Editorial
Missing artefacts
The adviser's assurance amounts to nothing
There is an element of the bizarre mixed with the ridiculous in the case of the missing artefacts that were bound for France. It cannot but raise our eyebrows to find that objects of great historical value were stolen from what should have been flawless security arrangements and from our very doorstep, and not in any foreign land. Given that the government's plan to send these items for display at a Paris museum had raised concerns about their safety from a section in the country, more caution should have been taken to say the least, to ensure the protection of these very valuable relics of our history and culture.
There are several things related to this case that boggle our mind. Firstly, given the security arrangement that is laid on for such things, it is most likely an inside job, by people who had, or could get, easy access to the valuable articles. Secondly, if it was not an inside job then one can say that at every step, the security measures that were supposed to have been in place were missing, either as a deliberate act or due to the complete lack of efficiency of whoever that were in charge of the security of the artefacts. We find it hard to accept this.
The reality is that relics of our cultural heritage have been always under threat from the clandestine dealers. There is indeed a very well organised gang engaged in smuggling these things out of the country. And only the other day there was a report of two such antique pieces being recovered at the Indo-Nepal border. The recent heist is a restatement of the utter lack of concern for the security of valuable historical objects on the part of the concerned agencies.
We ask whether there shouldn't have been very special arrangements in view of the fact that, one, the flight was delayed and, two, that the large containers had to be unwrapped since they could not be put through the scanning machine, to verify the contents.
The adviser responsible had "committed to bring back the items safely." Now two pieces have been stolen at the very start. The adviser's assurance gave us confidence in the safe return of the artefacts. Now that his promise has turned to mean practically nothing, we think he should take full responsibility for this betrayal of our trust.
Needless to say, the government must get to the bottom of the issue, since it has brought no small amount of shame to us by exposing an utter lack of efficiency of the concerned agencies to ensure the safe dispatch of this special and unique cargo.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments