‘Time To Return Kohinoor’: Zohran Mamdani Says He’d Approach King Charles III
‘Time To Return Kohinoor’: Zohran Mamdani Says He’d Approach King Charles III
‘Time To Return Kohinoor’: Zohran Mamdani Says He’d Approach King Charles III
As King Charles tours the US, NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani hints at pressing for the Kohinoor diamond's return, reviving a long-running post-colonial dispute ahead of the 9/11 memorial.
King Charles III of Britain, on his continued tour of the US, is being urged by the mayor of New York City to hand back the Kohinoor Diamond to India, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on Wednesday.
Mamdani told a news conference before a memorial service for the victims of the September 11 terror attacks that the issue was not on the agenda, but would raise it if he could meet the king privately.
“If I were to speak to the king separately from that, I would probably encourage him to return the Kohinoor Diamond," said Mamdani, a descendant of Indians, hours before he meets with the British monarch in New York.
Mamdani's comments come as India has been consistently calling for the return of the diamond, which was seized during colonial times and forms part of the British Crown Jewels.
King Charles briefly met Mamdani at the 9/11 memorial later in the day. It is not clear if the diamond was mentioned in their conversation. Neither Buckingham Palace nor the mayor's office responded to Mamdani's comments, nor did they clarify what they talked about.
The Kohinoor diamond, which weighs 105.6 carats, has been in the possession of various dynasties before it was taken by the British East India Company in 1849 under the Treaty of Lahore, which required the minor king, Maharaja Duleep Singh, to give up the diamond. It is now part of Queen Elizabeth's crown at the Tower of London.
India argues that the diamond was stolen from the Sikh king and has called for its return, seeing it as a symbol of colonialism. India has earlier described the diamond as a "valued piece of art with strong roots in our nation's history".
But Britain has refused to hand over the diamond, citing the 19th-century treaty. The diamond of Indian origin has been in the custody of various rulers - from Indian emperors to the Mughals, Persian shahs, and Afghan emirs - before being forcibly taken away by the British.
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