Taliban change tune towards Afghan heritage sites
Even months before their takeover in 2021 the Taliban called for the protection of ancient artefacts in the country, sparking scepticism among observers.
"All have an obligation to robustly protect, monitor and preserve these artefacts" and sites in Afghanistan, the Taliban authorities declared in February that year.
They are "part of our country's history, identity and rich culture".
Since their return to power and decades of war ended, archaeological finds -- particularly related to Buddhism -- have proliferated, with discoveries publicised by the authorities.
In eastern Laghman province, niches carved into rocks in Gowarjan village are believed to have been storerooms dating back to the Kushan empire, which 2,000 years ago stretched from the Gobi desert to the river Ganges.
Also in Laghman, carved Brahmi inscriptions have been found, along with a hollowed out stone slab used for pounding grapes for wine.
"It is said that Afghan history goes back 5,000 years -- these ancient sites prove it; people lived here," said Mohammed Yaqoub Ayoubi, head of the provincial culture and tourism department.
"Whether they were Muslim or not, they had a kingdom here," he told AFP, adding that the Taliban authorities afford "a great deal of attention" to the preservation of these sites.
In nearby Ghazni province, the information and culture head Hamidullah Nisar echoed the sentiment.
Recently uncovered Buddhist statuettes must be "protected and passed down to future generations because they are part of our history", he said.
- 'They value them' -
These relics would have likely met a different fate during the Taliban's first rule from 1996 to 2001.
Days after Taliban founder Mullah Omar ordered the destruction of all Buddhist statues to prevent idol worship, the gigantic 1,500-year-old Buddhas of central Bamiyan province were pulverised -- the Taliban having been unmoved by international outcry.
"When they returned, people thought they would have no regard for historical sites," said Mohammed Nadir Makhawar, director of heritage preservation in Laghman, a position he held under the ousted Republic.
"But we see that they value them."
In December 2021, the Taliban reopened the Afghan National Museum, where they had once destroyed pre-Islamic artefacts.
The following year, they reached out to the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) to help preserve the historic Buddhist site of Mes Aynak, where there is also a copper mine under a development contract with a Chinese consortium.
"The request was unexpected," said Ajmal Maiwandi, the head of AKTC in Afghanistan, who even noted an "enthusiasm" from the authorities to support the conservation work.
"I think the Taliban have understood how much the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas damaged their reputation," said Valery Freland, director of the ALIPH foundation, the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage.
"They seem concerned today with preserving material heritage in all its diversity," he added.
However, experts have highlighted that the Taliban authorities do not extend the same concern to intangible heritage: music, dance, folklore and anything involving women remain a red line in their severe interpretation of Islam.
And while a historic synagogue in Herat city was preserved after the Taliban takeover, local authorities have recently resisted media attention on the site and the city's former Jewish community.
- 'Cautiously optimistic' -
Afghanistan has signed several conventions on heritage since the Taliban's first reign, with its destruction deemed a war crime in 2016.
Beyond the risk of angering the international community -- whose recognition the Taliban seek -- Afghanistan's heritage represents "a potential lever for the country's tourism and economic development", said an industry expert speaking on condition of anonymity.
However, the authorities face two major challenges, the source said, pointing to a lack of financial resources and the departure -- following their takeover -- of "the archaeological and heritage elite".
Security could hamper tourism ambitions as well; a group visiting Bamiyan was targeted in a deadly militant attack last year.
In the tiny Laghman museum, a plastic bag and newspaper serve as protection for the statuettes, one of which depicts the face of a Buddhist goddess.
It was discovered last year in the courtyard of a farm, among milling cows and goats.
Ayoubi says he needs help to properly conserve and study them to determine their precise age, a process hampered by four decades of war in Afghanistan.
Looting has also proved an ongoing challenge, with no fewer than 30 sites still being "actively pillaged", according to a 2023 study by University of Chicago researchers.
Even if preservation projects have not been disrupted, Maiwandi remains "cautiously optimistic".
