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Kathmandu Tuesday May 08, 2001 Baishakh 25, 2058.
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Indian govt award for ‘stolen’
Nepali artwork
By Ameet Dhakal
KATHMANDU, May 7 - The Indian government is awarding a Sikkimese man with a national
award for a statue of Buddha crafted by a Nepali craftsman despite claims and proof
produced by
the artist.
Munindra Shakya, who crafted the statue, came across this shocking news after his friend
from
Sikkim sent him a local newspaper that covered the selection of the Sikkimese for the
Indian
National Award along with the picture of the award-winning idol.
"My friend had seen the idol during his last visit to Nepal, thus he sent the
newspaper suspecting
that my work could have been stolen," he said.
Last month marked the beginning of a dispute with the Indian authorities for Shakya.
Indian
Ministry for Textiles, which oversees the handicrafts promotion, selected Babu Kaji Sakya
(not
Shakya), an Indian national from Sikkim, to win Indian National Award for a silver idol of
Lord
Buddha apparently produced by Munendra.
Shakya has already lodged formal protest in India against the nomination of his artwork in
the
name of an Indian citizen. During his meeting with Tino Joshi, Development Commissioner
Handicrafts, Ministry of Textiles, India and other officials, he requested to de-list the
name of the
Indian national from the award-winning list. His challenge to the Indian authority was
simple: " I
would give up my claim if Babu Kaji Sakya explained all the components (chemicals, metals
and
alloys) used in the idol." Shakya even produced another piece of the idol in front of
the Indian
authorities to convince them.
"Indian authorities seemed convinced that the idol selected for the award was mine
but they said
that it was too large a problem and was too late for any action since the name had already
been
forwarded to the Indian President," said Shakya.
Shakya said that he had sold few pieces of the idols in India during trade fairs in 1995
and 1996.
" This idol could be one of them."
Upon Shakya’s request, Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also forwarded the case to the
concerned
Indian authorities. " Yes, we have forwarded Shakya’s claim but we are yet to
receive any official
reply," said Gyan Chandra Acharya, Spokesperson at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
As things stand now, Indian officials are unlikely to retract the forwarded name. "
In such case I
will sue the concerned authorities in court," said Shakya.
The craftswork of Munindra, which is named as " Life Story Carving Lord Buddha"
is in itself a
unique artwork. The eight inches long silver idol depicts eight different stories
associated with the
lives of Buddha. " In fact this small idol depicts a big volume of epic on the life
of Buddha," said
Shakya.
Shakya’s innovative idea of depicting stories of Buddha into one idol has to do with
his long
engagement with Buddhist study. He was in Burma and Thailand to study Buddhism for over 10
years before becoming a monk, which he gave up in early 1990s to join his family business.
His family is engaged in metal artworks for generations. His father late Lila Ratna Shakya
was among the renowned craftsmen of Nepal. Late King Mahendra had offered late
Shakya’s craftswork depicting Nyapola, famous five-storey pagoda-styled temple in
Bhaktapur and idols of Ashoka Maharaja and Chandra Gupta Mourya riding on elephants, to
former Indian Prime Minister late Jawahar Lal Nehru as souvenirs during his second visit
to Nepal. The artworks of late Shakya are still preserved in Jawahar Lal Nehru museum in
Delhi.
May be India wanted to express "gratitude" to my late father by awarding a
person who has
stolen his son’s artworks, says Shakya. But no hard feelings. "The idols of
Ashoka and Chandra
Gupta are currently missing from the Nehru museum (But the two elephants on which the
idols
rode on still remain in the museum). I am still willing to produce the idols if India
wants," said
Shakya. Will the Indian authorities appreciate this goodwill?
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