Governor of Bamiyan province in Afghanistan wants to put back together Buddha statues blown up by Taleban

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

FIVE years after the Taleban blew them up, Afghan labourers are picking up the pieces of two once-towering Buddha statues, hoping they will rise again and breathe new life into the poverty-striken Bamiyan province.

While they wait for the Afghan government and the international community to decide whether to rebuild them, a £685,000 project funded by UNESCO, the United Nations' cultural organisation, is sorting out the chunks of clay and plaster - ranging from boulders of several tons to fragments the size of tennis balls - and sheltering them from the elements.

The statues were chiselled into a cliff face about quarter of a mile apart more than 1,500 years ago. They were originally painted in gold and adorned with wooden faces and ornaments. Mural paintings of Buddha images covered cave rooftops flanking the niches from which the statues were hewn. Fragments of the murals are also being collected.

Rebuilding the statues, one 174ft tall and the other 115ft, will be like assembling giant jigsaw puzzles. But Bamiyan, so poor that dozens of its people live in caves, has high hopes.

"We can change local people's lives from being dominated by poverty if we rebuild one of the statues," Habiba Surabi, the governor of Bamiyan province, said.

The province, on the ancient Silk Road that linked Europe to East Asia, was once a centre of Buddhism. Today, most of its 400,000 people are Hazaras, a largely Shiite Muslim group that was persecuted by the Taleban during its 1997-2001 rule.

http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1141822006

[iceyspots 0]

That's wonderful! They should be put back up....

[Ban Hammer 13,345]

good, they should not have been blown up to begin with. those are a world treasure.

[Veiled Princess 1]

Pack the pieces up and ship them to the nearest budhist country to be rebuilt there... not in a muslim country.

[saturn5man 0]

Pack the pieces up and ship them to the nearest budhist country to be rebuilt there... not in a muslim country.

So much for religious tolerance........

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Someone needs to do something about Babylon as well, which Saddam had 'reconstructed' with a rather liberal degree of creative license that had little to do with actual archaeology.

[Veiled Princess 1]

Pack the pieces up and ship them to the nearest budhist country to be rebuilt there... not in a muslim country.

So much for religious tolerance........

Do you tolerate my religion by allowing a sharia cousel within the govt of this country?

I didn't say destroy them... I said give them back to the budhists... it's a major offense in our religion to make statues or images of the figures in our own religion... why should the images of another religion be "tolerated" in a muslim country that calls itself being ruled by the sharia (laws of Allah)?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Pack the pieces up and ship them to the nearest budhist country to be rebuilt there... not in a muslim country.

So much for religious tolerance........

Do you tolerate my religion by allowing a sharia cousel within the govt of this country?

I didn't say destroy them... I said give them back to the budhists... it's a major offense in our religion to make statues or images of the figures in our own religion... why should the images of another religion be "tolerated" in a muslim country that calls itself being ruled by the sharia (laws of Allah)?

Because its part of the country's historical heritage?

I mean, noone in Britain objects to Stonehenge...?

[iceyspots 0]

Pack the pieces up and ship them to the nearest budhist country to be rebuilt there... not in a muslim country.

So much for religious tolerance........

Do you tolerate my religion by allowing a sharia cousel within the govt of this country?

I didn't say destroy them... I said give them back to the budhists... it's a major offense in our religion to make statues or images of the figures in our own religion... why should the images of another religion be "tolerated" in a muslim country that calls itself being ruled by the sharia (laws of Allah)?

United States government is secular. Certain religious groups are particularly fond of certain parties for the principles they stand up for, but the government remains secular.

Buddhist statues are not statues of Mohammed (pbuh) or Allah (swt) or any other muslim figure...so it shouldn't bother any muslim that they are there. These were ancient statues that were up for a very long time (way before the Taliban). Show some respect and tolerance for other religions.

The U.S. and other non-muslim countries tolerate Islam by allowing mosques to be built and Islamic organizations to exist.

If you have a problem with Shaira not existing in the U.S. why not move to a Sharia country? Like Saudi for instance. BTW - If you move to Saudi, you may as well forget about petitioning for your significant other, because if you were a Saudi woman, you would not have the right to petition for a foreign husband or fiancé.

Edited August 9, 2006 by iceyspots

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Pack the pieces up and ship them to the nearest budhist country to be rebuilt there... not in a muslim country.

So much for religious tolerance........

Do you tolerate my religion by allowing a sharia cousel within the govt of this country?

