Australia Returns Stolen Artifacts to India
National Gallery of Australia Returns Artifacts Bought from Disgraced Dealer Subhash Kapoor to India.
Between 1989-2009, the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) in Canberra, Australia had purchased many artifacts like statues, paintings, and other old historical items from an Indian art dealer named Subhash Kapoor. When he had sold the artifact he was living in New York, USA. However, later they found that Kapoor had a trafficking ring that looted thousands of artifacts from India and illegally sold it to the museum. He had also looted thousands of artifacts hailing from Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, and other countries. More than 2,000 trafficked artifacts have been seized from storage locations Kapoor rented throughout New York. Kapoor was arrested in 2011 and is currently in jail in India awaiting trial.
When the museum realised that the artifacts they purchased were illegally looted by Kapoor, they decided to return them to India. In 2014, the museum returned a USD 5 million bronze statue of Lord Shiva. It was handed over to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Even in 2016, they had returned certain artifacts. Now once again they will return a collection of 14 artworks to India. These will include bronze and stone sculptures, a painted scroll and photographs. These artifacts, which will be handed over to the Indian government, are worth around USD 3 million. Nick Mitzevich, who is the director of NGA said that , “In 2021, it is not right to keep artifacts which were stolen from another country. This is why we decided to return them to India. Now we have returned everything that we bought from Subhash Kapoor.” The Indian government is very happy to receive the artifacts back.
