Destruction of World’s Eastern Heritage in Iraq

At least some of the looters of Iraqi heritage were nice enough to return it. Read below how some of the looters never return the loots. 20 years gone...we have it but won`t return it to you.

George Fernandes admits Army removed items from Golden Temple during Operation B
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

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AMRITSAR, MAY 24: The Central Government has for the first time acknowledged the claim of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) that the Army had taken away valuable historical books, paintings and other material during Operation Bluestar in 1984.

Defence Minister George Fernandes yesterday wrote to SGPC Secretary Gurbachan Singh Bachan saying the books and documents that had been picked up from the Golden Temple library had been handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by the Army authorities. He has asked the SGPC to take up the matter with the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension since the CBI comes under the jurisdiction of that ministry.

The SGPC has been writing to the Central Government for more than 12 years now, urging it to acknowledge that the Army had taken away important documents from the Sikh Reference Library inside the Golden Temple.

It had claimed that the library had a rich treasure of rare documents, books and manuscripts pertaining to the Sikh religion and the history and culture of Punjab besides material on the people of South-East Asia.

The SGPC had alleged that the Army had depleted the library with the ``evil design`` of depriving the Sikhs access to their glorious heritage. It had also alleged that to cover up this act, the library had been later burnt down.

In a recent letter to Fernandes, Bachan had said the Army had taken the material to the Youth Hostel in Amritsar, where `share cataloguing` was done. He stated that on September 2, 1984, on the eve of a Sikh convention, the Army stopped its cataloguing work, packed the entire material into 20 trunks and some jute gunny bags and had it carted away by the CBI.

Bachan said the SGPC had started correspondence with the Prime Minister in 1988 and some material was returned to the temple. However, he added, 90 per cent of the material continued to be with the Government and is reportedly lying at the Meerut Army Cantonment.

The SGPC had written to the Centre last in April.


Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.

Here is how history repeats itself while Baghdad Burns....

if fact -- it is not the fault of the American -- there is something in the city itself that invites and attaracts -- the Mongols and the Mongoloids...

“Mongol Hulagu Khan Chinggis`s Khan’s grandson in 1258 seized Baghdad and killed the last Abbasid caliph. Hulagu made a pyramid of the skulls of Baghdad`s scholars, religious leaders, and poets, and he deliberately destroyed what remained of Iraq`s canal headworks. The material and artistic production of centuries was swept away.

Before the fighting even began, the Abbasids were at a disadvantage.

The problem for the Abbasids was the centuries-old rift between the Sunni and Shi`ite Muslims. The caliphate was Sunni, as were most of its subjects, but there was a Shi`ite minority under Abbasid control who welcomed the Mongol invaders as a potential means of bringing down the Sunni caliph.

Many Shi`ites in Iraq joined the Mongol forces for that reason.

Additionally, the caliph`s vizier, or second-in-command, was himself Shi`ite, and it has been suggested that he might have also co-operated with the Mongols in attacking the caliphate.

The Mongols also had the support of non-Muslims under Abbasid control. Many Christians in the region saw the Mongols as saviours, hoping that by decimating Islam`s adherents, the faith itself would also be destroyed. Indeed, in return for Christian support, the Mongols - some of whom were Nestorian Christian themselves - spared Christian churches and communities from their pillaging.

Another Mongoloid from Texas invaded Baghdad in 2003 sacked the Museum of Antiquity after dropping 3000 bombs in 48 hours.... kicked the Sunnis into a Triangle -- released the Shiite from their Rectangle -- hopes the Shia will help him rule Iraq for 7 - 10 years.....little does the stupido know.....

so what else is new -- my friend Gajendre Singh ji -- great piece -- wish you had not blamed the Muslims for not saving the antiquity....

hope you have visited 5000 thousand years old -- continuously existing city -- Luxor -- on the Nile in Egypt -- I have -- and let me tell you the Muslim Egyptians being the Muslims they -- are `fanatic` -- about protecting and preserving their 5 - 7 thousand year old heritage -- that they are still digging...

I admit though -- the ones who stole the pieces were indeed the Muslims....but then again the Babri masjiod`s were not.....:-)

just kidding...

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dullabhatti -- ``looting of the Golden Temple``

This simply goes to show us that the more powerful any central government is the worse evil it can (and WILL) do. Strong central governments, with their mindless bureaucracy and lethal military machines are the greatest forces of evil on earth (in terms of magnitude, scope and impact. The greater their power the greater the evil. By this meteric, therefore, the US federal government --in its totality-- may be considered the greatest source of evil on the planet today. (Much of it done with good intentions no doubt.)

Gajendra Singh is to be commended for so meticulously recounting the gems of human heritage and for focusing on this tragedy and putting in perspective its scope. I like the implications that the author draws from the intellectual acceptance of Darwin vs Lamark. Being a former (now-recanted and reformed) Marxist I`ve always had a soft corner for the Lamarkian view. But be that as it may, we live in a Darwinian world, which brings us to the issue of survival in these turbulent times.

General Tommy Franks (former commander of US Central Command) says that a WMD attack on the US will lead to military style rule and the end of the US Constitution.


It was a bit of a surprise to see Tommy Franks concure with some of my own apprehensions and fears which some of my friends consider to be a product of my ``paranoid thinking.``

One of the big reasons behind our decision to move out of the US is the high likelihood of some future ``terrorist`` event leading to a strong reactionary upheavel in this society that could mercilessly sweep away the life, liberty and property of bystanders such as myself (and many other Chowk readers).

What happened to the museums in Iraq could, at a smaller scale, happen to the personal property of many of the Chowk readers if the situation were to become ripe. We are surely living the great Chinese curse.

