The Indian government is seeking to repatriate ancient gem relics linked to the Buddha’s remains after halting their sale at an auction in Hong Kong.
Sotheby’s postponed the sale of the Piprahwa gems, due on Wednesday, after the ministry of culture threatened to take legal action against the auction house in Indian and Hong Kong courts and through international bodies “for violations of cultural heritage laws”.

In a statement, the ministry said it would discuss repatriation of the gems to India with Sotheby’s and the sellers, three descendants of William Claxton Peppé, a British colonial landowner who, in 1898, excavated the gems on his estate in northern India.

In a legal notice issued to Sotheby’s on Monday, India’s ministry of culture told the auction house that the gems should be treated as the sacred body of the Buddha and it would be “participating in continued colonial exploitation” if the sale went ahead.

The letter, posted on the ministry’s social media accounts, added that Peppé’s great-grandson, Chris Peppé, a Los Angeles-based TV director and film editor, lacked the authority to sell the gem relics, which “constitute inalienable religious and cultural heritage of India and the global Buddhist community”.

There has been a growing international outcry against the sale of the gems, which many Buddhists believe are imbued with the presence of the Buddha and should be treated as corporeal remains.

The 334 gems, which were expected to sell for about HK$100m (£9.7m), include amethysts, coral, garnets, pearls, rock crystals, shells and gold, either worked into pendants, beads and other ornaments, or in their natural form.

The gems were originally buried in a dome-shaped funerary monument, called a stupa, in Piprahwa in present-day Uttar Pradesh, India, in about 240-200BC, when they were mixed with some of the cremated remains of the Buddha, who died in about 480BC.

The British crown claimed Peppé’s find under the 1878 Indian Treasure Trove Act, with the bones and ash presented to the Buddhist monarch King Chulalongkorn of Siam. Most of the 1,800 gems went to the colonial museum in Kolkata, while Peppé was permitted to retain approximately a fifth of them.

Legal experts told the Guardian that the Indian government could pursue legal action even if the gems were sold.

Sameer Jain, a managing partner at PSL advocates and solicitors, India, said the auction could well be in breach of Indian laws including the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act 1972, the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act 1958, and the Indian Treasure Trove Act 1878, as the Indian ministry of culture claimed.

Jain said: “These laws vest the ownership of relics in the government of India, whether or not they were exported during the colonialist period. Any export trade without licence is prohibited. The root question would be whether [the gems] were exported out of India legally and whether the Peppés are even owners of these items. It is arguable that the relics were given to the family only for custody.”

Noor Kadhim, an art lawyer at the legal consultancy Kadhims and an independent consultant in Fieldfisher’s art law department, said India could not sue Sotheby’s under The Hague and the Unesco conventions because it was a private auction house rather than a state museum. She added: “If they wish to use these treaties, the more viable path would be to employ them against China, as the host state for Sotheby’s Hong Kong.”

Conan Cheong, a curator and expert in south-east Asian art, welcomed Sotheby’s decision, saying: “This is a rare chance for the Peppés to finally consult with the Buddhist voices raised in protest of the sale in Thailand, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and elsewhere, as well as with the Indian government, to find a truly equitable way to share them with all humanity.”

Chris Peppé has been approached for comment. With regards to his rights and those of his two relatives to sell the gems, he previously told the Guardian: “Legally, the ownership is unchallenged.”

In a statement, Sotheby’s said: “In light of the matters raised by the government of India and with the agreement of the consignors, the auction of the Piprahwa gems of the historical Buddha, scheduled for 7 May, has been postponed. This will allow for discussions between the parties and we look forward to sharing any updates as appropriate.”

(theguardian.com)

The cardinals responsible for electing a new pope are locked inside the Sistine Chapel for the secret ballot.

Black smoke means more voting will take place tomorrow, white means there is a new pope.

Before the doors shut, cardinals took an oath in which they promised to keep secret all matters related to the vote and that whoever is elected will faithfully carry out the role.

They will now have no communication with the outside world until a new pope is elected, meaning the conclave has officially begun.

Because a new pope requires a two-thirds majority, the process can take some time, although the last two conclaves concluded by the end of day two.

To cast their vote, each cardinal casts their vote on a card that says in Latin “I elect as Supreme Pontiff” alongside the name of their chosen candidate.

They walk in order of their seniority to place their cards inside the large silver and gilded urn.

(BBC News)

India’s military says it launched “Operation Sindoor“, striking nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, after which Islamabad said it had retaliated by striking Indian military targets, including downing several warplanes.

The Indian strike and counterattack by Pakistan come amid soaring tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours after a deadly attack last month on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi blamed on Islamabad, which denied any involvement.

India’s government said in a statement early on Wednesday that its military had attacked “terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed”.

“Our actions have been focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature. No Pakistani military facilities have been targeted. India has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution,” it said.

Pakistani officials said at least eight people were killed and more than 35 injured in India’s attacks. The missiles struck locations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and the country’s eastern Punjab province.

Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said the cities of Muzaffarabad and Kotli, both in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, were among the targets of the Indian strikes.

“Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, speaking to a foreign TV network, confirmed that at least five Indian aircraft have been shot down and that a number of Indian soldiers have been taken prisoner,” Hyder said.

“Pakistan said that it would respond to any Indian attack against Pakistan, and Pakistan is now responding to that Indian attack,” he said.

“Heavy shelling has now resumed on the Line of Control that separates Pakistan-administered Kashmir from Indian-administered Kashmir,” he added.

A Pakistani military spokesman had earlier told the broadcaster Geo that at least five locations, including two mosques, had been hit. He had also said that Pakistan’s response was under way, without providing details.

Following India’s attacks, the armies of the two sides exchanged intense shelling and heavy gunfire across their frontier in disputed Kashmir in at least three places, the Reuters news agency reported, citing police and witnesses.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for maximum restraint from both sides.

“The secretary-general is very concerned about the Indian military operations across the Line of Control and international border. He calls for maximum military restraint from both countries,” the spokesperson said.

“The world cannot afford a military confrontation between India and Pakistan.”

United States President Donald Trump said the clashes were “a shame”.

“I just hope it ends very quickly,” Trump said at the White House.

The eruption of violence comes amid heightened tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours in the aftermath of an attack on tourists in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir last month.

India blamed Pakistan for the violence, in which 26 men were killed, and promised to respond. Pakistan denied that it had anything to do with the killings.

Nitasha Kaul, the director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy, said the strikes are “very concerning”.

“Once again, the worst affected are going to be the people in the region, the Kashmiris, who are caught between the competing and proprietorial and rival postures and attitudes of India and Pakistan,” Kaul told Al Jazeera.

Still, she said, the escalation is “not that surprising, because within India … there has been a domestic pressure building up for a more militarist response, given the fact that there is a particularly hyper-nationalist government in power.

“In that sense, sadly, this was a countdown to a greater escalation, and hopefully it won’t proceed much further beyond what has already happened with these strikes,” Kaul added.

(Aljazeera)