Embassy Row: Hollow cavities
James Morrison
Washington Times
04/21/2006
The Afghan ambassador this week mourned the destruction
of two gigantic statues of Buddha by the Taliban regime as a
"testament to the suffering of our country" under
the theocracy that sheltered Osama bin Laden until American
troops ended their reign of terror five years ago.
The Buddhas of Bamiyan, carved out of sandstone
cliffs in central Afghanistan, stood as part of the country's
cultural heritage for 1,500 years until the Taliban used dynamite
and tanks to turn the statues, one 175 feet tall and the other
120, into rubble in March 2001. The U.S.-led coalition liberated
Afghanistan in October of that year.
"The hollow cavities where the giant Buddhas
once stood in Bamiyan are a testament to the suffering of our
country under the Taliban," Ambassador Said T. Jawad said
at a reception honoring new efforts to protect Afghanistan's
remaining archaeological treasures.
"Their absence speaks to the other voids
that exist today in Afghanistan — the ruins of buildings
and schools, the young men who were cut down too early in life,
the children who were not permitted a childhood, the land-mine
victims missing arms and legs."
Mr. Jawad denounced the black market in Afghan
antiquities, calling the theft and resale of the items "cultural
terrorism."
Omar Sultan, Afghanistan's deputy minister of
culture, called for a "culture of toleration."
"Today we need the revival of the arts,"
he said. "Our new generation has raised its heads from
the flames."
Nadia Tarzi, vice president of the Association
for the Protection of Afghan Archaeology, spoke of her father's
quest for a rumored third statue, the so-called "Sleeping
Buddha," which is thought to be as long as the Eiffel Tower
is tall, which would make it nearly 1,000 feet from end to end.
Archaeologist Zemaryali Tarzi has already discovered clay figures
and fragments of statues dating to the third century, she said.
"All is not lost," she said. "Today,
Afghanistan is picking up the pieces of 23 years of war. Join
us in filling in the gaps, healing the wounds and opening a
new window of opportunity."
