Kohinoor is a Persian word which means mountain of light. This was the name given to a colorless diamond one of the biggest of its time by Persian ruler Nader Shah. Kohinoor since the time of its discovery near Guntur in Andhra Pradesh in the 13th century has become the matter of pride for many. Though there are no direct reference in history which makes it the reason of any battle but it remained the status symbol and a must have during wars between rulers which possessed it during the course of history.
Currently this diamond is decorated in the royal crown of Queen Elizabeth of England and is in the possession of British monarchy. India, Pakistan,Iran and Afghanistan have all tried to claim its ownership and demanded its return to their respective country. When you read about the history of this diamond you will know why all of them are demanding it. Kohinoor is in news after government's contradicting statement in a span of two days during hearing in Supreme Court to raise claim on the diamond.
“Kohinoor cannot be said to be forcibly taken or stolen as it was given by the successors of Maharaja Ranjit Singh to East India Company in 1849 as compensation for helping them in the Sikh wars,” Solicitor General Ranjeet Kumar told a bench led by Chief Justice T S Thakur but when the issue became a topic of discussion in public domain government took a U-turn and said that we would raise the issue of its return in international forum. My question here is why such unnecessary issues like Kohinoor Diamond, Akhand Bharat, to say or not to say Bharat Mata Ki Jay, Mughal Heritage, Love Jihad, etc which helped in dividing the society are discussed and debated more than rising inflation, increasing unemployment, Rupee falling, low exports and high imports, economic slowdown etc. Are useless polarizing issues raised to divert people's attention from more important issues of public welfare? Is government veiling its shortcomings behind so called nationalism and majoritarianism?
Will we also claim things build in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan because some time in history they were part of India? Will we ever come out from burden of history to have a reality check of present and to aim a better future? There are many right and wrongs in history which we can't change now in the present. By claiming stolen/gifted/abducted things we are only wasting our time which we can utilize to make policies, easing courts' burden to hear some sensible cases. You change names to alter history but do changing of name removes history related to that name. No, it will never be changed. So forget Kohinoor or any other such thing you are claiming from anyone, buy them when they were auctioned in future till then remember it as the biggest diamond of its time discovered in our country. God Bless India.
