ISLAMABAD: Religious relics and sculptures dating to the 2nd century that were recovered by authorities in 2015 were turned earlier this week to representatives of the government of Pakistan.
The repatriated items include a Gandharan frieze featuring seven figures of Buddha beside a Bodhisattva Maitreya (a friendly Buddha), a Gandharan box of religious relics and a gray schist relief of Panchika and his consort Hariti Panchika. The relics also include a Hariti Stele, a gray schist head of Buddha below a bodhi, the tree of awakening, and a Gandharan head of Buddha under the bodhi tree.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. held a repatriation ceremony for the objects that were among those recovered in New York City when search warrants were executed against a suspect in the trafficking of the illegal exportation of artifacts from countries including Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.
Vance Jr. announced the return of the antiquities, valued at approximately $250,000, during a repatriation ceremony attended by Pakistan’s Consul General Ayesha Ali and Erik Rosenblatt, a special agent of the Homeland Security Investigation office.
Ali said that her office “vigorously followed” the case of these antiquities and “months of cooperation” between the consulate and authorities in Islamabad led to the recovery and return of these assets to Pakistan. She also praised US officials for their “efforts in retrieving stolen cultural treasures of Pakistan”.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office and the US government have investigative units that work on recovering stolen antiquities and returning them to their rightful origins.
