Ancient Buddha statue destroyed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

NewsBharati    22-Jul-2020 10:42:48 AM
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Mardan (Pakistan), July 22: The trail of destruction of Buddha statue did not stop at Bamyan only. Recently another statue of Gautam Buddha, believed to be 1700-year-old, was destroyed in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa region’s Takht Bahi in Mardan district.

According to Abdus Samad Khan, head of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s archaeological department, the destruction was taped while the statue was broken last Friday and its pieces were recovered for their archaeological value assessment.

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The Buddha statue was destroyed as it was considered “un-Islamic” by the workers who found it while digging to lay the foundation of a house.

The statue belonged to the historic Gandhara civilization which developed in modern-day north-western Pakistan, more or less the Peshawar Valley and the lower valley of the Kabul and Swat Rivers.

Gandhar is the old name for Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. Gandhari, the wife of Dhritarashtra, the King of Hastinapura belonged to this region. It is highly revered by the Buddhists and is supposed to be the most important regional site of Buddhist civilization.

Soon after the statue was destroyed the videos of its destruction went viral on social media on Saturday. The videos showed a man breaking the statue with a big hammer, while the other men approved their act and recorded the destruction.

Pakistani media reported that four people involved in the incident were arrested.

In 2017, two rare and ancient Buddha statues were found in Bhamala, an archaeological site in Haripur district. The largest statue ever found on the site depicts Buddha’s death whilst the second statue was a Buddha with a double halo.

Following the incident, various news channels and social media discussed the protection of others' beliefs in the country.

Whilst the Pakistani constitution respects all religions and all faiths are sacred for their followers, many activists and leaders have come out against the destruction of the statue of Buddha. For Samad Khan, it was a "crime" and showed "disrespect for religion".

Later, police arrested a local contractor and five other people suspected of breaking antiquity regulations.

Two rare and ancient Buddha statues were unearthed in Haripur district in 2017, noted Mansha Noor, executive secretary of Caritas Pakistan in Karachi,

“Breaking this ancient statue of Lord Buddha shows ignorance of history and a lack of education,” Mansha said. “Our country is filled with minerals and hidden history. We need to educate our nation about other owners of this land.”

In ancient times, Gandhara was a trading and cultural crossroads linking India, Central Asia, and the Middle East.