TAXILA: Seventeen years on, the authorities still do not have a clue to what happened to the tens of priceless antiques which were stolen from the Taxila Museum in what has been termed the biggest theft from a museum in Pakistan.

On December 16, 1999 as many as 81 priceless antiquities from the Gandhara civilisation disappeared from the museum and none of the stolen antiques have been recovered yet nor has responsibility been fixed for the incident.

The antiques were discovered by Sir John Marshals during excavations carried out between the years 1913 and 1935 and included statues of the Greek god Dionysus, known as the god of wine, and a statue of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. These were the only statues of Greek gods to have been discovered in Pakistan.

The concerned authorities could not determine what happened to the stolen antiquities and the inquiry into the theft has been suspended.

According to official reports, the police officials and guards on duty at the museum still hold the other responsible for the theft.

The pieces stolen from the Taxila Museum in 1999 included the only statues of Greek gods discovered in Pakistan

A departmental inquiry which was conducted soon after the theft rules out the involvement of museum staff and the guards who were on duty, but alleges the police were involved.

Four years ago, seals from the Indus Civilisation were stolen from the Mohenjo-Daro Museum. The services of the then curator of the museum, Abdul Hameed Jatoi, were terminated. However, no action has been taken against officials of the Taxila museum yet.

The question is, how were 81 antiquities stolen during the night, when more than a dozen police and security guards were deployed at the museum. Had they all fallen asleep at the same time when the intruders had broken in?

Many believe that the pieces which are worth millions of dollars in the international market were stolen by some organised group in collusion with the police officials and security guards who were on duty that night.

That the administration did not pursue the case and inquiry and did not hold staff responsible of negligence, even if it is to be believed they were not involved in the incident, also raises questions.

Many have suggested the relevant authorities of the government should take matters into their own hands and constitute a committee of white collar crime experts to determine how the antiques were stolen, the modus operandi of the thieves, if the staff was involved and if the pieces were smuggled out of the country.

If they are still in the country, the government should make efforts to recover the antiques and Interpol should be involved if the committee thinks they have been smuggled out.

The museum is also yet to install an alarm system in the building.

Despite repeated attempts over two weeks, the director general of the Punjab Department of Archaeology was not available for comment. However, Deputy Director Irshad Khan said an inquiry was conducted by the Federal Department of Archaeology, as this was before the devolution of the department under the 18th Amendment.

However, according to sources, the case has been set aside by the provincial and federal departments of archaeology.

Published in Dawn December 31st, 2016