Sri Lanka, Netherlands initiate process to repatriate second batch of colonial artefacts

2 October 2024 02:23 pm Views - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}} 8 Bookmark

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Sri Lankan Ambassador to the Netherlands Rekha Gunasekera met with the Minister of Education, Culture, and Science of the Netherlands, Eppo Bruins recently in The Hague to discuss the repatriation of the second batch of colonial artefacts, a statement from the mission said.

Ambassador Gunasekera handed over to Minister Bruins the list of colonial artefacts identified by Sri Lanka for the second phase of the repatriation. She referred to the first batch of artefacts that were repatriated and now being housed at the Colombo National Museum, and informed Minister Bruins that the collection keeps receiving many viewers, including Dutch tourists.

The Ambassador looked forward to continuing the excellent cooperation between the two countries on the return of colonial artefacts and stated that this process signifies the goodwill between Sri Lanka and the Netherlands, and the commitment to further strengthen cultural diplomacy.

Minister Bruins expressed his commitment to the policy to return colonial artefacts and stated that these objects should never have been in the Netherlands. The return of identified colonial artefacts to their rightful home is more than a symbolic gesture; it is a quintessence of the Dutch commitment to try and rectify the past and foster a future of understanding and collaboration. The Minister assured that the list would be conveyed to the Advisory Committee on the Return of Cultural Objects from Colonial Context for perusal.

It is recalled that in December 2023, the Netherlands returned six colonial artefacts to Sri Lanka including the Lewke Canon, a Golden Royal Kasthane, a Royal Silver Kasthane, a Golden Royal Knife and two Wall Guns.

Comments - 8

Ram P Wednesday, 02 October 2024 02:44 PM

Everything removed from Sri Lanka belong to us the people. Please be kind enough to handover the lot without returning them in instalments

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Facts and artifacts Wednesday, 02 October 2024 02:57 PM

Do the public even visit the Colombo museum other than school kids at times? I am sure these artifacts were cared for, much admired and appreciated in the Netherlands. They would have been a wonderful way to promote the history of Sri Lanka to the world. Forget about it now. It will be kept in a hot, undermaintained museum that's hardly has public interest.

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BanduXX Wednesday, 02 October 2024 05:30 PM

Or looted like a few years ago and the theft still not fully investigated.

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Gabriella Wednesday, 02 October 2024 05:37 PM

Many items disappeared from the museum during the Rajapaksa years. We have not forgotten.

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Decolonisation or Self Absolvement? Wednesday, 02 October 2024 05:00 PM

Colonial governments such as the British, Dutch and Portuguese cannot afford to pay back their colonies for all the slavery and destruction they caused. So they do these small gestures of 'decolonisation' as if that will right centuries of wrongdoing and suffering. Yes, we have nice things like the Dutch fort and Dutch burgher culture and food, but these are small trinkets left behind and they gained such a lot by using Sri Lanka as a port for Asian and African slaves, ecological destruction and exploitative trade.

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Gert Jan, the Netherlands Wednesday, 02 October 2024 09:50 PM

So how much compensation do you think we can get? I am very curious, because I am half Surinam, my father's ancestors were made slaves. I am only kidding, this was hundreds years ago and in Holland the cruel colonial time gets explained during history lessons. And also in musea visitors are getting information. We have to learn from the past, education and information is very important. And our King apologized.

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Snap out of it Thursday, 03 October 2024 12:32 AM

@ DECOLONISATION. Excuse me. The Dutch left 250 years ago. The Portuguese left 360 years ago the British left left 75 years ago. Thanks to the colonists Sri Lanka still has tea, rubber, coconut, railways and the English you use to make your silly comment and the western clothing and lifestyle you lead. Look at what our own have done to this country in 75 years! Mismanagement, corruption, economic chaos, worthless educational, transportation and health system. Very little progress made for a good quality of life and equal opportunities for all the citizens. If colonisation was so bad then why are people migrating to colonists countries and abandoning their native land? Isn't 75 years enough to turn things around for those who blame colonisation? So stop with the whining and complaining. Be thankful for the rich, diverse culture and history that Sri Lanka can boast of.

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Punchi Thursday, 03 October 2024 09:57 AM

During our 30 year war in the North we plundered temples, houses etc of artefacts. I have rooms full items looted from the North purchased from vendors on the pavements of Pettah and antique shops that sprung up to handle the volume of plundered items arriving to the South. My house is like a museum. Even door and windows were dismantled and shipped south. I replaced my doors and windows with solid mahogany and teak doors and windows. Our plundering from our own less fortunate peoples is OK, but European doing same is objectionable ?

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