"The situation in Afghanistan can change quickly," he said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
Two right-wing candidates headed to Bolivia presidential run-off
A center-right senator and a right-wing ex-president will advance to a run-off for Bolivia's presidency after the first round of elections on Sunday, marking the end of two decades of leftist rule, preliminary official results showed. Senator Rodrigo Paz was the surprise frontrunner, with 32.15 percent of the vote cast in an election dominated by a deep economic crisis, results published by the electoral commission showed. He was followed by former right-wing president Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga in second with 26.87 percent, according to results based on 92 percent of votes cast. Millionaire businessman Samuel Doria Medina, who had been tipped to finish first, trailed in third with 19.86 percent, while the main leftist candidate, Senate president Andronico Rodriguez, limped to a fourth-place finish. Doria Medina immediately threw his support behind Paz, as the leading opposition candidate. - A vote for change - Quiroga, who has vowed to overhaul Bolivia's big-state economic model if elected, hailed the outcome as a victory for democracy and for "liberty." Paz, the son of former president Jaime Paz Zamora who has campaigned as a unifier, said the election was a vote for "change" and stressed that his program was "of all, for all." Gustavo Flores-Macias a political scientist at Cornell University in the United States, said Paz's late surge showed people were "tired of the same candidates" repeatedly running for the top job. Doria Medina and Quiroga had three previous failed bids to their names. Flores-Macias also linked Paz's success to a widespread disdain in Bolivia for candidates with links to big business. The vote brings the curtain down on 20 years of socialist rule, which began in 2005 when Evo Morales, an Indigenous coca farmer, was elected president on a radical anti-capitalist platform. Bolivia enjoyed more than a decade of strong growth and Indigenous upliftment under Morales, who led the country from 2006 to 2019. But underinvestment in exploration caused gas revenues -- the country's main earner -- to implode, eroding the government's foreign currency reserves and leading to shortages of imported fuel and other basics. "The left has done us a lot of harm. I want change for the country," Miriam Escobar, a 60-year-old pensioner, told AFP after voting in La Paz. - Political 'dinosaur' - Quiroga served as vice-president under ex-dictator Hugo Banzer and then briefly as president when Banzer stepped down to fight cancer in 2001. On his fourth run for president he vowed to slash public spending, open the country to foreign investment and boost ties with the United States, which were downgraded under Morales. Some voters however have balked at his promises of a "small state" and plans to dot the Andean high plains, which contain 30 percent of the world's lithium deposits, with tax-free investment zones. Agustin Quispe, a 51-year-old miner, branded him a "dinosaur" and said he voted for Paz as a "third way" candidate, who was not tainted by association with the traditional right or the socialists. "What people are looking for now, beyond a shift from left to right, is a return to stability," Daniela Osorio Michel, a Bolivian political scientist at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies, told AFP. - Spoiled ballots - Morales, who was barred from standing for an unconstitutional fourth term, cast a long shadow over the campaign. Nearly one in five voters answered his call to spoil their ballot over his exclusion from the election, shrinking the left-wing vote. Rodriguez, the main leftist candidate, whom Morales branded a "traitor" for contesting the election was stoned while voting in Morales central Cochabamba stronghold. Morales, who has threatened mass protests if the right returns to power, had yet to react to Sunday's results.
The Australian
3 hours ago
- The Australian
Bolivian voters hope for change after 20 years of socialism
Polls closed in Bolivia's most suspenseful general election in two decades on Sunday, in which the right is tipped to win power after nearly 20 years in opposition. Ballot counting got underway after eight hours of voting for president and for both houses of parliament, held against the backdrop of a generational economic crisis. The Andean nation's ailing economy has seen annual inflation hit almost 25 percent with critical shortages of fuel and dollars, the currency in which most Bolivians keep their savings. Pre-election polls showed voters poised to swing right, 20 years after Evo Morales was elected the nation's first Indigenous president on a radical anti-capitalist platform. "The left has done us a lot of harm. I want change for the country," said Miriam Escobar, a 60-year-old pensioner, who was the first to vote at a school in southern La Paz. Center-right business tycoon Samuel Doria Medina and right-wing ex-president Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga are the favorites to succeed Morales's successor, Luis Arce, who is not seeking re-election. - 'Day that will mark history' - The main left-wing candidate, Senate leader Andronico Rodriguez, who was disavowed by his former mentor Morales, failed to make his mark on the campaign. A run-off will take place on October 19 if no candidate wins an outright majority. The two frontrunners have vowed to shake up Bolivia's big-state economic model and international alliances if elected. "This is a day that will mark the history of Bolivia," Quiroga said after voting in La Paz in a white shirt and black jacket. Doria Medina, who also voted in La Paz, expressed confidence that the country of 11.3 million could "emerge from this economic crisis peacefully, democratically." Both men want to slash public spending, open the country to foreign investment and boost ties with the United States, which were downgraded under the combative