Bamiyan Buddha prior to destruction (1970)
Before their conversion to Mohammedanism [Islam] they used to imbibe the learning and culture of the countries they conquered, and by assimilating the culture of other countries would try to propagate civilization. But ever since they became Mohammedans, they have only the instinct of war left in them; they have not got the least vestige of learning and culture; on the contrary, the countries that come under their sway gradually have their civilization extinguished. In many places of modern Afghanistan and Kandhar etc., there yet exist wonderful Stupas, monasteries, temples and gigantic statues built by their Buddhist ancestors. As a result of Turkish admixture and their conversion to Mohammedanism, those temples etc. are almost in ruins, and the present Afghans and allied races have grown so uncivilized and illiterate that, far from imitating those ancient works of architecture, they believe them to be the creation of super-natural spirits like the Jinn. - Swami Vivekananda
Pakistan's Daily Times references an interview of a local Afghan who said that the Bamiyan Buddhas were destroyed with the assistance of Saudi and Pakistani engineers. (found via LGF)
Taliban minister of information Qudratullah Jamal said in a statement later, “The destruction work is not as easy as people would think. You can’t knock down the statues by dynamite or shelling as both of them have been carved in a cliff. They are firmly attached to the mountain.”
Note that Muslim leaders stated that by destroying the statues, the Taliban was hurting the image of Islam, not that it was wrong to destroy the statues. Iconoclasm has a long history in Islam, beginning with the prophet's destruction of the 360 idols in the Ka'aba.
Scalable map showing Bamiyan, Afghanistan
Categories: Afghanistan, Bamiyan
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