mehreenkasana:

The descendants of the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, who was forced to hand over the Koh-i-Noor diamond to Queen Victoria, will on Monday launch a court action for his body and possessions to be returned to India

[…]

The jewel is currently mounted in the crown of the Queen Consort, last worn by the late Queen Mother.

The family is also seeking the return of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s golden throne and for both to be kept at the Golden Temple, the centre of the Sikh faith, in Amrtisar, India.

Their case reopens a controversial chapter in British colonial history that still arouses strong passions in India, particularly in Punjab, where Sikhs regard the exile of Duleep Singh and his “gift” of the Koh-i-Noor diamond to Queen Victoria in 1850 as a national humiliation.

[continued]

“Our property was confiscated by British rule. This letter establishes us as the rightful heirs of Duleep Singh and we want to get back his remains and his other belongings to the Golden Temple,” Jaswinder Singh Sandhanwalia told The Daily Telegraph on Sunday.

More power to the Singh family for taking back what belongs to them. Kicking imperialism and colonialism’s collective rear end with Indian might and right.

(via fuckyeahsouthasia)