Nagaland CM asks Centre to stop auction of Naga human remains in U.K.

His letter to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar followed condemnation of the auction by the Forum for Naga Reconciliation

GUWAHATI

Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has sought the Centre’s intervention to stop the auction of Naga human remains scheduled to take place at an art gallery in the United Kingdom on October 9.

In a letter to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Tuesday (October 8, 2024), he expressed deep concern over the planned auction of a “19th-century horned Naga human skull” valued at £3,500-4,000 by Swan Fine Art in Oxfordshire.

The skull is part of a collection titled “The Curious Collector Sale” and is catalogued alongside antiquarian books, manuscripts, paintings, jewellery, ceramics, and furniture.

“The auctioning of human remains deeply hurts the sentiments of our people and is considered an act of dehumanisation. The remains of any deceased person belong to the community should be treated with utmost respect,” Mr. Rio wrote.

On Monday (October 7, 2024), the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) condemned the practice of treating indigenous remains as collector’s items and sought the repatriation of the Naga ancestral remains from abroad.

The forum wrote to Mr. Rio, asking him to call the U.K. High Commissioner to stop the auction.

“The auctioning of Naga ancestral human remains comes at a time when members of the FNR and the Recover, Restore and Decolonise Team have been facilitating a dialogue on the repatriation of Naga ancestral human remains from the Pitt Rivers Museum at Oxford University. The urgency to make repatriation of Naga ancestral human remains is felt more than ever before,” the FNR said.

Published - October 08, 2024 07:41 pm IST