Whose Koh-i-Noor?

A number of Lok Sabha members demanded on Thursday that the government bring back the Koh-i-Noor from the United Kingdom. But there was some disagreement about the origin of the diamond - whether it belonged to Punjab, Telangana or even Odisha.

Biju Janata Dal's Bhartruhari Mahtab said the diamond wasn't a gift to the British; it was forcibly taken from Duleep Singh, son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He alluded to historical records as evidence. What surprised some in the House was Mahtab's claim that Ranjit Singh had wanted to donate the diamond to the Jagannath Temple in Puri.

He even claimed that the Koh-i-Noor was the Syamantaka Mani, which Lord Krishna secured from Jambavan. In a reference to Vijay Mallya, Mahtab said the sword of Tipu Sultan was brought back from the "tainted money of a liquor baron, whose passport has recently been revoked".

Asaduddin Owaisi of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen said it shouldn't be forgotten that the diamond came from the Golconda mines that fall in his Lok Sabha constituency of Hyderabad.