Idol theft.

Idol theft is the smuggling or local thievery of valuable and antique idols from temples or illegal selling of idols discovered during archaeological excavations. Occurrences.

1. Over 500 stolen idols were recovered by Tamil Nadu Police on 21st June, 2016.
2. Experts estimate that since 1980, the value of Indian Art that has been smuggled lies around 10 billion U.S dollars
3. 20 idols were stolen from Suthamalli temple, for which Subhash Kapoor is being charged.
4. 200 idols had been returned by the U.S during PM Modi’s visit of 2016. Some of the idols were as old as 2000 years.
5. A report by the Archaeological Survey of India suggests that around 20,000 antiquities have been stolen from India and sold in other countries since 1980.
6. The value of the Bronze Natraja returned by the National Gallery of Australia is estimated to be around 2,000,000 U.S dollars.
7. 20,000,000 U.S dollars, worth of idols recovered from Subhash Kapoor’s New York gallery in 2012. To put the figure into perspective, world’s richest 0.1% of population earns about 2,400,000 U.S dollars per annum (source: Investopedia.com) i.e., a little more than a tenth of the worth of the idols.

Literary Mentions.

S. Vijay Kumar co-founder of India Pride Project and celebrated author of the book, “The Idol Thief”, documented a pot-boiler thriller story based on the case of Subhash Kapoor, the case which was brought to light by a group that included S. Vijay Kumar himself. S. Vijay Kumar states, “There should be greater awareness on how this loot through scale and size is converting our gods into pieces of art to adorn walls as showpieces.” Vijay also highlighted the fact that the stolen pieces could not have been mistaken as genuine trade by well-meaning museums. According to him there was no way any art scholar/critic could have overseen the fact that the idols were freshly looted. He also highlights the fact that despite being such an actively prevalent crime since 1980s, idol theft has not been documented much.

Steps for Prevention.

1. The Idol Wing-CID (essentially an investigation unit having statewide jurisdiction for investigation and prosecution) is a compact team and is headed by DIG, Supervised by an IGP and an ADGP. Since its inception in 1983, a total of 271 cases had been detected leading to 70% conviction, 20% acquittal, 10% treated as undetectable. Total of 580 antique idols and 224 antique stone idols have been recovered till date, the value of which may be more than Rs.1000 Crores.
2. A careful documentation of values of idols, detection of targets and interests of thieves, can help in securing the idols appropriately. According to the idol wing, the Panchaloga idols of later Chola period - 9th to 12th CE and Stone idols belonging to Pallava and earlier Chola period are chief targets for these international traffickers.
3. Upon the idol wing’s relentless initiative, documentation of antique idols through digitalization including evidence of their physical dimensions through audio-video electronic means is currently taking place in the HR&CE Department.
4. Efforts to gauge the route taken by the smugglers have been made and have been successful to a certain extent.

Possible solutions.

1. Export ban on any artefact that shows damage/mutilation.
2. Ban on artificially aged metal idols.
3. Cancellation or at least temporary ban of the export and antique dealership licenses of anyone charged with violation of the Customs Act or AAT.
4. Development and research of practices for scientific dating to facilitate active prosecution.

References.

Reports by NDTV India (21st June, 2016)

The Hindu (25th November, 2019)

The Quint (2nd August, 2020)

“The Idol Thief” by S. Vijay Kumar (October, 2011)

Lectures by Arvind Venkataraman (an Idol Theft expert)

Public Lectures by J Sai Deepak (an advocate actively involved in court proceedings related to Idol theft).