The Hindu editorial on 12/08/2025 highlights the recent repatriation of the Piprahwa relics—believed to be the remains of Lord Buddha and his early followers—which were excavated from Uttar Pradesh in 1898 and later taken abroad during the colonial period. When the relics surfaced at a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong in May 2025, the Indian government intervened through coordinated diplomatic efforts, persuading the auction house to halt the sale. A public-private partnership with the Godrej Industries Group enabled their acquisition and return to the National Museum, marking a notable success in India’s cultural diplomacy. However, the episode also exposed systemic weaknesses in heritage protection, including fragmented ownership, delayed intervention, and the absence of robust international mechanisms to prevent the sale of sacred objects. The editorial calls for proactive measures such as a centralised, digitised registry of cultural assets integrated with customs and auction monitoring systems, stronger international norms against the commercialisation of sacred relics, and the expansion of public-private partnerships to mobilise resources and expertise for heritage preservation.
0 Comments