Photo 1 caption: The Koh-i-Noor . . . the Indian jewel in the British crown
Photo 2 caption: New British Prime Minister Theresa May . . . urged to not return the Koh-i-Noor to India.
The Sikh Federation (UK) has expressed opposition to any move to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond to India.
The federation recently wrote a letter to new U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May and Foreign Minister Boris Johnson expressing their disapproval for any such return of the prized diamond.
In the letter signed by Amrik Singh, the federation’s chair, it said the diamond originally belonged to Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the Sikh Kingdom, and that the son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Duleep Singh, had been “duped” into handing over the jewel to Queen Victoria.
The letter is reproduced below:
Dear Rt. Hon. Theresa May,
We wrote to you on 11 July congratulating you on becoming the Conservative Party Leader. In our view you have made an excellent start to your Prime Ministership.
Today there have been media reports that External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and culture minister Mahesh Sharma met and may try and approach Britain to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond. Sikhs worldwide associate the Koh-i-Noor diamond with Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the Sikh Kingdom.
The Sikh Kingdom was annexed by the British on 29 March 1849 when its ruler was Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s youngest son. Maharaja, Duleep Singh was only 10 years of age when the last Anglo-Sikh Treaty of Lahore was signed by Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General of India. It is well known the young Maharaja was separated from his mother who had been imprisoned more than two years earlier and he was not allowed to meet her again for thirteen and a half years. It is a well known fact he was duped into handing the Koh-i-Noor over to Queen Victoria.
When it comes to custody of the Kohn-i-Noor diamond successive British Prime Ministers have referred to the Anglo-Sikh Treaties to justify it as a spoil to war. The Indian Solicitor General and the Indian government have also acknowledged the Anglo-Sikh Treaties. When India and Pakistan were created some 69 years ago the British hastily exited and reneged on the Anglo-Sikh Treaties that should have also resulted in a Sikh Kingdom.
We hope you and the Foreign Secretary (who has been copied this letter) will meet with representatives of a recently established 25-member International Council that represent the Sikhs worldwide, that we helped set up and represent in the UK, to discuss the Anglo-Sikh Treaties as we strongly oppose the return of the Koh-i-Noor to India.
Yours sincerely,
Bhai Amrik Singh
Chair, Sikh Federation (UK)
