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Ancient Buddhas Will Not Be Rebuilt – UNESCO
By Andrea Lunt
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 11, 2011 (IPS) - Afghanistan's historic Bamiyan Buddhas, destroyed by the
Taliban 10 years ago, will not be reconstructed despite claims
the 1,500-year-old statues could be repaired, the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO) said Thursday.
The decision follows a two-day meeting of scientists, Afghan
officials and donors in Paris last week.
While the expert panel was split on the possibility of
reconstruction, UNESCO has told the Afghan government it
does not support a rebuild project, citing concerns over
funding priorities and authenticity.
Replicating the colossal monuments, which once stood 55 and
38 metres tall, could cost between eight and 12 million
dollars. However, less than half of the original stone used
to build the statues remains.
"We think any reconstruction will essentially be a fake
because of lack of original material," UNESCO's assistant
director-general for culture, Francesco Bandarin, told
reporters at a special conference in New York.
"We have to think of the public, and they don't need to see
a fake, they need to see the reality. And these statues have
been destroyed. As much as we mourn that they have been
destroyed it's an historical fact," he added.
The Bamiyan Buddhas, dating from the sixth century, were
bombed in 2001 as part of the Taliban's campaign to rid
Afghanistan of pre-Islamic structures.
While much of the statues was reduced to dust, a group of
German scientists, led by Professor Erwin Emmerling of the
University of Munich, has said the smaller of the two could
be restored.
The scientists have spent years studying the Buddhas, by
analysing the hundreds of exploded fragments currently
stacked in warehouses in the Bamiyan Valley.
According to Emmerling, a reconstruction project could be
feasible using the original stone, but there would be
practical considerations. Either a small factory would have
to be built in the valley, or the 1,400 rocks weighing up to
two tonnes each would need to be transported to Germany.
The scientists' proposals, however, have not been accepted
by Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his government, which
has indicated it will not go ahead with restoration.
The decision has drawn strong criticism from Afghanistan's
Hazara community, a minority ethnic group that claims a long
association with the Bamiyan Valley and views the Buddha
statues as a source of pride.
The international advocacy organisation Hazara People said
the consensus to not rebuild was "shameful".
The group believes the decision is politically influenced
and reflects the continued discrimination aganst Hazara
peoples in Afghanistan.
"We are not surprised the Afghan government does not want to
rebuild the Bamiyan
Buddhas," a spokesperson, who did not want to be named, told
IPS. "Bamiyan Buddhas are great proof that say Hazara people
have been living in that area for thousands of years."
Hazaras have long faced violence in Afghanistan, suffering
genocide, slavery, and forced displacement under a series of
governments including the Taliban.
And while the ethnic group is predominately Muslim, their
East Asian appearance bears a resemblance to monuments such
as the Bamiyan Buddhas.
"Afghan regimes have had this policy to destroy all historic
symbols of Hazaras," the spokesperson continued. "The (19th
century) Afghan/Pashtun king Abdurrahman has destroyed the
face of Buddha in Bamiyan. It was very simple, he didn't
want Buddha's face like Hazara's face."
The group rejected the argument that there was a lack of
funding for restoration, pointing to the Karzai government's
recent willingness to financially support the reconstruction
of Pashtun poet Rahman Baba's bombed shrine in Pakistan.
"But the same government didn't pay one dollar for the
Bamiyan Buddhas," the spokesperson told IPS.
"The expenses of a few projects in Bamiyan have been covered
by some international donors. Furthermore, eight to 12
million dollars is nothing compared to billions of dollars
in aid to Afghanistan…eight to 12 million dollars is nothing
compared to a million
dollars corruption by Afghan senior officials."
While acknowledging there was desire to see the Buddhas
rebuilt, UNESCO believes priority should now be placed on
preserving the wider Bamiyan Valley, a World Heritage-listed
site containing treasured Buddhist art and monastic caves
dating to the first century.
The organisation, which has already conducted extensive
consolidation of the ancient niches where the statues once
stood, has called for construction of a central museum in
Bamiyan, in addition to smaller site museums within the
area.
"The priority now is creating the capacity to conserve what
is there and ensuring the security of the site, in order to
have it open for tourism," Bandarin said.
(END)
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