The Loot

On today’s episode of Imperial Receipts with Shashi Tharoor, ‘The Loot’, Dr. Tharoor and RT’s Runjhun Sharma examine what was taken from India by the British Crown. At the center of this discussion is the Kohinoor – the most famous treasure looted from India. The hosts discuss whether returning the diamond would offer any sense of closure for the nation. Dr. Tharoor argues that the Kohinoor is not just a diamond, but more of a symbol of the artifacts and cultural treasures taken to Britain as trophies of empire. Even the very word ‘loot’ was borrowed from Hindi by the British – not just into their dictionaries but into their habits, he says. The hosts underline that modern Britain is in many ways the product of empire – a global standing it could not have achieved without exploiting its colonies. And beyond physical artifacts, Shashi Tharoor states that the British Crown robbed India of something even deeper – its self-respect and dignity.