Netherlands Returns Colonial Era Artifacts, Sri Lanka: These Objects Represent Historical And Cultural Values

The Cannon of Kandy Sri Lanka. (Source: Rijksmuseum)

JAKARTA - The Sri Lankan government thanked the Netherlands, along with the return of six historical artifacts, including a cannon, a ceremonial war and two weapons carried by colonial rule from the country more than 250 years ago.

Sri Lanka asked the Netherlands to return the artifacts after the Dutch government approved the return of historical objects in 2021.

The artifact was taken in 1765 from Kandy, the last kingdom of ancient Sri Lanka, when the Netherlands surrounded the palace, a statement from the Dutch Embassy said.

"The objects were brought illegally to the Netherlands during the colonial period, obtained by coercion or by looting," he added.

Sri Lanka thanked the Dutch government and people for returning the artifact, said Buddhasasana Minister of Religion and Culture Vidura Wickramanayake.

"There are many more who will come. Not only from the Netherlands but also from other countries such as the UK. So we have started negotiations and I hope the negotiations will produce results soon," he told reporters.

The artifact is now stored in the National Museum in Colombo, given the historical and cultural values of these objects for the people of Sri Lanka.

"These objects represent important cultural and historical values and are returned to Sri Lanka, so that the people of Sri Lanka can see them," explained International Cultural Cooperation Ambassador Dewi Van de Weerd.

"The value of returning these objects is important, because this is an effort to overcome injustice in history," he continued.

Previously, the Dutch government returned more than 300 artifacts to Indonesia earlier this year.

It is known, returning artifacts to former colony countries is an issue that has been going on for a long time and is often sensitive.

The dispute between Britain and Greece over the ownership of the Partion Statue, known as Elgin's marble, escalated last month. The two sides blame each other for canceling plans for a meeting between their two leaders.

Greece has repeatedly asked the British Museum to permanently return the 2,500-year-old statue transferred by British diplomat Lord Elgin of the Parthenon Temple in Athens in 1806, in a period when Greece was under Turkey's Ottoman rule.