Oxford University will return a 500-year-old statue of a Hindu saint to India

Smugglers stole an idol from a temple in India

London – Britain’s Oxford University has announced that it will return a 500-year-old bronze statue of South Indian Tamil poet, Saint Thirumankai Alvar to India. The height of this idol is 60 cm. The statue is currently in the Ashmolean Museum of Oxford University.

The claim for the return of the 16th-century idol of Saint Tirumankai Alwar was made on behalf of the Indian High Commission in Britain. He speculated that smugglers might have stolen the idol from an Indian temple.

On 11 March 2024, the Council of Oxford University supported the Indian High Commissioner’s claim to return the 16th-century bronze statue of Saint Tirumankai Alwar from the Ashmolean Museum.

India’s demand to return the Kohinoor diamond !

After the victory in the second Anglo-Sikh war in 1849, the Kohinoor diamond was stolen by the East India Company from Punjab in northern India. The diamond was given to Queen Victoria and has been displayed at the Jewel House in the Tower of London ever since. The Indian government has made many claims that India is the real owner of this diamond. After gaining independence from the British Empire in 1947, India repeatedly demanded the return of the Kohinoor diamond. Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan governments have also claimed ownership of the diamond.