May 9th, 2025
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HONG KONG (AP) — Sotheby's, in response to the Indian government's vociferous opposition and peremptory demand for cessation, has on Wednesday deferred an auction featuring a compendium of jewels purportedly affiliated with the relics of Buddha.
The precious stones earmarked for auction, unearthed in northern India in 1898 and interred alongside the corporeal remnants of the historical Buddha within reliquaries, were dated to the period approximately spanning 240-200 BCE, according to the auction house's pronouncements.
Nevertheless, India's Ministry of Culture, through a communiqué disseminated via Facebook on Tuesday, declared it had served a judicial injunction upon Sotheby's Hong Kong, exigently requesting the forthwith cessation of the auction, alleging the event contravened "Indian statutes, international protocols, and UN accords."
In its missive to Sotheby's Hong Kong, disseminated via Facebook on Monday, it asserted the auction encompasses sacrosanct Buddhist artefacts, which embody the imprescriptible religious and cultural patrimony of both India and the ecumenical Buddhist commune; consequently, it mandated the restitution of said relics to the Indian authorities and the issuance of a public mea culpa from the auction house and Chris Peppé.
Peppé is a scion of the late British William Peppé, the excavator of the relics.
The Indian government, through the missive, issued an admonition that non-compliance would precipitate juridical proceedings and concerted public relations endeavours, specifically spotlighting the auction house's complicity "in perpetuating vestigial colonial iniquity and becoming an accessory to the morally reprehensible divestiture of sacred artefacts."
In a communiqué disseminated on Wednesday, Sotheby’s declared the deferment, recognising the pertinent concerns articulated by the Indian government and affirming the concurrence of the consignors in this decision.
"This will facilitate inter-party deliberations, and we shall apprise you of any developments as circumstances warrant," it averred.
By Wednesday, a number of Sotheby's web pages concerning the auction had become inaccessible.
The Indian Ministry of Culture, through a Facebook communiqué issued on Wednesday, expressed its profound satisfaction regarding the postponement of the auction, a development directly attributable to its decisive intervention.
May 9th, 2025
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