...SR

Very good historical data and meticulously researched in that aspect. Yet leaves one with the feeling that it is another one of those `Blame America First` commentaries.

A well researched article and a sobering conclusion.

Ciao

all those saying this shoulnt be a ``blame america`` fest. It is the responsibility of occupying force to maintain peace and order. there were several reports on how the US condoned or even encouraged the looting. Indded, some us soldiers themselves were caught with artifacts taken from museums and palaces.

Gajendra sahab,

``...western (hence Greek) philosophy, which begins with Thales (who predicted 585 BC solar eclipse).``


Here`s something from `Early Greek Astronomy to Aristotle` by D.R. Dicks:


``The story in Herodotus(i,74,2) that Thales foretold a total solar eclipse which took place during a battle between the lydians and the persians (28 May 585 BC) cannot possibly be true as it stands, since it is out of the question that Thales could have had the astronomical competence necessary for such a prediction.

The most that can be said is that he might have heard from babylonian sources of an 18-year cycle in which both solar and lunar eclipses may repeat themselves in roughly the same positions. There is some evidence that such a cycle was in use at least for lunar phenomena in early Babylonian astronomy, and Thales may somehow have connected it with a solar eclipse, so as to give rise to the story that he predicted it.``

- - - - - -

You write truly Sir, when you say that for today`s western culture, Greece is their cultural champion...whom they will continue to prop up...come what may.

#5 by sigalph235

``...leaves one with the feeling that it is another one of those `Blame America First` commentaries. ``

In 1994 Serbs shelled and burnt the Sarajevo Museum. But culture lovers across the world were deafeningly silent. And now they have raised a hue and cry about the non-looting of Baghdad Museum. So what`s the difference between the two museums?

Simple; the occupying power in Iraq was the US. What if the looting had been carried out with (say) the Chicoms or Soviets in control? Museum `lovers` would have gone silent.

When the Chinese communists overran Tibet, their troops used ancient religious writings as firewood. Where is the outcry about that?

BOTTOMLINE:

1. Museums are important if their looting can somehow be pinned on the US.

2. 1 bull > 10 humans. -- ``For all his faults, Saddam Hussein was protective of archaeology ... 10 men from near Mosul who had cut the head off an Assyrian winged bull at Khorsabad, were executed. ``

#1 Dullabhatti -- ``looting of the Golden Temple``

That’s very sad. I had never heard this. I wonder what reason GOI has for not returning the historic documents :(.

gajendra singh: I assume you have made khalistan by now, and thus have spare time to write articles on chowk to help muslims get their jollies whining about how bad the US is (this time for letting those brave and noble iraqis steal from their museum).

ordinary muslim #9: you are quite inaccurate when you say that saddam was protective of archaeology. saddam, like all dictators, was protective first and foremost of his throne. and his strategy for this purpose was to portray himself as a modern day nebuchadnazzer, an arab hero standing up to the west. this strategy fitted well with his ego as well. and it was the same strategy that led him to litter iraqi cities and countryside with saddam idols. his was the same strategy that was followed by the iranian shah pehalavi as well - another ``secular`` leader in the muslim world. He too made a big deal about ruins of the pre-islamic iranian empire.

of course ``religious`` leaders of the muslim world are just as bad. only thing is, that instead of trying to portray themselves as idols, they destroy ancient relics in the name of relgion. as the taliban did in case of buddhist ruins.

either way you look at it, muslim ``leaders`` - secular dictators or religious fanatics - are full of shi!t.

of course that does not prevent some ``ordinary muslims`` from looking up to them. as you just did.

America is bad and a lawless country but it is not fair to blame everything on them. I don`t think that they deliberately let looters loot the museums as the first paragraph of the article suggests. The fact of the matter is that as the video game war was over and americans had killed reasonable amount of Iraqi women and children with their ``precision`` bombs they decided to set foot on Iraqi soil to receive their hard earned flower garlands from the public they just murdered in cold blood. But they had no idea what they were about to be hit with. The poor guys couldn`t even tell left from right with in hours of setting foot on Iraq. By the time looters were looting museums and hospitals they were peeing in their pants.

#12 by tahmed32 ”gajendra singh: I assume you have made khalistan by now”

Fyi, There are many communities (e.g., Rajputs and Hindu Jats) who use Singh as middle or last name. Assuming Gajendra Singh is a Sikh, how did you jump to the conclusion that he is a Khalistani?
Also, would you please allow an Indian/Hindu/Sikh also write articles related to Arab countries, if they wish, without Pakistani muslims` permission?

Pardesi: Thanks for adding to my knowledge on the non-sikh singhs. this will definitely add to my expertise Trivial Persuits in time for the world championships. This being Mr. Singh`s second article in a few days on that tired old theme concerning the evil west that third world intellectuals harp about from the comfort of their homes in the west (and in which Mr Singh presumably resides after having completed his visa application and stood in line hoping to be let in, just like brother urstruly) , that i thought i might check if khalistan was ready so he could go and live in a country that is up to his moral standards.

Tahmed32,

You should be downright ashamed podner! Inspite of watching so many hindi movies you pakis still did not know this??? OK, how many times have you seen Sholay...who was thakur baldev singh, gabbar singh ...tsk,tsk gabbar ka naam poora mitti may mila diya :)


Pardesi,

There are so many singhs in the north that I suspect its not the rajputs and jats alone with the `singh` middlename.

There are a few down south too...where people have an unabashed admiration for the northerners who sacrifised for the freedom struggle. I had a junior in college called `bhagatsingh` (one word) from Andhra!