The organised theft of the country’s artistic heritage is perhaps the biggest scandal of modern India and it goes on virtually unnoticed. It is not merely about the sheer scale of plunder but the erosion of the very soul of our civilisation.

According to experts, around 20,000 idols, sculptures and other antiquities have been stolen and sold in foreign countries since 1980. This excludes colonial-era loot. The estimated market value of these antiquities is over $10 billion, although many of these artefacts are priceless from a cultural perspective. Even iconic national monuments such as the Jain temples of Mt Abu have not been spared, many of the idols there being modern replicas.

The Gods Must Be Crazy
It is important to note that the systematic plunder of national treasures is not due to petty local thieves, but part of a well-oiled international network run by a handful of criminal organisations. They identify specific pieces, buy off officials to smuggle across borders, use well-known auction houses and even have prominent art experts on their payrolls.

Raids in New York on the warehouses of a single Madison Avenue art dealer Subhash Kapoor unearthed $107 million worth of antiquities, mostly stolen from India. He alone would have channelled billions of dollars worth of artefacts over three decades. There are several such operators in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific.

These are not small-scale deals done in shady back alleys. Many of the stolen pieces are proudly displayed in museums and galleries around the world. Meanwhile, the stealing of artefacts, especially temple sculptures, carries on unabated despite the fact that Subhash Kapoor is in jail in Chennai awaiting trail.

The good news is that the authorities have become more aware of the issue. The few high-profile investigations have made museums and private collectors in the West more careful about making purchases. Private citizen initiatives like the India Pride Project have also played an important role in tracking down stolen goods and spreading awareness. This new activism has already led to the recovery of a few idols.

On his state visit to India in September 2015, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott handed over an 11th century Chola Nataraja to Prime Minister. A month later, German Chancellor Angela Merkel handed back a 10th-century idol of Durga stolen from Kashmir two decades ago. But these are no more than a drop in the bucket. Here are a few simple things that need to be done urgently to turn the tide.

First of all, let us bring back the hundreds of idols and sculptures that have already been identified and seized by law enforcement agencies around the world. The US authorities alone have around 700 pieces stored in their vaults that they can hand over immediately. An additional 1,200 pieces are being processed. There are many artefacts similarly ready for return from Europe. Their return has been reportedly hampered for years because of delays in paperwork on the Indian side. The Indian authorities need to step up their game.

Second, the trade in stolen antiquities is a sophisticated international operation and the local police constable cannot be expected to effectively fight against it. It requires specialist knowledge that can only be expected from a dedicated team.

Gods’ Own Country
Italy has had a Carabinieri Art Squad that has so far recovered half-amillion pieces. It is now training similar teams from Greece, Cambodia and other countries. In India, the only example of a specialist team is Tamil Nadu’s Idol Squad, which has had some notable successes despite pitifully little resources. This needs to be replicated in all states and coordinated at the national level.

Unlike some other branches of criminal investigation, this field can benefit enormously from active participation of scholars, history enthusiasts and temple devotees. Indeed, several successful investigations have depended on critical inputs from private citizens.

Third, a clear framework of property rights needs to be established and enforced to make it possible for enforcement agencies to trace and claim back antiquities. This is essential for countering criminal gangs that have mastered the art of creating a paper trail for their stolen items and even getting well-known scholars to vouch for them.

A National Antiquities Register can be created that allows any owner to register items and makes it easy to look up the ownership history. It should be simple enough to allow me to register my great-grandfather’s old watch. The government can easily get this going by recording items from national monuments as well as those from museums. This will have the added benefit of forcing an audit of our museums and archaeology department warehouses.

Alot of work needs to be done to reverse the plunder of our national heritage. However, the three above measures would be a good way to start. For once, we are likely to get a lot of international support because the Islamic State (IS) uses the same criminal networks to raise money by selling antiquities from Syria and Iraq. There is not a moment to be lost.