5 Chandigarh heritage items sold for Rs 1 cr in Brussels

Heritage items of Chandigarh taken out of the country in an illegal manner continue to be auctioned in foreign countries. Five such articles were auctioned for Rs 1.06 crore in Brussels, Belgium, on June 18.

Advertisement

Ajay Jagga, a member of the Heritage Items Protection Cell of the Chandigarh Administration, said the artefacts auctioned included a set of six chairs (Rs 31.90 lakh), one chair (Rs 11.96 lakh), a set of three committee chairs (Rs 24.92 lakh), one sofa (Rs 19.94 lakh) and one dining table (Rs 16.94 lakh).

In a letter to Union Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar and Minister of Culture and Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Jagga stated that in response to his earlier representations on the matter, the Ministry of Culture took action and asked the agencies such as Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to look into it. However, the MEA is yet to take cognisance of this matter, like alerting the Indian Embassies, raising the alarm on such auctions and seeking the return of heritage items to India, he added.

“This is in continuation of my earlier submissions for the protection of national heritage (Chandigarh heritage articles) from being auctioned all over the world,” he said, while adding that in fact, the heritage articles are being auctioned regularly in foreign countries without any resistance from the Government of India.

He has requested that the Indian Embassies in foreign countries must be sensitised to our heritage, so that whenever information comes to them, they can at least raise the alarm to save the heritage items.

The ongoing auctions can be stopped only through diplomatic channels, he said.