Afghan heritage: time for exile? - Taliban's destruction of Buddhist monuments

UNESCO Courier, April, 2001 by Michael Barry

The same year, Afghan archaeologists told me they were worried. They said that the Rabbani and Massoud government in Kabul would soon fall, and that when Islamic extremists entered the capital, they might destroy the collections. This emergency situation prompted Najibullah Popal, the museum's curator, to suggest creating a temporary storehouse in a distant country. I consulted with diplomatic representations and organizations for the protection of Afghanistan's cultural heritage. Unfortunately, none of them took action.

Foreign invitations

Since then, several projects in the same vein have seen the light of day. Paul Bucherer-Dietschi, a Swiss collector of Afghan manuscripts, says that the Taleban as well as Rabbani asked him to house what was left of Afghanistan's heritage in his museum in Bubendorf (Basel canton). After Mullah Omar's fatwa, the Metropolitan Museum of New York offered to house the pieces that had been spared. If the move is still possible, and whatever the destination chosen, it should occur under the supervision of a supranational authority. UNESCO would be the most legitimate choice.

During the 1937 siege of Madrid, Spain's republican government asked Switzerland to give the Prado collections asylum. They were not returned to Spain until after the Second World War. The circumstances in Afghanistan are different, but the intensity of the crisis is comparable. That is why the notion that cultural heritage belongs to all humanity must replace the idea of national cultural heritage. Otherwise, we must accept that Afghanistan's pre-Islamic and Muslim art will vanish.

UNESCO KEEPS THE PRESSURE ON

From the Taleban's first threats against part of their country's heritage, UNESCO either spearheaded or relayed most of the international initiatives to "reverse this move into absurdity undertaken by the authorities in Kabul," in the words of Director-General koichior Matsuura.

UNESCO's chief dispatched a special envoy in an effort to urge the Taleban authorities to reconsider the decision to destroy their country's pre-Islamic and Buddhist cultural heritage. He also called an emergency meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference to discuss joint action. While mobilizing political and religious leaders, UNESCO also launched an international petition calling on Afghan officials to halt the destruction and resume dialogue. The confirmation of the destruction of the Bamiyan statues--depictions of Buddha that are exceptional for both their size and age--must not soften international pressure on the Afghan regime.