VIJAYAWADA: Over 56,000 antiquities belonging to Andhra Pradesh have not been brought back from Telangana despite the state government had constituted three different committees to negotiate the retrieval of archives, manuscripts and archaeological items with the neighbouring State’s government in 2015. The Andhra Pradesh government too has its share of antiquities to return to Telangana.
The States had agreed to share the items in the ratio 48:52, with the major portion going to Andhra Pradesh.
Andhra Pradesh Planning Board vice-chairman and Head of Antiques Retrieval Committee C Kutumba Rao told Express there has been no progress in the retrieval procedure in the past three years.
“It hit a dead end. Though committees were formed, there have been no meetings. We have received no reply to the letters we sent. Since May this year, a few brief and unfruitful discussions were held among committee members. I don’t think there will be any movement in the negotiations in the near future.”
Andhra Pradesh Museums director Mallikarjun Rao said, “There are around 56,000 antique items belonging to Andhra Pradesh in museums across Telangana — a major portion of them are in Hyderabad. We have requested for the heritage items to be returned. There was no response (from Telangana officials) to our repeated requests until an year ago when they constituted their own committee for negotiations.”
When contacted, Telangana officials said it may take several years to complete the process and that discussions were unlikely to move forward unless the two sides sat down for talks.
“It will take years to strike a deal. The AP government has sent us two letters saying that they are going to start museums in Vizianagaram and Srikakulam and there was an immediate need for the return of antiquities but we expect direct meetings to be held. We are ready to hand over all 56,000 antiquities, but we want them to come to the table for talks first,” Ram Nayak, a member of the committee formed by the TS told Express.
“The museums in Vizianagaram and Srikakulam were proposed in 2015, but did not materialise as we could not retrieve the required number antiques to display,” said Mallikarjun Rao. Museums in Kakinada, Anantapur, Kurnool, Visakhapatnam and Amaravati are waiting for the pieces to be returned. “If they are returned, the major share of the antiques will be sent to the Bapu Museum in Vijayawada as it has been established as the museum of the capital. Amaravati museum will get the second highest share,” he said. Several members of committees of both the States have retired during the past four years, but no exchange has taken place.
The sources further told that three such gangs migrated from Hyderabad are operating in the city from a rented house in a slum at Bhavanipuram and YSR Colony in Jakkampudi. “Soon after the Rachakonda police busted the racket, the gang members operating here temporarily suspended their activities and vanished. We are in touch with the Hyderabad police regarding the issue and will nab those gangs as soon as possible. Also, we are focusing on kidnap cases to look for clues about whereabout of these gangs,” the source added.
According to official statistics, as many as 1,539 minor girls went missing in 2017 of whom 906 were traced and handed over to their parents. Similarly, police traced only 349 minor boys out of 631 who went missing.In Vijayawada alone, 234 minor girls and boys went missing but police traced only 126 of them.