| Issued Monday 26 March 2001
The World Archaeological Congress (WAC)
is deeply concerned by the recent destruction
of the ancient Buddhist statues located
in the Bamiyan Valley about 145 kilometres
west of the Afghan capital, Kabul. Their
great antiquity, and the probability that
they were the largest rock cut statues in
the World, gave them enormous value both
for humankind in general and, in particular,
for Buddhist peoples world wide.
WAC strongly condemns such destructions
of cultural property. The Congress is currently
campaigning to halt large-scale dams which
threaten to displace local populations and
destroy their heritage in the name of ‘development’.
WAC has condemned the destruction of the
mosque at Ayodhya, in northern India, by
Hindu fundamentalists and has also addressed
the destruction of mosques and churches
during the recent war in former Yugoslavia.
WAC respects the right to freedom of thought,
conscience and religion and the right to
freedom of expression as fundamental human
rights. However, the edict of 26th February
2001 overturns Mullah Mohammed Omar’s earlier
undertakings and runs counter to these rights
and indeed, to the principles on which Islam
has historically been based. Such an edict
can only serve to justify a state of affairs
in which cultural and social differences
are devalued and refused free existence.
WAC is particularly concerned that the edict
and more recent statements of the Taliban
about a ‘wrong heritage’ act as historical
manipulation of the most material and expedient
kind. It is consistent with the Taliban’s
lack of respect for historical differences
of belief and practice within Islam and
only serves to underpin further a present-day
society in which women’s work and women’s
lives are devalued by the denial of basic
human rights and the inflicting of physical
and psychological violence upon them.
WAC calls for the immediate reversal of
the edict of 26th February 2001 ordering
the destruction of all non-Islamic statues
in Afghanistan. WAC notes the recent requests
of the Taliban for international recognition
and an end to isolation and therefore, urges
all parties in Afghanistan to enter into
dialogue with all of those in the international
community who have joined hands to protect
Afghanistan’s unique and invaluable cultural
heritage. For further information please
contact:
World Archaeological Congress
International Centre for Cultural and Heritage
Studies
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
United Kingdom
Fax +44 191 222 5564 Email wac@ncl.ac.uk
|
World
Archaeological Bulletin