India Says It Wants One of the Crown Jewels Back From Britain
The Indian government has begun a campaign for the return of a historic 105.6-carat diamond that was either a giftto Queen Victoria from the maharajah of Punjab in 1849 or stolen by the British, depending on some widely divergent perspectives.
After some indecision, the Indian Culture Ministry said on Tuesday evening that it would make “all possible efforts” to arrange the return of the diamond, the Koh-i-Noor, now residing in the Tower of London, where it is a centerpiece of the British royal family’s crown jewels.
As with the Elgin marbles, the Parthenon sculptures and other artifacts that Greece has long tried to reclaim from Britain, the ownership of the diamond has been a contentious issue for decades.