TAXILA: Officials of the department of archeology and museums are still clueless about the 81 rare antiquities that were mysteriously ‘stolen’ from the Taxila Museum over 19 years ago.

On Dec 16, 1999, the antiquities of the Gandhara civilisation disappeared from the museum. So far, not a single article has been recovered or any official involved in the case punished.

These pre-BC era antiquities, which were discovered by Sir John Marshall during excavations carried out between 1913 and 1935, also included a statue of the Greek god Dionysus known as the god of wine and the statue of a deity, Aphrodite, the goddess of love.

According to the official data, policemen deputed on guard duty and the museum’s security guards held each other responsible for the disappearance of the articles.

A departmental inquiry conducted after the disappearance of the articles ruled out the involvement of the museum staff or security guards in the theft and accused the police of its involvement. Even if the inquiry report was to be believed, the staff cannot be absolved of criminal negligence but so far the administration has taken no action against any official.

Four years ago, seals belonging to Indus Civilisation were stolen from the Moenjodaro Museum. In this case, the then curator of the museum was first suspended and then terminated from service.

The antiquities were stolen at night when over a dozen police personnel and museum’s security guards were on duty.

Many believe that the antiquities were stolen by some organised group in connivance with the police and the security guards.

Deputy director department of archaeology Irshad Hussain said when the incident occurred the museum was under the administrative control of the federal government and the case was pending with the federal department of archaeology.

However, Mehmoodul Hassan Shah, assistant director at the federal department of archaeology in Islamabad, told Dawn that a report was lodged by the museum authorities and the proceedings of the case in a local court were in the Taxila Museum.

He said the record of the case was not transferred to Islamabad under the 18th constitutional amendment.

Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2019