Buddha Destruction:Beginning of end for Taliban

[Guest guest]

Is Taliban paying for destruction of Buddha statues?

Ajay Kaul

New Delhi, November 4

 

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Is the Taliban regime, whose ouster appears imminent, paying for

its "sin" of destroying the centuries-old Lord Buddha statues in

Bamiyan in February this year?

Although perceptions may differ, believers feel that the incident was

the "last nail in the coffin" of the Taliban regime which had

otherwise also committed a lot of misdeeds.

 

"Our religion prescribes that one will reap what one has sowed and we

strongly believe in that. This is the classic example in that

context," said a prominent Buddhist leader from Ladakh, Lama Lobzang.

 

"Taliban are being punished for what they did in Bamiyan," he said.

 

Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Acharya Giriraj Kishore termed it

as "daivya (Godly) punishment" explaining "if you trouble God and

cause harm to him, He is not going to let you live in peace."

 

Lama Lobzang said while there was worldwide outrage over the

destruction of the statues, the Buddhist community had a "strong

feeling that the Taliban regime will pay for it."

 

The Islamic militia rulers of most of Afghanistan shocked the world

when they bombarded two massive statues of Lord Buddha in Bamiyan

province in February declaring them as "unislamic".

 

Although the whole world condemned the Taliban move and tried all

means to stop them, the Islamic militia refused to heed to the

requests and brought down the tallest statues which had been

attracting tourists from all over the world.

 

"We were sure the result for their foolish actions would be

immediate. It has taken only six months for the beginning of end of

the Taliban regime," said Lama Lobzang referring to the international

campaign launched against the regime after the September 11 terrorist

strikes in the US.

 

Stating that the Taliban won't accept the theory, he said Muslims in

Kargil could give them some lessons on this belief.

 

"Muslims in Kargil strongly believe that if they touch the Buddhist

statues, they will get troubles. Besides, they always turn to

Buddhist statues whenever they face any problems like an ailment,"

the Lama said, adding this is the main reason why Buddhist statues

are well looked after in the Muslim district of Ladakh.

 

Criticising the Taliban action in Bamiyan, he said "the statues were

innocently standing there. These were not preaching anything like

conversion which could offend the Taliban."

 

"The statues being a major tourist attraction could be a major

revenue earner for the impoverished country," he said, adding

destroying them was a "barbaric act".

 

The statues had been built by the ancestors of Afghan people like

Raja Inder Bodh.

 

(PTI)