Thursday - November 08, 2007

Islamic Militants Destroy 7th Century Buddha Carving in Swat, Pakistan

If ignorance and malice were virtues, the 12th century Islamic throwbacks in western Pakistan would be among the holiest and wisest people on earth. In September, I reported on an unsuccessful attempt by Islamic terrorists to destroy a 1400 year old rock carving of Buddha in Swat, Pakistan.

Unfortunately, the medieval rejects are nothing but persistent and they destroyed a piece of history because it offends their religious values.  Click on the picture, which is how it looked before the backward bandits blew it up, to see what it looks like now.

Here is a report on what happened from Spiegel Online:

The phenomenon is new and disconcerting. Even the Pakistani government describes it as "Talibanization:" Parts of the country are now in almost exactly the same situation as neighboring Afghanistan was when the Taliban were still in power there.

This is especially the case in the formerly peaceful Swat region, where a militant Islamist leader has even proclaimed an "emirate." And just as in Afghanistan, the Islamists' hatred is directed, in part, against the traces left by the ancient Buddhist civilization in the region.

Islamists inspired by the Taliban recently destroyed an important Buddhist sculpture 40 meters (131 feet) tall and about 1,300 years old in the north-western part of the Swat Valley, reports Vishaka N. Desai, the director of the US-based Asia Society.

In her article, which appeared in the Lebanese Daily Star newspaper on Tuesday, Buddhism expert Desai reports that the Islamists were able to act without any interference from the local administration -- in broad daylight. Their first destruction attempt left the sculpture undamaged; the second damaged the Buddha's face, shoulders and feet. The culprits had used large machines to drill shafts into the historic monument. They then filled the shafts with explosives and detonated them.

Trackposted to Rosemary's Thoughts, Allie Is Wired, Dumb Ox Daily News, High Desert Wanderer, and The Populist, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Author: The Machiavellian
Technorati Tags: Buddha Taliban Pakistan
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