Aldous Huxley is known to have famously said "Facts do not
cease to exist because they are ignored." One such brutally
ignored fact would be the plunder of cultural heritage around the
world and the up to US$3 billion plundered art and antiquities
trade that it contributes to.1
The looting of cultural heritage is a practice as ancient as
warfare itself and with the development of the world's great
civilizations, the proverbial "spoils of war" have often
included national and cultural treasures. This, unfortunately, is a
fact that is true for India, a country known for its rich and
varied cultural heritage. The illegal export of Indian art
treasures is not a new practice.
With the Indian art market growing at a phenomenal rate the
demand for art treasures has expanded to include a lower price
segment and regardless of the age of the works these have begun to
command value. Hence, the illegal trade, which was earlier
restricted to royal collections in the process of
