MEMBERS of the international Hindu community have asked the National Gallery of Australia to investigate the procurement of its Hindu art acquisitions and return them to Hindu temples where they belong if they prove to be stolen.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement issued today from Nevada, US, said devotees had been worshipping these images of Hindu deities for centuries and Australia and the world should re-examine their Hindu collections, and if indicated to be stolen, respect Hindu feelings by returning these plundered antiquities to their original homes before these were stolen for mercantile greed.

The plea follows recent media reports in the US and elsewhere that New York authorities had issued an arrest warrant for Subhash Kapoor, the long-time owner of the Madison Avenue gallery Art of the Pas and allegedly the source of acquisitions in many major international art institutions, including the NGA, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore.

Mr Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged the NGA and other museum-galleries to  undertake exhaustive examination of their Hindu art acquisitions and the related documentation, using internal and external art specialists and following a strict due diligence process when acquiring new works of Hindu art in the future.

Reports have singled out the NGA’s sculpture purchased in 2008 from Mr Kapoor, as an object of doubtful provenance.

Meantime, the director of the NGA, Ron Radford, moved to reassure the public that the gallery had indeed observed due diligence, and that to date had not been approached by police or the Indian High Commission.

The main issue being debated is the transparency of major art collections and on that count, the National Gallery of Australia, which has held seminars and symposiums on stolen art over the years, must be considered to be a solid performer.

By contrast, some years ago, the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, before the directorship of Canberran Michael Brand, (now the director of the Gallery of NSW) proved secretive over the provenance of 350 dubious objects in its collection, thus turning the spotlight of public investigation on the museum’s acquisition procedures.

Another museum caught up in the controversy is the Toledo Museum of Art, now under the directorship of former NGA director Brian Kennedy. Toledo told “The New York Times” it had received a gift of 44 terracotta antiquities from Kapoor in 2007, but the provenance of those objects is now being questioned.

As the controversy about the return of the Elgin Marbles to Greece heats up again, all eyes will be on the Kapoor case and its ramifications.