Lets Destroy The Bamiyan Buddhas!

F.R.Khan.

Good work on bringing into light the western hypocrisy on the issue but the points emphasized in your article are too ambigous. It would have been better if you made them more clearer. I do agree that west uses every gesture from taliban be it friendly, naive or plainly defying to its baggering against Islam and its values.

The interpretation of Islam by Taliban has several inconsistancies and reflects their mindset in grip of a self proclaimed liberator syndrome. Their rigidity makes them prone to dogmatic thinking in every sphere and prevents realization of the damage they are bringing to a relatively rational spirit of Islam.

But the Taliban are not alone to be blamed. They were nurtured by their direct patrons in Pakistan Army and indirect patrons in the CIA. To me they are just naive people falling victims of the international power game after the end of cold war. The Pakistani establishment is playing with fire as they back the militia and we are beginning to see signs of fallout in form of mushroom growth of so called Jehadis and fanatics. It is high time for us to realize that we cannot become the chess masters of the region while all our policies are dictated by halls in pentagon.

The destruction of Historical heritage is a mindless act, regardless by whom or where. If only the suffering masses of Afghans could get such press. Ever wonder why they don`t? They`re not photogenic, no five star hotels in Kabul...

That the West and it`s new Johnny came lately ``natural allies`` foot soldiers are hypocrates is not news. That a Huntintonian element is exerting itself is not news. This element is strongest in the Western press and in the West is renown for it`s liberal secural bias. Those days may soon be over, there`s a new sheriff in town. We just may get some balance. But they`re not gonna go without a fight. They know and understand, the only force in their way is Islam. You can be sure that the burning of Qurans will not make it to the editorial pages of the International Herald Tribune, The New York Times, The Washington Post or The Guardian, The Economist, The Atlantic monthly, Dissent, Challenge or Al-Ahram for that matter. This will all be coincidence, after all, they can`t be on top of everything can they? Plus, who gives a rats behind?

Make no mistake, Liberal secularist are a religion, their diety is Stateism, their creed is domination of all global systems. Their prayer is ``God is dead in the West and we will kill him in the rest of the world``. They are as closed minded and bigoted a bunch as the Present Taliban.

Be assured, the world in not as blind as it may sometimes seem, and remember ``you can`t fool all the people, all the time``.

God lives, God rules!(not necessarily political systems - But most definitely, the hearts and minds of men and women)

FRKhan - liked your write-up, but what do you mean by hoping for the sake of Islam we destroy the Taliban before they destroy Islam??? From the rest of your article, I figured you agree that the Taliban have already given Islam a bad name. On one side I hear you say the West is over-reacting, and on the other side, you think the Taliban are at fault. I might be wrong and perhaps the article was just too long for me, so lost it`s purpose with me. It`s me not you.

-zensufi-

I do not claim to know the face of Real Islam
but these guys (The Taliban) are on a mission
of some sort and along with their ``honored
guest``, are busy trying to please their creators
by making Islam look bad.
A pox on all their sponsors!

Ras

Actually, Hindus and Afghans used to get along quite well, in pre-Taliban days, and get along, but except for the Taliban. Has something to do with the Afghan character and them being secure in their identity compared to Pakistanis.

http://afghanhindu.freeservers.com/

-Arun the Infidelator

Asim Hayat,

At least murder is against the law in India. Which is more than I can say about some other places ...

Incidentally, your story`s byline was from Srinagar. In which remote village in Kashmir did this happen, I`m curious. Or is this more jihadi nonsense ?

-Arun the Infidelator

Re All

Thank you, everyone, for taking the time to respond to this article of mine. Please allow me to add a few things about the article.

One; I am personally and morally against the type of Islam as practiced by the Taliban of Agfhanistan.

Secondly; This article was penned, or typed as the case may have been, after a ``stimulating`` debate and was posted to Chowk. Hence, the typos and spelling errors in the article.

Thirdly; The destruction of the Bamiyan statutes by the Taliban is a purely political act in sheer dispair at their failure to be given a de jure status by the world. I think that the international community has pushed the Taliban so far beyond the pale of a compromise, that this act is nothing more than a desperate act of a drowning man clutching at straws.

Whether the Taliban have alienated themselves by their deeds or the world did it is an interesting question, which needs to be pondered.

All the international organizations; western or eastern, who are concerned about this issue would do well to remember that real issue, which needs to be addressed in Afghanistan, is not the statutes, but the re-creation of a civil, tolerant society in that war torn nation. Afghanistan is suffering from over 20 years of conflict in one guise or another and there is a whole generation there, which knows nothing except the art of destruction.

The sarcasm of my article aside, I think that the policy makers who begetted the Taliban for their own realpolitik interests would be well advised to re-consider their options.

Just like nature abhors a vacuum, so does politics and the Taliban are fulfilling a political vacuum in Afghanistan. Those nations, which admonish the Taliban and their supporters should also consider their own handiwork in keeping alive the conflict in Afghanistan by aiding the Northern Alliance.

There needs to a phased withdrawal of international support to the warring sides in Afghanistan and unless that happens, imposing sanctions on the Taliban will do nothing to futher the progression of a moderate internationally intergrated and accepted society in Afghanistan.

Yes; I agree with all the distractors on this board, who have pointed out the short comings of my article and I thank them. The idea of this article was to stir the proverbial hornet`s nest and have the people question my aim, in penning this article, and hopefully question their own stance on this issue.

My friends, please do not accept the official ``truth`` as handed out, but question the motives of all concerned.

Ciao!

......now that we all know that the horrid west is responsible for the taliban`s behaviour and everyone seems to be converting to mullah omar`s one-eyed sect of islam, i would like to sign up too ...............

