Did you know, that the majority of the world famous diamonds came from Andhra Pradesh? More specifically, from The mines of Golconda? Turns out that people used to think that diamonds could be found only in the mines of Andhra Pradesh in India. The tragedy is, that none of these diamonds belong to their homeland anymore. All of them have been looted and stolen by Iran and Britain. The Koh-i-noor (mountain of light), Darya-e-nur (sea of light), the infamous Hope Diamond and several others. All of them now sit either in some museum, or in the crowns of the monarchs.
Last year, the UK Prime Minister visited Amritsar, in lieu of the Jallianwala Bagh tragedy, to pay his respects. On being bombarded by the press and others to return the Koh-i-noor diamond, he straight out refused. Saying it was "illogical". How could it be illogical to return something that was never theirs? They looted, they enslaved, they slaughtered. And they have the audacity to assume the diamond is now theirs?
These are the people who cut off the thumbs of the Muslim weavers and destroyed their looms so that the Indians would be forced to buy only products of the Industrial Revolution. These are the people who used the policy of Divide and Rule, so as to cause strife between the Hindus and the Muslims. They succeeded as well. Pakistan is proof of that.
200 years. 200 years of slavery. 200 years of abuse. 200 years of struggle. And when asked to return what they have stolen, they refuse? They say they don't believe in 'returnism'? David Cameron, the UK Prime minister, when making this statement also gave the example of the Elgin marbles, which they had taken from Athens and also refuse to return them to Greece. They believe that these masterpieces, these gorgeous drops of heaven, are better off there as they will be better looked after there.
Shouldn't India have some say in that? Don't we deserve at least that much? The British might have left India, but they left behind scars that have not faded. They plucked out the precious stones from the walls of the Taj Mahal, they were responsible for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. General Dyer, nicknamed the Butcher of Amritsar, was actually praised by some. And that's not even a fraction of the tyranny our ancestors were subjected to. What they did to our country was unforgivable. It was cruel. At the very least, let them return what is ours.