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India ready to accept Buddha statues

In a non-binding resolution, sponsored by over 100 nations and approved by consensus, the General Assembly urged the Taleban to take immediate action to prevent further destruction of the unique relics and other monuments.

Participating in the discussion on the resolution introduced by Germany, Indian Ambassador to the UN Kamalesh Sharma told the assembly that the relics could be shifted to India in the full knowledge and clear understanding that they are in the first place and above all, treasures of the Afghan people themselves.

Condemning the destruction of statues and relics, Sharma said the Taleban's decision "demonstrates, yet again, that destruction is the Taleban's only creed. It has destroyed ethnic harmony in Afghanistan; it has strangled the desire of Afghan girls and women for education; and it has ruthlessly trampled upon the human rights of Afghans".

He said despite protests, appeals and international outrage, the Taleban was bent on committing "a grievous misdeed, indeed, a sacrilege to humanity, to the civilisational and cultural inheritance of all mankind, by starting to destroy the incomparable and unique statues of Buddha at Bamiyan, celebrated over almost two millennia".

Terming the act of cultural vandalism as "deeply tragic", Sharma said, "(the fact) that it is being perversely undertaken in the name of a noble religion makes it even more reprehensible".

Declaring that the destruction of cultural treasures should be unthinkable in the 21st century, Sharma said the intent to destroy the Buddha statues should be seen not as an impulsive act but in keeping with a policy of cultural nihilism which seeks to erase Afghanistan's cultural past.

This regression into mindless medieval barbarism in Afghanistan under the Taleban, said Sharma, was precisely what India, amongst many other countries, has been cautioning the world against for long.

Even at this late stage, said Sharma, "we would like to appeal that the destruction of the incomparable manifestations of the shared cultural heritage of mankind must stop".

The UN resolution called on all members "to help, through appropriate technical measures, to safeguard the sculptures, including, if necessary, their temporary relocation or removal from public view".

Japan's Ambassador to the UN Yukio Satoh requested that the resolution be conveyed to the Taleban. UNGA spokeswoman Sue Markham said it would be forwarded immediately.

Germany's UN Ambassador Dieter Kastrup told the assembly that the February 26 edict ordering destruction of Afghan relics was an unacceptable act of religious intolerance.

Striking a somewhat discordant note, Pakistani envoy Masmasood Khalid, while urging the Taleban to rescind its edict, said it was also necessary to look at the "bigger picture" in Afghanistan -- primarily the restoration of peace and reconstruction of the country.

Meanwhile, Taleban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmad Mutawakel said that he would meet United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan in Pakistan to defend the destruction of statues.

Taleban officials had stated that almost a quarter of the two colossal Bamiyan Buddhas had been destroyed.

PTI

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