500-year-old Hanuman idol stolen from TN in 2012 to be repatriated to India soon: Culture minister
New Delhi, Feb 23: An idol of Lord Hanuman that was stolen a decade ago from Tamil Nadu and smuggled abroad would be repatriated to India soon, Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy said on Wednesday.
The 14th-15th century statue, belonging to the Vijayanagar period, was discovered with a private buyer in Australia recently.
"Five hundred-year-old Lord Hanuman bronze idol stolen from Tamil Nadu temple, to be repatriated back to India. The stolen idol retrieved by US Homeland Security was handed over to @HCICanberra by US CDA," the minister said in a tweet.
On Tuesday, it was returned to Indian High Commissioner Manpreet Vohra at Canberra by Australian Charg d'Affaires Michael Goldman.
According to the ASI, this idol was burgled along with Sri Devi idol and Boodevi idol from the Varadharaja Perumal temple in Vellur village in Ariyalur district on April 9, 2012.
In March 2014, this idol was auctioned to a buyer in Australia. Upon discovery and consequent investigation, it was found to be the same idol that was stolen from India.
The Tamil Nadu Idol Wing was assisted by the US Homeland Security.
Sources said the New York-based auction house, which had auctioned the idol, and the Australian buyer were unaware that the statue was stolen.
The government has retrieved around 212 artefacts, mainly statues in the last seven years.
500 year old Lord Hanuman bronze idol stolen from Tamil Nadu temple, to be repatriated back to 🇮🇳
— G Kishan Reddy (@kishanreddybjp) February 23, 2022
The stolen idol retrieved by US Homeland Security was handed over to @HCICanberra by US CDA
Under the leadership of PM Sh @narendramodi the repatriation of our heritage continues. pic.twitter.com/851HaEkVXG
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
