Alliance of some Bollywood stars and businessmen in the UK.
By Raif Karerat
Bollywood stars and businessmen have formed an alliance and begun legal proceedings in London’s High Court demanding that Queen Elizabeth II return the Kohinoor diamond to India, a British crown jewel that was pilfered from the subcontinent and was once the largest known diamond in the world.
David de Souza, co-founder of the Indian leisure group Titos, is helping to fund the new legal action and has instructed British lawyers to begin High Court proceedings.
“The Kohinoor is one of the many artifacts taken from India under dubious circumstances,” he told Gulf Digital News. “Colonization did not only rob our people of wealth, it destroyed the country’s psyche itself.”
The jewel was given to the reigning Queen of the time by the last ruler of the Sikhs, Duleep Singh, after the British annexation of the Punjab.
The group demanding the stone’s return from the U.K. is calling itself the “Mountain of Light,” after the translation of the stone’s name.
Bollywood star Bhumicka Singh, a member of the Mountain of Light, stated in a press release: “The Kohinoor is not just a 105-carat stone, but part of our history and culture and should undoubtedly be returned.”
Satish Jakhu, of Birmingham-based law firm Rubric Lois King, said they would make their claim under the common law doctrine of “trespass to goods,” arguing that the government had stolen the diamond. He added that they would be taking their case to the International Court of Justice, according to the Times of India.