Farrukh Dhondy | The Kohinoor for Camilla? It’s high time it is back home…

“The magpie asked a trespassing crow Why he didn’t make a clacking sound And why his squawk was not profound And why his plumage didn’t glow Like the magpie’s white and blue? To which the unfazed crow replied My caw and my colour are my joy and pride And that’s a parable for you.” — From Kaaley Koo Aaagey Dhaklo, by Bachchoo I am certain — or inclined to think — that the distinguished parliamentarian, novelist, stand-up comic and advocate of reparations for imperial injustices Shashi Tharoor has noted that Queen Elizabeth II has decreed that the crown containing the Kohinoor diamond shall pass, when she passes, to Camilla, the wife of Prince Charles. When Afro-Americans demand reparations — not the two acres of land and a donkey they were once promised when slavery was abolished after the American Civil War — they have a case, and it is clear that all such monies could be paid by the US treasury to every black individual who had less accountable wealth than a generously specified sum. Unlike my uncertainty about Shashi’s awareness and intentions, I am more than convinced that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is au fait with the history of the diamond — and if not with its complete narrative, at least with the fact that it carries a deadly curse which comes into play when the Kohinoor is in the possession of, or belongs to, a man. Women are spared the curse of the K. As some of us know — and to those who don’t I would highly recommend the book about the Kohinoor written by the brilliant William Dalrymple and Anita Anand — the Kohinoor came into the possession of the Brits when Governor-General Lord Dalhousie stole it from the young Raja Dilip Singh.