Morales, a self-described anti-capitalist who resigned from office in 2019 following mass protests over alleged election rigging. Agustin Quispe, a 51-year-old miner, branded the pair "dinosaurs" and said he would back center-right candidate Rodrigo Paz, who has campaigned on fighting corruption. - Shock therapy - Emanuel Arratia, a 31-year-old graphic designer, said he believed Bolivia needed the kind of shock therapy administered by President Javier Milei to turn around his country's inflation-wracked economy. "What people are looking for now, beyond a shift from left to right, is a return to stability," Daniela Osorio Michel, a Bolivian political scientist at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies, told AFP. Doria Medina and Quiroga, both on their fourth run for president, have touted their experience in business and politics as qualifying them for the tall task of saving Bolivia from bankruptcy. Doria Medina, a millionaire, built Bolivia's biggest skyscraper and owns the local Burger King fast food franchise. Quiroga served as vice-president under ex-dictator Hugo Banzer and then briefly as president when Banzer stepped down to fight cancer in 2001. - Morales looms large - Morales, who was barred from standing for a fourth term, has cast a long shadow over the campaign. The 65-year-old has called on his rural Indigenous supporters to spoil their ballots in protest at his exclusion. Voting in his central Cochambamba stronghold, he slammed "an election without the people," of whom he claims to be the sole representative. Several Indigenous voters told AFP they would spoil their ballots because they did not feel represented by any of the candidates. Bolivia enjoyed more than a decade of strong growth and Indigenous upliftment under Morales, who nationalized the gas sector and ploughed the proceeds into social programs that halved extreme poverty. But underinvestment in exploration has caused gas revenues to implode, falling from a peak of $6.1 billion in 2013 to $1.6 billion last year. With the country's other major resource, lithium, still underground, the government has nearly run out of the foreign exchange needed to import fuel, wheat and other key commodities. bur-cb/st
SBS Australia
2 days ago
- SBS Australia
Impact of Taliban rule on women and girls decried by advocates in Australia on anniversary
Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts . "Before 2021, we had women pilots, women in the army, women doctors, women in the parliament, and women running for the presidential elections in Afghanistan. While currently we are talking is 2025, people might think that the speed of progress for women might have multiplied, but to be really honest, it has gone to stone age. Women are deprived of work, girls are deprived of schools, of universities." That's Khalid Amiri, a former journalist for a state broadcaster in Afghanistan. He tells SBS News about the situation for women in Afghanistan today, saying it has worsened since the country's capital city of Kabul was captured by the Taliban four years ago. The United Nations says more than 78 percent of Afghan women are not in education, employment or training. In its latest report, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan says women's movements in public spaces is heavily restricted, with numerous cases of women being detained for allegedly breaching the dress code requirements. A Taliban spokesperson, Zabiullah Mujahid, told SBS Pashto, the Taliban takes a different view. "Women have now found a place for themselves that was their rightful Sharia-based right, from which they had been deprived for many years. Nowadays, they have access to it, they can easily obtain their rights, make their own decisions and determine their own destiny in life." Since seizing power in 2021, the Taliban authorities have reinstated a ban on females accessing education after sixth grade. Mr Mujahid says the Taliban is still considering ways to change the education curriculum to better align with Islamic principles and Afghan culture. "It was initially stated that this is a temporary decision and that the needs would be assessed. We want to find a way that respects our Sharia principles and also achieves consensus in society." As Afghanistan emerged from a civil war, from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban controlled most of the country, imposing their interpretation of Sharia or Islamic religious law. In 2001, it was removed from power by a US-led invasion, but retook control when US forces left 20 years later - in 2021. Ever since, it has sought international recognition. In July this year, Russia announced itself as the first country to formally recognise the Taliban government in Afghanistan. Mr Mujahid says it understands the role of diplomacy. "But when you are not recognised by anyone and the diplomatic door is closed and then they have demands, it is not effective. We value our relations with Australia. We seek good relations with this country, with the Australian nation and with the Afghans residing in Australia. Consular services should be provided responsibly to the Afghan community living in Australia." An independent UN investigator on human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, delivered a report to the UN General Assembly earlier this month in which he says the legal and judicial system are being used to oppress women and girls. He cited actions like the suspension of laws protecting women and girls, including a landmark law that criminalised 22 forms of violence such as rape and forced marriage. Maryam Zahid is the CEO of Afghan Women On the Move, a group that focuses on empowering women through digital and financial literacy, women's health advocacy and employment. "I came as a refugee myself 26 years ago and when I arrived in Australia under Women at Risk Program - and it has been 30 years that I was forced to leave Afghanistan. So it's been a long time for me to say it with confidence and say it telling the truth of how much