Hyderabad: The heist at Purani Haveli’s Nizam Museum was the first such incident since the inception of the Nizam trust. Experts say, the diamond encrusted gold ‘toshe-dan’ (tiffin box) and the teacup and saucer set that were stolen, would fetch upto Rs 50 to Rs 100 crore if auctioned in the international market. This gives an insight on the magnitude of the loss. It is not just jewels on the radar to them but precious Quran and other books too. The trustees have disappeared behind a wall of silence and have made no comments. In 2003, there was the sensational theft of the religious relic ‘Alam’ (Standard) from Aza Khana-e-Zohra at Darulshifa.
It remains unrecovered till today. The theft was reported on April 11, 2003, when unidentified persons had made away with the standard made off an alloy comprising five metals, including gold and silver. The three-feet-long standard was installed in the name of Imam-e-Hussain by Nizam VII Mir Osman Ali Khan in the 1950s. Another incident was that of smuggling from Salar Jung Museum reported in 2011. Kingpin Hasan Ali and four others were booked by the Central Crime Station (CCS) for stealing and selling off exquisitely detailed artefacts from the Salarjung Museum.
One of the accused persons was an insider. The smuggled antiques including jewellery worth '20 crores was sold in the open market. In 2008, an iron spearhead, two swords and silver-veneered wooden poles went missing from the Nampally museum and were never recovered. Pointing out at several other missing objects, Mr Raunaq Yar Khan, the great-grandson of the late Nizam, VI, Nawab Mir Mahbub Ali Khan said. “The 101 dining hall at Falaknuma had a 101 dinner set made of gold spoons, plate, fork, knife and more. The whole set was smuggled out of the country, many objects scouted off and transported to England. Apart from these, traditional clothes made of gold border are missing, especially the shawls. Many paintings dated back to the Qutub Shahi era too have gone astray I have known of descents of the Nizam who themselves sold jewellery for the money.”
Mr Deepak Kant, a history enthusiast says, “Heritage is no longer a priority and gets no protection. For instance, Purani Haveli does not even get patronage, not enough visitors and revenues are low.” He adds that, “There is a failing on the part of the Nizam trust and museums, to not have in place state of the art-modern security protocol as needed.” Another heritage expert Ms. Mohd Kalam adds, “An audit should be conducted on what has gone missing and recover it.” In the wake of the recent heist, there are also doubts raised over missing parts of the central chandelier at Mecca Majid.
