U.N. Confirms Destruction of Afghan Buddhas
By ABCNEWS.com
March 12, 2001
The much-decried deed has been done. The Taliban has destroyed two
ancient giant Buddha statues carved into a cliff in Bamiyan, UNESCO has
confirmed. Photo before
Photo after
Calling it a "crime against culture," UNESCO's director general
today confirmed Afghanistan's Taliban rulers had destroyed two giant 5th-century
statues of Buddha.
"I was distressed to learn from my Special Envoy, Pierre Lafrance,
that the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas was confirmed," Koichiro
Matsuura, head of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization,
said in a statement.
"In so doing, the Taliban have committed a crime against culture.
It is abominable to witness the cold and calculated destruction of cultural
properties which were the heritage of the Afghan people, and, indeed,
of the whole of humanity."
At 175 feet, one of the statues was once the tallest standing icon
of Buddha in the world.
The world reacted with horror when the Taliban, the fundamentalist
Islamic group that controls most of Afghanistan, announced it was demolishing
the archaeological treasures in the central town of Bamiyan, deeming the
statues "un-Islamic."
A rash of desperate diplomatic measures greeted the announcements,
but to no avail.
The Taliban used explosives to reduce the soaring statues to a pile
of rubble, UNESCO confirmed.
For the past few weeks, journalists and observers have been banned
from the site, although reports from Afghan opposition sources and international
aid workers around Afghanistan said the demolition was supervised by the
Taliban's defense minister.
'Disservice' To Islam
The Taliban's strict interpretation of Islam has been decried by a
number of Islamic governments.
The 55-nation Organization of Islamic Conference sent a special team
to the southern Afghan town of Kandahar over the weekend in an attempt
to resolve the crisis.
The OIC delegation included Egypt's top cleric, Mufti Nasr Farid Wassel.
Even pleas from Pakistan, one of only three countries that formally
recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan's government, went unheeded. Pakistan
is widely believed to support the Pushtu-dominated Taliban guerrilla force.
While on a trip to the region, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan joined
the chorus of outraged reactions, calling the Taliban's actions a "disservice"
to themselves and to Islam.
Afghanistan's Unique Heritage
Speaking to reporters in Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, Annan said
the destruction of the statues could make it more difficult to raise aid
for the impoverished country.
After more than 20 years of civil war, two years of drought and a merciless
winter that has rendered millions of Afghans homeless, the hardy Afghan
spirit once celebrated by travelers and authors is at an all-time low.
The Taliban's destruction of the Bamiyan statues as well as hundreds
of other priceless artifacts stored in museums all over the country has
been seen as a deliberate move to obliterate all remnants of the Central
Asian country's pre-Islamic past.
Situated at the junction on the ancient Spice Route and Silk Road,
Afghanistan has a unique heritage influenced by Greek, Persian, Hindu,
Buddhist, Roman and Islamic cultures.
But it's a heritage that is now lost to the world.
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