Page 106 - DRI ANNUAL REPORT EBOOK

C. Protecting Cultural Heritages
India, with its redoubtable cultural heritage, and at times tardy implementation of antiquities protection laws, offers pilferers fertile ground to plunder the past and spirit away booty worth billions for sale in the international market. India has a vast basket of living and diverse cultural traditions, traditional expressions, intangible and tangible cultural heritage comprising masterpieces which need institutional support and encouragement with a view to addressing areas critical for the survival and propagation of these forms of cultural heritage. India’s rich cultural heritage has unfortunately been threatened by unscrupulous elements and organized cartels that vandalize heritage sites with the objective of smuggling and selling antiques in illicit markets abroad for huge profits. In order to protect and safeguard our cultural heritage and to have an effective control
over the cultural property, The Antiquities and Art Treasures Act was enacted in the year 1972 to regulate the export trade in antiquities and art treasures, to prevent smuggling of and fraudulent dealings in antiquities. By virtue of this Act, the export of Antiques is prohibited.
DRI has remarkable track record in seizure of very ancient antique items of various periods like bronze statue of Chola period, stone idols of early Mauryan period, craftworks of Mughal period. Mostly these are items are smuggled out through airports, but some large sized stone statues were also attempted to be smuggled out via sea route.
In a recent case booked by DRI, a company was exporting antiques outside India by declaring the same as Non-antique items in the export documents. During search, DRI recovered Standing Gandhara Buddha statue. The antique was seized.
TEST CASE: “VRIDDHACHALAM ARDHANARI” IDOL
72 SMUGGLING IN INDIA REPORT 2019-20