KABUL (SW) – Hundreds of Bamyan residents on Tuesday condemned the destruction of Budha statues in connection with the 20th anniversary of its demolition by the Taliban.
The demonstration in front of the site of the statues was part of the “Night with the Buddha” program, which also included various cultural and artistic programs such as book reading, painting exhibitions, and local music, theater and poetry sessions.
“We are thirsty for justice, the Taliban have committed cultural and war crimes in Bamyan, and this group must be punished in national and international legal institutions,” said Ishaq Movahed, Bamyan’s director of information and culture.
Zahra Hosseini, an educator in Bamyan, said that the international community should secure assurances from the Taliban in the peace talks that the group would not commit such crimes in future.
Bamyan residents also called for the perpetrators of the demolition of Buddha statues to be punished at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, and called on the government to restore and protect the remaining historical monuments in Bamyan. According to the cultural figures, if the government does not pay serious attention to the protection of Bamyan, eight of the province’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites will be soon lose their place on the list.
Meanwhile, the head of the Ministry of Information and Culture, Mohammad Tahir Zuhair, said on the occasion that that the case of the destruction of Buddha statues should be pursued at the international level. Zuhair made these remarks yesterday while speaking online at the event. He said the Taliban committed the most heinous cultural crime in Bamyan in past 20 years ago.
According to him, in order for this cultural crime to be remembered and not to be forgotten, the case of the destruction of the statues of Salsal and Shahmameh must be registered and followed up in the ICJ.
“Culturalists, human rights activists, lawyers and professors of Bamyan University, prepare a dossier on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the destruction of Buddha statues and submit it to the Ministry of Information and Culture, so that this cultural crime of destroying Buddha statues is registered and followed internationally.”
The head of the Ministry of Information and Culture also asked UNESCO to begin work on the Salsal statue in the early spring this year and to build an archeological site in front of the statue. Zuhair said Italy would also rebuild the cities of Ghalghala, Zahak and the Forty Towers next year.
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