Photo Source: Babushahi Bureau
MP Satnam Sandhu urges Govt to honor Gadar party, India Home Rule League in freedom movement exhibits
Babushahi Bureau
Chandigarh, March 28, 2025: Rajya Sabha MP Satnam Singh Sandhu has raised the issue of displaying the legacy of the Gadar Party and India Home Rule League, which played an important role in India's glorious freedom struggle, at the museums and exhibition centers being planned by the Union government for displaying Indian antiquities returned from the USA and other countries.
Asking the question in Question Hour during the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament to the Union Minister of Culture and Tourism, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Rajya Sabha MP Satnam Singh Sandhu also asked whether the Union government was planning to republish historical papers like Young India and Gadr and make them accessible to the new generation through digital editions.
“India Home Rule League (IHRL) and Gadar Party played an important role in India's glorious freedom struggle. The IHRL, which was founded in 1916 by Lala Lajpat Rai in New York, worked to spread awareness about self-rule, self-reliance, and national consciousness through the magazine Young India. Similarly, the Gadar Party awakened the spirit of revolution against British rule all over the world through its newspaper Gadar,” Sandhu said while asking the supplementary question during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha.
Responding to a query on return of 297 Indian antiquities, which were smuggled out of the country, from the US, Union Minister Shekhawat said between 1955 and 2014, despite the coming of the International Convention in 1970, only 13 such antiquities returned to India, but due to the resolve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take pride in India’s heritage, more than 642 antiquities important to the country have returned to the country in about 11 years from 2014 till date.
“So it is a matter of pride for all of us. There is a very long process of bringing any such antiquity of archaeological importance from abroad to India, in which we have to prove its point of origin, its historical importance, and its provenance. Only after proving the provenance, its repatriation can be done in this way. After completing that process, 297 objects have been brought to India (from the US in 2024). Their detailed verification, status report, and everything is being prepared. But once their provenance is fully established and after a complete study is done, it is a normal process that they are kept for display in museums located in the states,”.
Shekhawat said 13 such statues which were brought from abroad have also been installed in the Parliament complex.
The Union Minister said at present the process of returning 72 such antiquities to India is going on with various countries, which include Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Netherlands, and Singapore.
The Union Minister informed India has signed the US-India Cultural Property Agreement, which aims to prevent the illicit trade of antiquities, for returning the Indian antiquities smuggled out of the country and efforts are being made to enter into agreements with other countries of the world as well.
Shekhawat said this agreement was signed with the US in 2024 under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to prevent the smuggling of Indian antiquities.
He said this agreement has benefited a lot in bringing the antiquities back to India from the USA which is the largest market for such properties in India and is also a black market for such antiquities.
The Union minister said earlier Indian authorities had to deal with multiple agencies in the USA in such cases, but now the process faces minimum obstacles and the now the government can bring such antiquities back to India with a lot more convenience.