I didn't say destroy them... I said give them back to the budhists... it's a major offense in our religion to make statues or images of the figures in our own religion... why should the images of another religion be "tolerated" in a muslim country that calls itself being ruled by the sharia (laws of Allah)?

United States government is secular. Certain religious groups are particularly fond of certain parties for the principles they stand up for, but the government remains secular.

Buddhist statues are not statues of Mohammed (pbuh) or Allah (swt) or any other muslim figure...so it shouldn't bother any muslim that they are there. These were ancient statues that were up for a very long time (way before the Taliban). Show some respect and tolerance for other religions.

The U.S. and other non-muslim countries tolerate Islam by allowing mosques to be built and Islamic organizations to exist.

If you have a problem with Shaira not existing in the U.S. why not move to a Sharia country? Like Saudi for instance. BTW - If you move to Saudi, you may as well forget about petitioning for your significant other, because if you were a Saudi woman, you would not have the right to petition for a foreign husband or fiancé.

Personally I don't see who the statues were threatening - and if the Taliban weren't a bunch of ignorant, uncultured barbarians they wouldn't have either. Who else would wilfully destory a piece of their country's historical heritage - there's simply no justification for that sort of wanton vandalism.

Edited August 9, 2006 by erekose

[iceyspots 0]

Personally I don't see who the statues were threatening - and if the Taliban weren't a bunch of ignorant, uncultured barbarians they wouldn't have either. Who else would wilfully destory a piece of their country's historical heritage - there's simply no justification for that sort of wanton vandalism.

Right... they existed just fine up until Taliban rule... Seems like the Afghani people didnt mind them before that.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Personally I don't see who the statues were threatening - and if the Taliban weren't a bunch of ignorant, uncultured barbarians they wouldn't have either. Who else would wilfully destory a piece of their country's historical heritage - there's simply no justification for that sort of wanton vandalism.

Right... they existed just fine up until Taliban rule... Seems like the Afghani people didnt mind them before that.

Not to mention, the statues survived decades of sustained warfare and bombing till those idiots decided they needed something else to turn their guns on.

[iceyspots 0]

Personally I don't see who the statues were threatening - and if the Taliban weren't a bunch of ignorant, uncultured barbarians they wouldn't have either. Who else would wilfully destory a piece of their country's historical heritage - there's simply no justification for that sort of wanton vandalism.

Right... they existed just fine up until Taliban rule... Seems like the Afghani people didnt mind them before that.

Not to mention, the statues survived decades of sustained warfare and bombing till those idiots decided they needed something else to turn their guns on.

[jordanianprincess 0]

Pack the pieces up and ship them to the nearest budhist country to be rebuilt there... not in a muslim country.

So much for religious tolerance........

Do you tolerate my religion by allowing a sharia cousel within the govt of this country?

I didn't say destroy them... I said give them back to the budhists... it's a major offense in our religion to make statues or images of the figures in our own religion... why should the images of another religion be "tolerated" in a muslim country that calls itself being ruled by the sharia (laws of Allah)?

United States government is secular. Certain religious groups are particularly fond of certain parties for the principles they stand up for, but the government remains secular.

Buddhist statues are not statues of Mohammed (pbuh) or Allah (swt) or any other muslim figure...so it shouldn't bother any muslim that they are there. These were ancient statues that were up for a very long time (way before the Taliban). Show some respect and tolerance for other religions.

The U.S. and other non-muslim countries tolerate Islam by allowing mosques to be built and Islamic organizations to exist.

If you have a problem with Shaira not existing in the U.S. why not move to a Sharia country? Like Saudi for instance. BTW - If you move to Saudi, you may as well forget about petitioning for your significant other, because if you were a Saudi woman, you would not have the right to petition for a foreign husband or fiancé.

I AGREE 100000000000%

[Veiled Princess 1]

Because its part of the country's historical heritage?

I mean, noone in Britain objects to Stonehenge...?

You don't understand, I don't blame you for that, but it's a very very bad thing to make images in our religion... ever seen a statue of Allah or Muhammad in any muslim country (excluding perhaps shia country)? Muhammad isn't even nearly regarded as a god but yet it's forbidden to make images of him (or any other prophet and according to some--any image with a soul).

Also, if a county calls itself "ruling by the sharia" then that would make such statues against the law and it's a part of the religion for the laws of the land to be the sharia. In a true muslim country the constitution would be the Quran.

Edited August 9, 2006 by Veiled Princess