Foreign News
Sotheby’s returns Buddha jewels to India after uproar
Auction house Sotheby’s has returned a set of sacred jewels believed to be linked to the Buddha’s remains to India, after facing mounting pressure from the Indian government and global Buddhist leaders.
The Piprahwa Gems – described by archaeologists as one of the most astonishing finds of the modern era – were due to be auctioned in Hong Kong in May. But the sale was called off following diplomatic intervention and threats of legal action from Delhi.
The Mumbai-based conglomerate Godrej Industries Group has acquired the jewels, Sotheby’s said.
Sotheby’s said it was “delighted” to facilitate the return, following two months of negotiations involving the owner, the new buyer and the Indian government. The relics will now go on permanent public display in India, the auction house said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the return on Wednesday, calling it a “proud and joyous moment” and a victory for the country’s cultural heritage. The relics, he said on X, were coming home after 127 years.
Godrej Industries Group, the buyer of the jewels, serves over 1.1 billion consumers worldwide across sectors including consumer goods, real estate, agriculture, finance, and chemicals, according to its website. Many of its products are household names in India.
“We are deeply honoured to contribute to this historic moment. The Piprahwa gems are not just artefacts – they are timeless symbols of peace, compassion, and the shared heritage of humanity,” Pirojsha Godrej, Executive Vice Chairperson of Godrej Industries Group, was quoted as saying in a government press statement.
Unearthed in 1898 by English estate manager William Claxton Peppé from a stupa in Piprahwa in northern India, near the Buddha’s birthplace, the cache included nearly 1,800 pearls, rubies, sapphires and gold sheets – buried alongside bone fragments identified by an inscribed urn as belonging to the Buddha himself.
Peppé eventually handed most of the gems, relics and reliquaries to the colonial Indian government: the bone relics went to the Buddhist King of Siam (Rama V). Five relic urns, a stone chest and most other relics were sent to the Indian Museum in Kolkata – then the Imperial Museum of Calcutta.
For over a century, the rest of the dazzling jewels remained largely hidden in a British private collection.
A set of 300 gems held by the Peppé family was publicly displayed at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in February and May. Over the past six years, the gems have appeared in major exhibitions, including The Met in 2023. The family has also launched a website to share their research.
Historians consider the relics the shared heritage of the Buddha’s Sakya clan and Buddhists worldwide. The bone fragments have since been distributed to countries like Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar, where they remain objects of veneration.
The planned sale of the Buddha relics by Sotheby’s in Hong Kong had sparked widespread ethical concerns, with scholars and Buddhist leaders questioning whether sacred objects – especially those linked to human remains – should be treated as commodities.
Critics challenged the seller’s authority to auction the relics, while defenders said a transparent sale was the fairest way to transfer custody. For many Buddhists, the jewels are inseparable from the sacred remains and meant to be venerated, not sold.
“Are the relics of the Buddha a commodity that can be treated like a work of art to be sold on the market?” Naman Ahuja, a Delhi-based art historian had told the BBC in May. “And since they aren’t, how is the seller ethically authorised to auction them?
“Since the seller is termed the ‘custodian’, I would like to ask – custodian on whose behalf? Does custodianship permit them now to sell these relics?”
Chris Peppé, great-grandson of William, had told the BBC in May that the family looked into donating the relics, but all options presented problems and an auction seemed the “fairest and most transparent way to transfer these relics to Buddhists”.
He said that in all the monasteries he had visited “no Buddhists regard these as corporeal relics”.
“A few Buddhist academics at western universities have recently offered a convoluted, fact-defying logic whereby they may be regarded as such. It’s an academic construct that is not shared by Buddhists in general who are familiar with the details of the find,” he said.
On 7 May, Sotheby’s postponed the auction of the jewels following media reports and concerns raised by the Indian government, citing the need for further discussions. A week later, it confirmed ongoing talks with India to find a mutually agreeable resolution.
This week, confirming the return of the jewels, Sotheby’s said it was “grateful to the Peppé family for having safeguarded the gems and for having worked with us – and with the Government of India – in good faith to achieve this historic outcome”.
[BBC]
At least 33 miners have died in a suspected carbon-monoxide leak at a lead and zinc mine in central Nigeria’s Plateau state, witnesses have told the BBC.
The tragedy is believed to have happened just before sunrise at a site outside the town of Wase run by the mining company Solid Unity Nigeria Ltd.
Toxic gas is believed to have built up underground in poorly ventilated tunnels, causing the workers to collapse just before the end of their night shift.
They were discovered by those reporting to work in the morning – more than 20 other miners were rescued and rushed to hospital for treatment.
Security personnel have sealed off the mine, which is about 200km (124 miles) south-east of the state capital of Jos, as investigations get under way to find out the cause of the leak.
State officials are yet to visit the area and response efforts have reportedly been slow because of security concerns – armed criminal gangs, known locally as bandits, have been active there in recent years.
