Destruction of the Bamian Buddhas

» oldjock39 - The Bamian Buddha Flap

When Taliban is dislodged the governments and privileged of this world will rush and fuss and spend their millions reconstructing the statuary and no doubt building a yuppie hotel at the venue for future air conditioned busloads of yuppie tourists to click and cluck over.

If trying to figure out what should be the right party line for Buddhists on the destruction of the Bamin Buddhas is a priority, then I suggest
that attention is misdirected. Preferred would be awareness of the self that feels compelled to construct a right opinion for any given situation. Observation of the insidious functioning of the self is in my opinion more valuable than fussing at the periphery of being.

-- posted by oldjock39

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» bobgould - TALIBAN'S BLOWN-UP BUDDHAS 'ON SALE IN PAKISTAN'

Hi Folks
The Taliban seem to be capable of heaping insult upon insult. Following the destruction of the statues was the sacrifice of 100 head of cattle to atone for the delay in destroying the statues, now this. They intend to profit from the destruction.

TALIBAN'S BLOWN-UP BUDDHAS 'ON SALE IN PAKISTAN'
By Christina Lamb, Diplomatic Correspondent
The (London) Telegraph, April 1, 2001

RELICS of the Bamiyan Buddhas, the 2,000-year-old statues that were blown
up by Afghanistan's Taliban rulers last month, have gone on sale in the
Pakistani frontier town of Peshawar.

At least 10 truckloads of pieces were driven into the tribal areas between
Pakistan and Afghanistan last week and approaches are currently being made
to dealers.

Believed to be the world's tallest standing Buddhas, the 170ft and 120ft
statues were hewn into a cliff face in the Bamiyan valley in central
Afghanistan where they stood for centuries, admired by traders on the Silk
Route and tourists who could climb up through one of the statues and look
out through the eyes.

Last month, however, they were declared idolatrous by Mullah Omar, the
reclusive, one-eyed leader of the Taliban, who ordered his ministry for
the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice to destroy all statues.

The move came in an apparent response to the imposition of new United
Nations sanctions on his regime and the closure of the Taliban office in
New York. Soldiers from the hardline Islamic movement defied world opinion
and desperate pleas from the UN by blasting the statues with tank shells
and rockets.

Large parts of the colossal statues were reduced to rubble. The remainder
has now been put on sale by intermediaries for the Taliban. One of those
contacted was George Bristow, the owner of Artique in Tetbury,
Gloucestershire, a leading British dealer in Pakistani and Afghan
artefacts, who was approached by one of his regular buyers in Peshawar.

He said: "They tell me that there are many recognisable pieces and that
some can be put back together. Some pieces are very smashed but there are
also many things still complete. The Taliban blew up the biggest statues
to show the world they meant business but there were other pieces and they
are selling off the rest."

Among the complete artefacts offered to Mr Bristow was a Gandhara Buddha
of almost human height in black schist (crystalline rock) and parts of
friezes. Mr Bristow, who visited the Bamiyan Buddhas years ago and
described them as "phenomenal" has contacted the Victoria and Albert
Museum to see if it would be interested, but he believes a Japanese buyer
has already moved in.

He described having to deal in this manner as "a double-edged sword". He
said: "If you buy you're supporting an organisation which behaves in the
most extreme fashion. But on the other hand perhaps we should save these
archaeological treasures."

Traders in the bazaar in Peshawar are eager to acquire bits of the Buddhas
to sell to tourists, believing that they would be prized in the same way
as pieces of the Berlin Wall.

A spokesman for Unesco, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation, said it would frown on any museum paying the Taliban for a
relic of something they had deliberately destroyed. He said: "The Taliban
have committed a crime against culture. The last thing that should happen
is for them to be rewarded for it."

-- posted by bobgould

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» seebass - Re: TALIBAN'S BLOWN-UP BUDDHAS 'ON SALE IN PAKISTAN'

In response to message posted by bobgould:

No man can destroy the buddha
the buddha was here before man was man
and by fussing and angering over anouthers ignorance only keeps you from knowing the buddha
their is no personal glory in enlightenment
their is nothing for you
so why not let the one who is greater than you
make the judgement on these ignorant acktions
taliban is based on a week foundation
all week foundations fall
they always fail
true love never fails

-- posted by seebass

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