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The Koh-i-Noor diamond, and why the British won’t give it back (2017)

smithsonianmag.com

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Re: The Koh-i-Noor diamond, and why the British won’t give it back (2017)

#241

Post by LawTalkingGuy »

alephnerd wrote: post #207
cafed00d wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those diamonds were mined in Kollur in modern day south India. It should go back to them. And yes, before you harp on it, the land we call America should go back to the Native Americans, the aboriginals of Australia and New Zealand should also get their lands back. Or whoever else has been the subject of conquest. Ultimately, slavery, caste, and colonization are institutions of brutality. Reparations are owed. Britai…

Why the downvotes, this is as equal as an argument as the others I brought up, which only shows how complex of a conundrum this is.

No post body was provided.

Re: The Koh-i-Noor diamond, and why the British won’t give it back (2017)

#244

Post by nextlevelwizard »

alephnerd wrote: post #3

Not a fan of the British crown (why are they exempt from taxes during record high inflation) but who should they return the diamond to - Afghanistan (it was the Durranis that looted it from Nader Shah after he looted it from the Mughals), India (Maharaja Ranjit Singh took it as tribute from Shah Shuja after conquering Kashmir from the Durranis), or Pakistan (the Sikh Empire capital was Lahore and the Durrani Empire c…

>why are they exempt from taxes during record high inflation

Because they literally own all (or at least most) of the tourist attractions in the UK. It looks funny how the royal family is paid bunch of money for just existing until you realize they own the land and they have deal with the government where government handles the properties and whatever and pays the royal family for it, but the amount revenue is much much larger

Re: The Koh-i-Noor diamond, and why the British won’t give it back (2017)

#245

Post by morbidious »

irrational wrote: post #206
markdown wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe the argument was that it was gifted under duress.

Then why did they say very recently that it was not taken or stolen? They aren’t under duress anymore. They could just have easily said that it was gifted under duress and asked for it back.

"gifted under duress" implies that it was taken forcibly

Re: The Koh-i-Noor diamond, and why the British won’t give it back (2017)

#246

Post by spaceman_2020 »

alephnerd wrote: post #3

Not a fan of the British crown (why are they exempt from taxes during record high inflation) but who should they return the diamond to - Afghanistan (it was the Durranis that looted it from Nader Shah after he looted it from the Mughals), India (Maharaja Ranjit Singh took it as tribute from Shah Shuja after conquering Kashmir from the Durranis), or Pakistan (the Sikh Empire capital was Lahore and the Durrani Empire c…

This is why I'm not a fan of "correcting" history. What happened, happened. You cannot really correct it without breaking something elsewhere.

Returning this diamond isn't going to magically erase 200 years of colonial rule.

Re: The Koh-i-Noor diamond, and why the British won’t give it back (2017)

#247

Post by morbidious »

krona wrote: post #79
pacetherace wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was absolutely the fault of the British. The partition lines were drawn by lawyer with little to no inputs from experts.

Err, the original instruction from the British government was to avoid partition and preserve a united India. Ultimately self determination involves taking responsibility.

Too bad the Indians did not want to be a dominion like Australia or Canada or NZ, they wanted to settle for nothing except for independence from British rule

Re: The Koh-i-Noor diamond, and why the British won’t give it back (2017)

#249

Post by morbidious »

spaceman_2020 wrote: post #246
alephnerd wrote: post #3

Not a fan of the British crown (why are they exempt from taxes during record high inflation) but who should they return the diamond to - Afghanistan (it was the Durranis that looted it from Nader Shah after he looted it from the Mughals), India (Maharaja Ranjit Singh took it as tribute from Shah Shuja after conquering Kashmir from the Durranis), or Pakistan (the Sikh Empire capital was Lahore and the Durrani Empire c…

This is why I'm not a fan of "correcting" history. What happened, happened. You cannot really correct it without breaking something elsewhere. Returning this diamond isn't going to magically erase 200 years of colonial rule.

But it's going to give back a sense of pride and belonging to people to see their possession back in their hands

Re: The Koh-i-Noor diamond, and why the British won’t give it back (2017)

#250

Post by osrec »

glandium wrote: post #235
nradov wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

How far back should we go? Alexander the Great?

I guess then in your opinion what the Nazis did was fair game, and they should not have had to pay reparations either? What, in your opinion, is the cutoff point in time, where sins are universally absolved?

Edit: It's clearly a subjective topic, but there are significant impacts felt the world over due to the British empire. I'm not sure you can say the same of Alexander the Great. People are directly and significantly affected to this day by the actions of the British. I guess the nature and extent of the impact would need to be decided by a court, but it'll always be an imperfect science. That doesn't mean it's unnecessary.

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