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Fifth Anniversary of the Destruction of the Budhas of Bamian...
Condolences to Humanity and Shame on those responsible!

History repeats itself. For the Buddhas of Bamian the repetition was not once but again and again. In fact it isn't history that repeats itself but us who repeat the history.

“I may never get to understand the ideological fervor attached to those statues but what I do understand is that humanity can never ever overcome the loss of the Buddhas of Bamiyan. I understand that no structure built in the place of Buddhas of Bamiyan can ever ever replace them.”

They were among the most impressive monuments in the World, before their demolition in March 2001. No one knows exactly when they were constructed, but it was likely that they were erected sometime in the 1st or 2nd century AD. For two millennia they stood sentinel to groups of wandering monks and merchants along the famous "silk road" from Rome to China. Alongside the Buddhas, monasteries once existed here as places of sanctuary, but were abandoned in the 9th century as Islam displaced Buddhism in Afghanistan.

Buddhist monk Xuanzang, who traveled to India to bring back to China copies of the original sutras of the Buddha's teachings, bore witness to the statues in A.D. 630-31.

They were classified as the larger and smaller one (‘Salsaal’ 58 and ‘Shamama’ 38 meters, respectively). They were once covered with a mixture of mud and straw decorated from top to toe with gold, ornaments and jewellery but that had worn away long ago. The straw was covered with plaster and painted to model the rich expressions of the face, hands, and robes.

For decades cash from the trade of pieces of relic, ornaments, statues… filled pockets with millions in the markets of the immediate neighbors, East Asia and the west. Many masterpieces ended up in the showcases of the offices, homes and private collections of many bureaucrats, businessmen, smugglers, warlords, ‘ministers’ and leaders.

In March 2001 (five years ago), Television pictures showed a massive explosion which shook the ground, followed by plumes of dust and smoke. Unidentified voices could be heard crying "Allahu Akbar" (Allah is Great) and "Ma Sha'Allah" (Whatever Allah Wills).

As the smoke cleared, More...