ISLAMIC NATIONS UNMOVED BY DESTRUCTION OF BUDDHA STATUES IN AFGHANISTAN
By Safa Haeri
PARIS 4thMarch (IPS) As the world continue to press authorities in the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IRA) not to go ahead with their controversial decision to destroy all statues, no word is heard from Muslim nations, except Sh’ite Iran, observers noted Saturday.
By late Saturday, it was not certain whether the Taleban had carried out the destruction of statues, including two Buddhas in standing position carved in the mountains surrounding the northern town of Bamiyan or not?
Mr. Qodratollah Jamal, the IRA’s Culture and Information minister told journalists in Kabul that most of the statues had already been destroyed, including the two giant Buddha.
But Taleban’s ambassador in Pakistan denied, saying operations on those statues have not yet started.
The decision to destroy all stones in Afghanistan was taken last Monday by Mollah Mohammad Omar, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, basing his ruling over Islamic edicts forbidding idols to be worshipped.
But while the world seemed outraged at the decision, it drew no official reaction from the world’s 56 Muslim nations with the notable exception of Sh’iate Iran and some mild condemnation from few Muslim personalities.
Pakistan, the country accused by many Afghan intellectuals to be behind the decision of Mollah Mohammad Omar, the Supreme Leader of the IRA to destroy all existing statues said it "shares" the concerns of the international community over the reported decision, a foreign office spokesman said, adding that Islamabad had contacted the Taleban in the hope of protecting these historical monuments.
However, the spokesman stopped short of condemning the decision.
The strongest and clear official condemnation, -- and so far the only one from a Muslim State – came from Iran, which supports opposition forces battling the Sunni Muslim Taleban.
"We condemn the destruction of statues of Buddha which are treasures of mankind just like the Taj Mahal or Imam (formerly Shah) Square" (in Isfahan), Iran's historic monuments organisation said in a statement sent to Agence France Presse in Tehran.
The English-language "Iran News" slammed the Taleban edict and other decrees of the Afghan regime, which "issued under the name of Islam, are in fact tarnishing the image of this sacred religion."
"Islam has never preached the destruction of objects that embody the belief and history of millions of people throughout the world", the pro-government paper said.
"Through their irrational acts, the Taleban are proving once again that they are not only against the history and culture of their own people, but they are also working hard to deny the Afghan people their future", it added.
In Egypt, mufti Sheikh Nasr Farid Wassel, expressed astonishment at the Taleban's destruction of statues, noting that the pre-Islamic statues "are only a transcription of history and have no negative impact on the faith of Muslims".
Comparing the Afghan statues to ancient Egypt's pyramids, he said their conservation was justified, "particularly because they bring economic advantages to an Islamic country through tourism."
In Malaysia, Professor Chandra Muzaffar, said the Taleban seemed to have forgotten that Muslim rulers in the past had protected the rights of other religions.
"The hostility and antagonism towards Buddhism and other religions displayed by the Taleban reveals not only its ignorance of Islam but also its arrogance and bigotry," he said.
But experts on Islamic theology said destruction of "idols" is part of the teaching of Islam. "Ebrahim Khalil was known as one of the world’s greatest breaker of idols", said one Iranian theologian, adding that if Asian faiths like Hinduism and Buddhism and their symbols were preserved, it was because the Islam that conquered these regions had embarked from Iran, where it had been impregnated with Iranian civilisation and become more tolerant.
In comparison to the silence of Muslim states, appeals to spare the Afghan relics were made by the United States, France, Germany, Thailand, Japan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Vietnam, Germany, Russia, India, the European Union, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and many personalities as well as museums and Buddhist organisations.
"Words fail me to describe adequately my feelings of consternation and powerlessness as I see the reports of the irreversible damage that is being done to Afghanistan's exceptional cultural heritage", the director-general of UNESCO Koichiro Matsuura said.
The European Union strongly urged the Taleban leadership not to implement this "deeply tragic decision", which, it said, will deprive the people of Afghanistan of its rich cultural heritage".
In a strongly worded statement, the Quai d'Orsay (French Foreign Affairs Ministry) expressed its consternation over the decision by Mullah Mohamed Omar to demolish all Buddha statues in Afghanistan and urged the Taliban to refrain from demolishing them.
As Mr. Pierre Lafrance, a seasoned French diplomat with years of experience in Tehran, Islamabad and Kabul who left Paris Saturday for Afghanistan as a special envoy from United Nations Economic, Social and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Director General, Mr. Francess Vendrell, assistant secretary-general and head of the U.N. special mission to Afghanistan, said he had warned the Taleban of a devastating reaction if they carried out their plan to destroy all the historic statues of Afghanistan.
"I conveyed to Taleban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmad Motewakkel the extremely serious concerns of the secretary-general, of the international community", Vendrell told Reuters on returning from further meetings at the Taleban's embassy in Islamabad.
He said he hoped reports emanating from Taleban officials in Kabul that they had already begun the systematic destruction -- especially of two towering Buddhas at Bamiyan considered world heritage treasures, were unfounded.
"I hope it is not true because if it is true the international reaction is going to be extremely negative", he said. "I think it would be a shocking thing to do."
Taliban sources in Kabul said mortars and cannon were being used to destroy the two giant Buddha statues in Bamiyan in central Afghanistan, defying world protests at the move.
The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP), which has strong access to Taleban officials, said residents were being cleared from near the ancient statues – which soar 38 metres (125 feet) and 53 metres (174 feet).
Mr. Lafrance said any bold action to prevent the Taleban to go ahead with their decision must come from Muslim countries, which, in his view, are the only ones that could persuade the Taleban to change their decision.
Iranian experts on Afghanistan said being rebuked and rejected by international organisations, including the United Nations, the Taleban, "advised by their Pakistan’s big brothers", are using the statues to seeking international recognition as the legal government of Afghanistan.
Despite controlling over 90 per cent of Afghanistan, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is recognised only by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The IRA is also under an international sanction for refusing to hand over Mr. Osama Bin Laden, a wealthy anti-western Saudi crusader washington has accused of bombing US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Vendrell said he suggested to Muttawakil ways to save the statues, including proposals from the Metropolitan Museum in New York and India.
"He listened very carefully to what I had to say but I got no commitment that the edict would not be implemented," he added.
The New York's "Met" has proposed to purchase the treasures.
"My offer to the Taleban is to please stop and since they find these images objectionable, rather than destroying them, we the Metropolitan, would be prepared to come with experts at our own cost and in collaboration with them take pieces that are obviously portable and preserve them in the Met", Met director Philippe de Montebello said.
Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh, speaking before parliament adopted a joint resolution condemning the destruction, said the Taleban regime's campaign marked a "regression into medieval barbarism."
"The Taleban appear bent upon committing a grave wrong, indeed a sacrilege to humanity, to the civilisation and cultural inheritance of all mankind," Singh said.
Singh said New Delhi, which does not recognise the Taleban regime, would be happy to arrange for the transfer of all the artefacts in question to India, "where they would be kept safely and preserved for all mankind." ENDS TALEBAN STATUES 4301