India, unlike their counterparts in USA or Europe, are ignorant of the origin of the stones that go into making the jewellery. If you are conscious about buying ethically made or mined diamonds and ask the jeweller if he knows its history, the answer in all probability is a No. While there is worldwide consumer awareness against the sale or purchase of ‘conflict or blood diamonds’, so termed because such diamonds are mined out of Africa using slave labour or the proceeds of such a sale are used for armed conflicts or rebellion against democratically elected governments in Africa by rebel groups.
Diamonds have come to represent a ‘woman’s best friend’, a symbol of love gifted away as an engagement ring or anniversary gift. In reality, the diamond has no history of either love or affection. Most likely, it was mined out of the Dark Continent or elsewhere damaging the environment considerably and displacing the indigenous population living there. The United States, the country that popularised the concept of diamond as an engagement ring, thanks to the pioneers of diamond mining merchants DeBeers, has strict standards to check if diamonds coming into the country and sold by jewellery stores comply with the ‘golden rules’. Its neighbour Canada has one of the most stringent mining conditions for protecting the environment. Europe too has a campaign for ‘fair trade in diamonds’.
India is a glorious exception where the only accepted norm is a vulgar display of diamond jewellery by the richer classes at ostentatious weddings. India lacks any proper standards or machinery that can ensure inflow of ethically mined diamonds. It is unlikely that posh jewellery stores in Delhi, Mumbai or Chennai possess any certificate that clears a diamond of being ‘conflict free or blood free’ and thus sold to consumers.
The only universal practise of checking diamonds as being free of conflicts is the Kimberley Process of certification used by the diamond trading community in the world which set it up about two decades ago to ensure that the stones coming out of Africa were not mined using slave labour or sold by armed rebels or smugglers. Unfortunately, the Kimberley process of certification itself has not been that effective to check the flow of such diamonds into the world from Africa because every trick in the book is used by smugglers, terrorists or armed rebels to beat the only recognised system in the world to screen diamonds. That the Kimberley Process has failed miserably to check smuggling of diamonds by terrorist groups – for instance the recent audacious terrorist strike at Belgian airport to steal a cache of diamonds worth millions – and to prevent them from mixing with genuinely mined diamonds. This has caused such frustration that some founders of this movement have quit, leaving the certification process highly vulnerable and virtually in shambles.
Many NGOs have now taken the lead internationally to campaign against free flow of conflict diamonds and set up their own watchdogs to check inflow,with many even extending a helping hand to governments. The US leads the world with NGO Earthworks which prescribes golden rules for the jewellery industry that seeks to ensure respect for basic human rights outlined in international conventions and law, free, prior and informed consent of affected communities, safe working conditions and respect for workers’ rights and labour standards. It seeks to ensure that operations are not located in areas of armed or militarized conflict, that projects do not force communities off their lands, that there is no dumping of mine wastes into the ocean, rivers, lakes, or streams and that projects are not located in protected areas, fragile ecosystems or other areas of high conservation or ecological value. In addition, they are open to independent verification. One is not aware of any such campaign for buying ethically mined diamonds in India. Neither has any NGO of international standing urged the government/industry to educate the population, or educate the countless jewellery chains in the country about these issues that have troubled the minds of the genuine diamond traders globally.
International organisations campaigning for `conflict free’ diamonds suspect that consignments of illegally mined stones are periodically mixed with genuine imports of diamonds by Indian diamantaires and make their way to the cutting and polishing centres in Surat, one of the world’s busiest centres for such activity. Once they mix with genuine diamonds, there is no way of telling them apart. There are media reports of customs authorities seizing such diamonds off the Gujarat coast. But conflict diamonds are still making their way to Surat. And at the moment there is no mechanism to stop its flow.
