Why Taliban destroyed Buddhas of Bamiyan (Untold story)

 The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two 6th-century monumental statues of Gautama Buddha carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamyan valley of central Afghanistan. It is UNESCO World Heritage Site.

They were destroyed by the Taliban on the order of Taliban chief Mullah Omar, in March 2001. But what went wrong and why they destroyed is an untold story. It is considered as a major event that helped in paving the way for public opinion of later US invasion in Afghanistan. In mid-1998 heavy fighting for capturing Maza-i-Sharif was ongoing, Taliban managed to capture it by August 1998. Followed by capturing of Bamiyan on 13 September 98. The military commander of the Taliban Abdul Wahid vowed to destroy the statues but was interpreted by the then Taliban Governer. The case was sent to the Ameer/ Chief Mullah Omar who was heading the council of Afghanistan. In July of 1999, Mullah Mohammed Omar issued a decree not to destroy the Statues. It stated "Bamiyan is a cultural site, not a religious site, the government considers the Bamiyan statues as an example of a potential major source of income for Afghanistan from international visitors. The Taliban states that Bamiyan shall not be destroyed but protected."

In February 2001, the UN imposed fresh sanctions on Afghanistan. Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan office in New York was closed down by the United States authorities. Fresh sanctions on the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan pushed the country into a serious food crisis. In Feb 2011, dozens of European envoys along with representatives of UNESCO officials met Mullah Omar and offered money to repair & build drainage ditches around the Buddhas statues. Drainages were damaged due to heavy rain. This shocked Mullah Omar.

According to one of his interview "I thought, these callous people have no regard for thousands of living human beings -- the Afghans who are dying of hunger, but they are so concerned about non-living objects like the Buddha"

Islamic Emire of Afghanistan special envoy to US Rahmatullah Hashimi said in an interview to The Newyork Times "Islamic government made its decision in a rage after a foreign delegation offered money to preserve the ancient works while a million Afghans faced starvation."

 He said ''If we had wanted to destroy those statues, we could have done it three years ago, ''So why didn't we? In our religion, if anything is harmless, we just leave it. If money is going to statues while children are dying of malnutrition next door, then that makes it harmful, and we destroy it.'' added Rahmatullah Hashimi. Mullah Omar took the opinion of the scholars 400 religious Scholars from across Afghanistan declared that the Buddhist statues against the tenets of Islam. 

 

 Just a month after this heated debated In March 2001, the Taliban destroyed the Bamiyan Statues. 

References 

1-  "How the Buddha got his wounds", by Luke Harding Guardian 

2- "Taliban Explains Buddha Demolition" by Barbara Crossette Newyork Times 

3- Mullah Omar Interview with Mohammad Shehzad 

4- My Life with the Taliban, Abdul Salam Zaeef