Britain's National Trust has indicated its openness to restitute colonial artefacts, raising hopes that Robert Clive’s treasures could be returned to India.
The Clive Museum at Powis Castle in Wales managed by the heritage conservation charity houses the UK’s largest private collection of south and east Asian artefacts amassed during the British colonisation of India.
The items include statues of Hindu gods, ivories, ornamental silver and gold, textiles, weapons and ceremonial armour.
They were brought to the UK during the two generations of the Clive family: Robert - the commander-in-chief of the East India Company who laid the foundation of British rule in India in the 18th century - and his son Edward who was the governor of Madras.
National Trust chair René Olivieri said his organisation would follow the advice of the Museums Association and the Arts Council on the future of the artefacts managed by it.
The Association has said the repatriation of museum objects could be “a powerful cultural, spiritual and symbolic act which recognises past wrongs”.
During a panel discussion at the Hay Festival, Olivieri said, “I think on the idea of restitution…we are in the process of creating our own policy in the National Trust.”
“We will be following the advice that has been given to all organisations by the Museums Association and the Arts Council,” he said.
He stated that the restitution was a “huge” issue given that the decolonisation of collections could make some people feel uncomfortable.
“Provenance needs to come into it, public access, public benefit, all of those questions,” Olivieri said at the annual literature event.
As the movement to repatriate artefacts seized during the British Raj is gaining ground, Glasgow Life Museums restituted seven objects to India in January this year.
They included an 11th-century carved stone door jamb taken from a Hindu temple in Kanpur in northern India.
Six of the objects had been stolen from temples and shrines across India during the 19th century and the seventh was bought after a theft from its owner, the Association said.
They had been gifted to Glasgow’s civic museum collections, it said after the dispatch of the objects under an agreement between Glasgow Life Museums and the Archaeological Survey of India.
The repatriation was part of a larger agreement approved by Glasgow City Council last year to return 51 items to India, the US and Nigeria.
National Trust indicates openness to restitute colonial artefacts
The Clive Museum in Wales has a collection of more than 1,000 items brought from Asia
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)