British Museum Must NOT Return Artefacts. UK DISCOVERED & SAVED African, Asian and Indian History

The British Museum is reported to be having secret negotiations with foreign governments to return artefacts currently in its collection. Although forbidden from returning items by law, the Trustees of the Museum believe items can be returned if they are sent back on “long-term loan”. Historian and broadcaster Rafe Heydel-Mankoo argues this is a wrongheaded and anti-intellectual position. The BM is one of the 3 great “Encyclopaedic” museums covering global civilisation: The Louvre The Metropolitan Museum in NY The British Museum Their global collections speak to our shared humanity, placing treasures such as the Elgin Marbles or the Benin Bronzes into their wider global context. That used to be understood, he claims. Now, however, everything is reduced to ethnicity and the nation state. It is truly bizarre for these increasingly woke curators to prioritize nationalism above internationalism. The internationalist Left normally hate nationalism — at least when it relates to the West. When nationalism involves non-Western nations, however, they suddenly become keen enthusiasts. Rather than return items, Heydel-Mankoo thinks the British Museum should create a new, permanent exhibition explaining how Britain rediscovered the lost histories, civilisations and cultures of Asia & Africa. (Along with the French, etc.) For example, it was the British who rediscovered much of India’s ancient history. (It was the British who proved to the world that Buddha was in fact Indian, for instance, thus helping to restore Buddhism to India). Too little is known of Britain’s pioneering role in saving the world’s historic artefacts, teaching Asians and Africans the importance of appreciating and conserving their own history and – along with France, Germany and others – introducing these cultures to the rest of the world. Before the British arrived, Asians and Africans didn’t treat their historic buildings and artefacts with any reverence at all – not even the Taj Mahal. Many were in terrible states of disrepair and would now be lost to history had the European powers not saved and preserved them. The cultural treasures the British took home with them to study and show to the widest possible global audiences, are only a tiny fraction of what they salvaged, protected and left behind. What the British left behind they placed in museums, where the local population can view them to this day. We too often forget that most of the museums in Africa, Asia and elsewhere were founded by Europeans. They hold the vast majority of artefacts – not the British Museum.