Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 9
Heritage items of Chandigarh, taken abroad in an illegal manner, have been auctioned off for Rs 3.41 crore in France and the UK.
Many of the articles were auctioned with declared name/number of the article. It includes a ‘Kangourou’ arm chair, which fetched Rs 17.74 lakh, and a bench — teak and caning that sold for Rs 22.02 lakh. An angled ‘demontable’ desk teak and leatherette was the costliest item to be auctioned off at Rs 52.92 lakh.
These articles are from Panjab University, a general hospital and UT administrative building, said activist Ajay Jagga.
In his petition to the Secretary, Rajya Sabha, Jagga said: “In continuation to my petition for protection of national heritage (Chandigarh Heritage Articles) from being auctioned all over the world and earlier communications, seeking intervention from the Rajya Sabha for making rules and regulations for the protection of heritage (specifically which is less than 75 years of age) as the mandate of the Constitution of India is already there under Article 49 in this regard. In fact, the heritage articles are being auctioned regularly in foreign countries without any resistance from India.”
As a nation, there were two issues — heritage, taken by way of illegal route, was being auctioned regularly in foreign countries; and India was facing huge financial loss as any country not keen on furniture could earn huge foreign exchange through direct auction, he said.
“Despite the MHA order of 2011, furniture was sold in Chandigarh and then it was taken abroad. So unless, we create a framework, we are losing on both counts i.e. heritage and financial loss,” he added.