the systematic barriers and the outdated laws and policies that looked at the refugees, especially women." She describes the situation back home. "Since the fall of Kabul and how much the patriarchal society now, it's kind of dominating the rights of women in Afghanistan. It's not as easy as we wish to kind of work with them. Even behind the scenes, even sending them money. It's quite risky for them to go and pick up money regardless of which terms we kind of send them." She says safety is a key issue - and there are risks from the misuse of artificial intelligence and social media that have put women in Afghanistan in danger. "Those images used against these women. And there were some even they were reported to Taliban and Taliban directly went and found them and yeah, they get warnings and they get abused." She says leaders in Australia should put their words into action. "Leaders should go beyond issuing statements. They should stand in solidarity with Afghan women. It's kind of sad to see that we are ignoring half of the population in a country, but also the diaspora that also women like me experienced Taliban. And we know the impact of those type of trauma that lasts with you forever." Khalid Amiri was a broadcast journalist in his home country - and now resides in Melbourne. He says he has not forgotten what life was like in Afghanistan that forced him to flee in 2021. "On 15th of August, Kabul fell to the Taliban and it was the worst nightmare that came true for all of us. And it was the biggest definition of betrayal by the international community towards the Afghans. How they threw Afghans to a regime that was killing them. And now this regime came into power and the entire international community was like: 'oh, we packed up our bags and we are leaving and the Afghans know what to do with it'." He says he is affected by survivor's guilt - wondering why he was able to escape the situation, but others still struggle to leave the country. "Why is the international community not listening to the plea of those Afghan girls left in Afghanistan? With my family that I speak to every day, to be really honest, it's not a brighter picture or it's not a positive picture that I get on daily basis from them. Particularly with the younger ones, they don't see a future for their self. Every youngster you meet is trying to find a way to leave the country." He says for those who can't make it to western countries, they are compelled to go to the neighbouring countries including Pakistan and Iran where they could face severe torture from the police. Mr Amiri says Iran has been sending back refugees to Afghanistan, which is another issue for the people who escaped the Taliban reprisals. "And the thing that makes us very upset is the deafening silence of world leaders. All we see is just a few tweets coming up on social media from them of condemnation. While there are no concrete steps being taken." Patrick Ryan is an independent humanitarian advocate for the former Afghan locally engaged staff of the Australian Embassy in Kabul. He used to be the facilities manager there. Mr Ryan says he was very pleased when DFAT reached out to him last year to help with the verification of some of their contracted employees that worked at the Australian embassy. "Since Australia made its intention to vacate the embassy in Kabul in May 2021, I began a fairly sustained advocacy campaign that ran for six months that involved assembling a delegation of representatives for the contracted employees at the embassy to organise their colleagues to make Afghan LEE ((Afghan Locally Engaged Employee Program)) applications to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade." The LEE program was established by the Australian government in 2012 as a pathway for priority processing for humanitarian visas for Afghan nationals who were employed with the Australian government in Afghanistan; and are at risk of harm due to their employment. It closed in May last year, but outstanding visa applications are still being processed. Since 2012, the program has helped more than 2,500 Afghans and their families to arrive in Australia. Mr Ryan says he understands there are 13 people he is helping who remain either stranded in Afghanistan or in third countries awaiting an outcome - and much more needs to be done to ensure their safety. "The Senate inquiry and the review of the immigration instrument 12 1 27 has taken nearly three years. During that time there's been no processing of anyone under any of the contracted employees under the Afghan LEE [[locally engaged employee]] special humanitarian visa program. And now we're seeing amendments made by the Albanese government excluding some of the people who may have previously been eligible for that program." He says he knows of two people awaiting a visa outcome who were in Tehran after attending the embassy for biometric and medical checks, when a missile attack took place. "They then came under attack during the conflict between Iran and Israel. Some of them had to make lengthy journeys on foot to get out of Tehran and had to go back into Afghanistan into hiding whilst waiting for their visas." But he says there is still hope. "I'm very happy that our youngest member of staff, who I'll just call 'Khader' at the moment to protect his identity, is going to be arriving in Adelaide later this month, nearly four years after the fall of Kabul. He was only 14 years old when he worked at the embassy as an apprentice painter. He's since gained his degree in engineering at Kabul Polytechnic, and he's going to be settling with relatives in Adelaide soon." He says it's really important for the Australian government and Department of Home Affairs to make sure that Afghan LEE visa processing is expedited. "I'm rather hoping that the government will streamline this process so there can be expedited for people who are still here four years out, so deserving of Australia's protection for the service they gave us in Afghanistan during our 20 year occupation."
