Recently, the internet was abuzz with Indians rejoicing over the return of 157 murtis and various other Indic cultural artifacts by PM Modi during his visit to the U.S. This followed on the heels of Australia returning some several months earlier. Sadly, between 1970-2012, lack of political will and political corruption led India to only 19 murtis/artifacts being recovered.
What got lost in the excitement is honoring the real life heroes at the India Pride Project who did the hard work over the prior 10 years to track down stolen art from museums around the world. This initiative was led by Sri. S. Vijay Kumar, a Singapore-based finance and shipping expert who is general manager of a leading ocean transportation company.
Learn more about the history and current fight to bring back stolen heritage objects on this wonderful interview with the podcast Bharatvaarta:
https://www.bharatvaarta.in/podcast/episode/1c64e9b1/148-bringing-back-our-gods-or-s-vijay-kumar-or-india-pride-project-or-bharatvaarta-or-culture
You can also read his about his exploits in taking down infamous Indian arts/artifacts smuggler Subhash Kapoor by reading his book "The Idol Thief" https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30700101851&cm_sp=Searchmod-_-NullResults-_-BDP
