Koh-i-Noor diamond to remain in UK

Posted August 04, 2010 | By Sonia Nair

UK Prime Minister David Cameron has dealt a further blow to India’s long-standing battle for ownership of the Koh-i-Noor diamond, ruling out its return to the country of its origin.

The famous 105-carat diamond is one of the largest diamonds in the world and was mined in Andhra Pradesh, India, before the Maharaja of Punjab handed it over to the East India Company when British forces defeated his army. The diamond was later presented as a gift to Queen Victoria in 1849.

The British government has always maintained that the diamond was “legitimately acquired” as part of the Treaty of Lahore.

The diamond is now the centrepiece of the British Crown Jewels in London, and Cameron made it clear that it would remain there. “If you say yes to one you suddenly find the British Museum would be empty,” he said during an interview with Indian television station NDTV.

“I’m afraid this will disappoint viewers but it’s going to have to stay put.”

Labour MP Keith Vaz, who is of Indian origin, urged the Prime Minister to return the diamond in a statement last week, just days before the Prime Minister’s visit to India.

“It would be very fitting for the Koh-i-Noor to return to the country in which it was mined so soon after the diamond jubilee of the Indian Republic and 161 years after its removal from India,” he said.

Vaz claimed the diamond’s return would “convey a new age of Indo-British relations”.

The furore surrounding the diamond’s home is likely to continue as India has recently signed up to a United Nations campaign that would see national treasures returned to their rightful owners.

Before the Koh-i-Noor diamond was given to the British, it belonged to various Hindu, Mughal, Persian, Afghan and Sikh rulers, making the term “rightful owners” a contentious one.

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