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PAKISTAN - Mystery Surrounds Major Museum Theft

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Bianca
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« on: December 28, 2008, 10:39:26 am »










                                          Mystery surrounds major museum theft






Web posted at: 12/26/2008 1:38:48
THE PENINSULA
TAXILA:

The officials of Pakistan’s Federal Department of Archaeology and Museum are still clueless about the 81 price less and rare antiques including the priceless statues of Greek deities mysteriously stolen from Taxila Museum nine years ago. Not a single stolen item has been recovered and no official responsible for negligence has been punished.

December 16 is remembered as the blackest day in the archaeological history of Pakistan when 81 invaluable antiques of Gandhara civilisation were stolen from the museum - the biggest ever theft from any muse um in Pakistan. Mystery shrouds the robbery as no single official involved in the case has been caught or punished so far.

These antiques, which were discovered by Sir John Marshall during excavations carried out between 1813 and 1835 also include the statue of the Greek god Dionysus, the god of wine and a statue of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Being the only statues of Greek gods ever found in Pakistan they are both unique and priceless.

The inquiry into the theft was put in the cold storage for reasons best known to concerned authorities. Records show that Police on guard duty and museum security men blame each other. A departmental inquiry had ruled out the involvement of museum staff or security guards and had accused police for involvement. Still the staff cannot be absolved of charges of criminal negligence.

Four years ago in a theft case in Moenjodaro Museum seals belonging to Indus civilisation were stolen. In this case the Curator of the Museum, Abdul Hameed Jatoi, had to lose his job.

The robbery at the Taxila museum of as many as 81 items is a glaring example of negligence and hard to explain. It is believed that some organised group in collusion with the police and security guards deputed on duty that night stole the antiques worth millions of dollars in the international market.

The administration’s effort to bury this theft under the carpet is also raising many questions: why no action was taken against the staff for negligence and why the matter was not pursued?

Those interested in preserving the cultural heritage of Pakistan believe that the federal government should take the matter in its own hand by constituting a committee of white colour crime experts to see how these antiques were stolen, what was the modus operandi used by the thieves, determine the involvement of the staff, if any.
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