.............where do i send my application ? how much sawab will i get ? how many statues do i have to destroy as a rite of passage ? how many houris will i get ? can i refuse the gilman ? what is the alcohol content in the heavenly nectar ? will i be able to visit my friends in hell ? do i have to wear my shalwar above the ankle ? can i use toilet paper ? do i have to have urstruly as a room-mate? do i have to read the koran ever day ? can i read any other book ? is there anything else for desert other than halwa ? will i have to suffer f.r. khan ? do i have to pray fajr every day ? can i use a tooth brush instead of maswak ? can i take a bath more than once a year? do i have to sleep in a tent with sheep? can i have a blt? can i continue my playboy subscription ? can i keep my amnesty international membership ? can i have a shia and an ahmedi as friends ? can i have a drink .... NOW!

.......... on second thought - i withdraw my application ......

I feel sorry for the amiable and peaceful Tibetans -- as if the destruction of their homeland was not enough, they are powerless to do anything about the wanton destruction of the Bamiyan statues:

http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/mar/05pic2.htm

So much for the cheap labour of mainland Indians:-

http://www.economictimes.com/today/07lead01a.htm

``THE HIGHEST salary offered in the campus placement sweepstakes has now jumped up to a whopping $225,000 (that’s well over Rs 1 crore), including benefits.

No prices for guessing which campus has got the honour? Yes, it is IIM, Ahmedabad. And the enviable offer has been made to five IIMA students by Lehman brothers, an investment bank.

``

The average Indian compensation went up by 10 per cent to 7 lakh, whereas the average foreign compensation went up by 15 per cent to a cool $92,444 (more than Rs 42 lakh). McKinsey made the highest Indian offer of Rs 12 lakh to eight students.

``

Well done Indians. 90`s was the era of Indian tech. Beware mainland Indian managers have also arrived.



``

In all the examples that the author gave, of various countries (India, Pak, S Arabia, France etc), once may concede that not enough is being done to protect their heritage sites. At best, they can be accused of benign neglect. But that is quite different from wanton destruction of heritage sites, that too with official sanction, as is the case with Bamiyan.

The two are therefore cannot be equated. It is not just an issue of political correctness.

In response to Ferozk (Reply # 43)
Dear Feroz:

Your statement: ``My friends, please do not accept the official ``truth`` as handed out, but question the motives of all concerned.``

My reply: I fully agree (based upon my understanding of the global/national politics).

Sincerely, Bilal Ahmad

Ferozk,

Throughout the article and subsequent replies you refer to ``statutes``. I presume you are actually talking about ``statues``. A ``statute`` happens to be a law.

Take care

One of the most illogical and full of gramatical mistakes article I read in years. The author started his cases with portraying as if all this ho ha about Taliban`s destruction of the Bhuddah`s statutes is a western media` hype, but at the end without a sign of blush on his face condemned Pakisatan, India and frew other Asian countries for their protest. It seems he forgot in the course of penning down this article that these are all non-western countries.

Moreover it seems that a bunch of irrelevant examples have been cited to make the case strong. Take for example India (I am a Pakistani) and the issue of Taj Mahal, what was this? These two issues are, what they say, poles apart and most of that gotta do with uncontrolable

polution and population in India unlike Taliban taking TANKS and launching a state sponsered attack on a historic site. The example of even BABRI MASJID isn`t releveant as it wasn`t state controled (at least not officially!!) attack on the Masjid. Similarly the examples of Pakistan, Germany, Japan and bla bla bla were all not only irrelevant rather speak of the fact that writer does not have a grip on the topic he is writing on and wanna put these ideas for a long time and found this incident as an excuse to express his opinon.

I think the most important thing in this era is the ability to live in a diverse culture and to accept the communities with differences and thus flurish. Whatever estern countries did where ever does not warrant Taleban or for that matter any one to demolish any one`s sacred places or any historic monument. If go by author`s logic does that mean that Hinhus in India should take their positions against all the Mosques in India in response to the lootings of Mahmood Ghaznavi, Babar, Lohdi, Khliji and many others. We can`t buy the fact that Isralies should demolish Bat-ul-Muqadas for muslim`s conquering of their land thousands of years ago.

A view from,

FirstSlip

Re: spout

``Could you send this to the editor at the New York Times. I`d like to see if that biased newspaper would publish such a mind opening article. I doubt it.``

Whoaahahahahah.....this is a classic Pakistani revisionist defense. Everyone in the world is biased and out to get Pakistan and Islam. The New York Times, CNN, BBC, Associated Press...you name it. (It`s probably a Jewish-Hindu conspiracy, right?) The only objective reporting is done by the Daily Dung and the Yawn.

FerozeK (#43):

I repeat that it was an excellent piece. But I notice discomfort on your part after having penned it after a flurry of ‘stimulating discussion’. You, as the author, have every right to feel remorse and even change your mind, but it does give out the wrong signals: That you lack consistency.

You have stated, “The idea of this article was to stir the proverbial hornet`s nest and

have the people question my aim, in penning this article, and hopefully question their own stance on this issue.” Now, after doing so, it does not seem right to get into pacifist mode. I, for one, feel cheated, having stuck my neck out already!

(Btw, since I am relatively new to Chowk, I did not know that F.R.Khan and you were the same person. Now I am wondering if indeed they are…:)

Farzana

Eklavya (#25):

“In a more lighthearted vein, only you could have written something that both Farzana Vershey and I can enjoy! You should come to India, throw the BJP and the Sahabuddins out, and become our prime minister :)”

Gosh, considering you said somewhere that you had stopped reading my posts, your concern about my enjoyment is touching indeed. However, don’t get carried away…if we can discover some other source of mirth (at a pinch, there is the one who you warned about me!) on home territory we will find our own leader. Just a thought: Would you really mind rooting for me? After all, did you not condescend to say in one of your posts that I was an Indian? Take your time.

F