- Faithless Vandalism
- The Times of India
Ignoring the protests and outrage voiced by many countries,
including Pakistan, the Taliban has announced that demolition of the Buddhist sculptures
at Bamiyan and elsewhere in Afghanistan has already begun. The justification for this act
of vandalism is the assertion that idols are un-Islamic. The Pakistani newspaper, Dawn,
has pointed out that these sculptures are not idols, as they are not worshipped. But as
far as the Taliban leadership is concerned, such reasoned arguments have fallen on deaf
ears. Coming as it does in the wake of UN sanctions on the Taliban regime, this outright
rejection of humanistic norms and cultural values will inevitably be interpreted as
unequivocal defiance of the international community. The Taliban appears to be bent on
validating the western thesis about the ``clash of civilisations''. These statues and
sculptures date back to a period before Afghanistan came under Islam. They are part of
Afghan heritage, and through these acts of destruction the Taliban leadership presumably
wants to wipe out the pre-Islamic history of its own people. This cultural obliteration
recalls the Nazi propagandists' decree to burn all books that did not conform to their
thought and philosophy. Consequently, the global community would be justified in treating
the Taliban as an international security problem and take a united stand against it before
it goes any further.
The world will now be watching the reactions of other Islamic
governments and the Islamic clergy. If they do not come out to condemn this outrage as
un-Islamic, and isolate the fanatics acting in the name of Islam, it would serve only to
strengthen the dogmatism of all those who subscribe to the ``clash of civilisations''
formula. In other words, this act of vandalism is likely to be detrimental to the larger
interests of the entire Islamic world unless the governments and clergy of those countries
speak out strongly against the Taliban. The Taliban has besmirched the name of Islam; all
those so-called Jehadi organisations in Pakistan who have links with the Taliban will also
come to be associated in public perception with this senseless iconoclasm. It is also a
clear warning to the Pakistani leadership and people as to what may happen in their own
country if extremist fanatical groups are not vigorously curbed. General Musharraf admits
that such fanaticism exists in Pakistan, but contends that it is restricted to a small
minority. The danger is that such fanaticism can be infectious, if it is not checked at
the very start. It should also be borne in mind that the Taliban was not a native Afghan
phenomenon; it was grown and nurtured, and continues to be sustained, in the Deeni
madrasas of Pakistan. The stance adopted by Islamabad vis-a-vis the Taliban on this issue
will be the litmus test of General Musharraf's self-proclaimed Islamic moderation.
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are the only countries which recognise
the Taliban; the current development casts a special responsibility on them. Without their
help and support the Taliban cannot sustain itself for long as Iran, the central Asian
republics, and all moderate Islamic nations have shown their disapprobation of the
iconoclasts in Kabul. The Taliban is not defending the true faith; it is grievously
undermining it.