dial but that it was presented to Dr. Prasad on the first Republic Day.

Some time back, Mahatma Gandhi’s spectacles were also stolen from Sabarmati Ashram. The Indian government must be ashamed on its inability to preserve memorabilia of people who laid their lives for the country.

30 comments:

  1. Vijay Mallya bought Tipu Sultan's sword this way only. Indian Govt. could have been more pro-active in saving our National artifacts. Tch.

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  2. Pretty sad news that these invaluablen items get stolen.Is there no rule in Sotheby's that stolen pieces be debarred on a complaint from being auctioned?

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  3. This is a shame. I hope so too.

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  4. these sort of happenings are really sad and demoralizing as far as nations's pride is concerned....

    just wish n hope that some sense prevails among the concerned authorities and we get away from facing such things....

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  5. And this is India MS.A.S :P

    In India everything happens. :)
    You are talking about Rolex watch but i'm still wondering whether why Koh-e-noor or Dariya-e-Noor or Peacock Throne or for that matter so many innumerable number of precious things which were legally stolen from our country are still outside our country? Why can't our government do anything? But then on second thoughts my head is filled with questions like...what is government after all? Why are these people behaving like that? Why politicians in India are like that? Why government officials are powerless in everything and why dont they do their duties properly? We need to blame them or we need to blame ourselves?Are they responsible for everything evil happening around or Are we responsible for everything happening around? I think even i'm equally responsible for what is happening around and I'm ashamed of myself. I dont even feel sorry for myself now even on second thoughts.
    Nice thought provoking post!

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  7. It's really a shame that these artifacts are stolen.. and even more shameful that our government is lackadaisical in doing anything about it!!!

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  8. I agree with you. Government should act responsibly in such matters where its a shame to the entire nation to be unable to take care of artifacts of historic importance.

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  9. hii Abhinav

    yes, what a shame..someone else buys it in auction and returns to the Indian govt.

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  10. hii KP

    yes, it is sad indeed..M not very sure of Sothby's rules

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  11. hii Jyothi

    yes, thanks a lot

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  12. hi Irfanuddin

    this is the basic problem, authorities are totally devoid even of basic common sense

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  13. hii Asif,

    yes I know this is not the first such case but here what m cribbing abt id inefficiency and shamelessness of Indian govt.

    yes, it (shit) happens only in India!

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  14. hii Shrikant

    govt is as useless as ever

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  15. hii mOhan

    this is the basic problem, what to do but

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  16. All things that disappear from our museums are with the "help" of the authorities for which they are "suitable compensated"

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  17. hii Haddock

    yes, sad but very true

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  18. it hurts.. to read the shit attitude of indian govt

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  19. hii Sankoobaba

    yes, sadly

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  20. i didnt even know such thing is happening there....

    (and one thing that i dont understand is what happens if the watch is brought over here!!)

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  21. good post as usual buddy:) and thanks for keeping patience with me and not getting annoyed as I was tied up for some time..sure u doing well..stay connected n keep the cheers..wishes always u r a wonderful friend

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  22. hii Sujata

    yes, it is definitely a big shame

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  23. What I wonder about these antiques is, how to they fetch so much money? I mean, the only reason why people might want to buy is, they might want to boast about it to their friends circle. I wonder if they buy it as an investment so that they can resell it later, after some years? Whatever the reason, people paying so much money to acquire such objects doesn't make much sense to me. These things might be more useful to a museum.

    Destination Infinity

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  24. Hi DI

    these have emotional value for the family of that person

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