Sotheby's, a preeminent auction house, announced Wednesday the postponement of an auction featuring jewels purportedly associated with the relics of the Buddha, following the Indian government's intercession and demand for its cessation.

The auction house states that the gemstones scheduled for auction were discovered within a reliquary interred with physical remains attributed to the historical Buddha, unearthed in North India in 1898, with these artifacts dating back to approximately 240-200 BCE.

However, the Indian Ministry of Culture, through a Facebook post on Tuesday, announced the issuance of a legal notice to Sotheby's Hong Kong demanding an immediate cessation of the sale, asserting that the auction contravened Indian law, international norms, and United Nations conventions.

A missive dated Monday, dispatched to Sotheby's Hong Kong, was disseminated on Facebook, articulating the assertion that the auction encompasses sacred Buddhist relics constituting an indivisible religious and cultural patrimony for the Buddhist communities of India and the world, and demanding the repatriation of these artifacts to the Indian government and a public apology from the auction house and Chris Peppe.

ペッペ氏は、これらの遺物を発掘した英国人ウィリアム・ペッペ氏の直系の子孫、すなわち曾孫にあたる人物です。

The missive intimates that failure to comply will precipitate a public awareness campaign, alongside potential legal ramifications, decrying the auction house as an abettor of "colonialist injustice" and complicit in the illicit trafficking of religious artifacts.

サザビーズは、水曜日に公表した声明において、インド政府が提起した懸念を是認し、委託者との相互の諒解の下、延期が決定された旨を表明した。

This facilitates inter-stakeholder discourse, enabling the timely dissemination of granularly updated information, which I anticipate with considerable enthusiasm.

By Wednesday, a segment of Sotheby's web presence pertaining to the auction had already become unavailable, effectively precluding access.

It is with profound gratification that the Indian Ministry of Culture announced via Facebook on Wednesday the postponement of the auction, a direct consequence of their intervention.