Safiyanu Haruna, one of the miners who found the bodies at the start of his shift, told the BBC that some of the miners who were underground survived and were taken to a hospital in Wase for treatment.
According to Haruna, the incident occurred at around 06:30 local time (05:30 GMT) killing 37 miners.
He said the miners had just finished performing their early morning Muslim prayers and had returned underground to finish their shift.
The Plateau state government has issued a statement saying that according to its preliminary investigation 33 miners were killed in a blast at the mine – but workers at the scene say this is not the case.
“It was carbon-monoxide gas that leaked and killed them,” Haruna said.
“There was no rescue for them at the time because those who were coming for the morning shift had yet to arrive,” he said.
“It is sad to lose 37 miners who were struggling to make ends meet. We’re disturbed by the incident.”
The victims, believed to be men aged between 20 and 40, were buried shortly afterwards in accordance with local tradition, another local resident told the BBC.
The news has devastated the mainly Muslim community.
Mining disasters occur relatively frequently in Nigeria.
Less than two years ago, dozens of gold miners died after being trapped underground when a pit collapsed in neighbouring Niger state.
Officials believe that incident was caused by torrential rains which had softened the soil.
The tragedy is likely to renew concerns over safety standards in Nigeria’s mining sector.
[BBC]
More than a year after a 33-year-old woman froze to death on Austria’s highest mountain, her boyfriend goes on trial on Thursday accused of gross negligent manslaughter.
Kerstin G died of hypothermia on a mountain climbing trip to the Grossglockner that went horribly wrong. Her boyfriend is accused of leaving her unprotected and exhausted close to the summit in stormy conditions in the early hours of 19 January 2025, while he went to get help.
The trial has sparked interest and debate, not just in Austria but in mountain climbing communities far beyond its borders.
Prosecutors say that, as the more experienced climber, the man on trial was “the responsible guide for the tour” and failed to turn back or call for support in time to help his girlfriend.
Identified by Austrian media as Thomas P, he denies the charges and his lawyer, Karl Jelinek, has described the woman’s death as “a tragic accident.”
The tragedy unfolded after the couple began their climb of the 3,798m (12,460ft) Grossglockner.
Prosecutors accuse Thomas P of making mistakes from the outset and have published a list of 9 errors.
At stake is the question of when personal judgement and risk-taking become a matter of criminal liability. If the climber is found guilty it could mean “a paradigm shift for mountain sports”, says Austria’s Der Standard newspaper.
Key to the case is the charge by state prosecutors in Innsbruck that he was to be considered the “responsible guide for the tour”, as “unlike his girlfriend, he was already very experienced in high-altitude Alpine tours and had planned the tour”.
[BBC]
Six Russian and four Belarusian athletes will compete under their nations’ flags at the upcoming Winter Paralympics.
In September, the International Paralympic Committee lifted its ban on athletes from the two countries competing at the Games.
Both countries were suspended from Paralympic competition after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with Belarus a close ally of Russia. A partial ban – allowing athletes to compete as neutrals – was introduced in 2023.
However, the four individual governing bodies in charge of the six sports contested at the Paralympics decided to keep their bans in place.
In December, Russia and Belarus won an appeal against FIS – the governing body for skiing and snowboarding – at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas), permitting them to compete and accumulate ranking points.
The IPC confirmed to BBC Sport that the 10 athletes have been awarded bipartite commission invitations to compete in Para-alpine skiing, Para-cross country skiing and Para-snowboarding at the Milan-Cortina Games.
“The IPC can confirm that NPC Russia has been awarded a total of six slots: two in Para-alpine skiing (one male, one female), two in Para-cross country skiing (one male, one female), and two in Para-snowboard (both male),” it said in a statement.
“NPC Belarus has been awarded four slots in total, all in cross-country skiing (one male and three female).”
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said it was “completely the wrong decision”.
“Allowing athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete under their own flags while the brutal invasion of Ukraine continues sends a terrible message,” Nandy wrote on X.
“The International Paralympic Committee should reconsider this decision urgently.”
Bipartite commission invites are granted to individual athletes, rather than their international federation, and allow the participation of top athletes “who may not have had the opportunity to qualify through other methods due to extraordinary circumstances”, among other factors.
Ukraine has also been awarded bipartite slots in three sports.
It will mark the first time a Russian flag has been flown at a Paralympic Games since the Sochi 2014 Games, firstly due to the country’s state-sponsored doping programme, before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Russian news agency TASS reports that among the athletes set to compete are Aleksey Bugaev, a three-time Paralympic champion in alpine skiing, and cross-country skiers Ivan Golubkov and Anastasiia Bagiian – both are World Championship medallists.
All three returned to competition in January, and both Bugaev and Bagiian have since won World Cup titles.
The Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics will take place from 6-15 March.
[BBC]
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