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Picking up the pieces Workers are clearing and sorting
out pieces of the two well known but damaged Bamiyan Buddha statues in
central Afghanistan, which might be rebuilt by the end of 2009. At the
site in Bamiyan province, Afghan workers with yellow safety helmets
are collecting pieces of the two statues with shovels and
handcarts. The two Buddha statues, which used to be the highest
standing ones in the world, were destroyed by the extremist Taliban
regime in March 2001. The regime claimed they were idolatrous and
anti-Islam. Some stones, from the two destroyed statues, are lying
below them and have been noted with sequence numbers. The programme of
sorting out the debris is being carried out with a fund of about $1.3
million sponsored by Unesco. This is being done so that the
reconstruction of the two statues can be initiated as soon as it gets
approval from Afghan parliament. Ramin, an official from the Afghan
information and culture ministry, says the clearing and collecting job
would be finished in about a year. And the entire reconstruction,
according to him, would be completed by 2009 if parliament ratifies it
in time. Though Afghan President Hamid Karzai has promised to rebuild
the two statues, a green signal from parliament is necessary. No date
has been set for parliament to examine and put the project to
vote. However, observers believe clearance from parliament would not
be a problem, as most Afghans are eager for the restoration.
Scientists say rebuilding each statue would costs about $30 million
and Ramin says this amount would be met by international
organisations. The two statues, measuring 53-metres and 35-metres
each, were chiselled about 1,500 years ago into a 500-600 metre high
cliff. The 150-km journey from capital Kabul to Bamiyan city takes
over seven hours by road. Bamiyan province stood on the ancient Silk
Route, which linked Europe to East Asia. Now, most of its 400,000
people live in poverty with some families still dwelling in caves.
Local residents too are now awaiting the reconstruction of the ancient
statues. "The statues’ disruption dealt a huge blow to both
Afghan and world culture, and brought huge losses to local
tourism," Merajan, a 53-year-old man, told Xinhua. He said
thousands of tourists visited the site at one point of time and the
city had 20 fine hotels to accommodate foreign and domestic
visitors. However, tourists have reduced to just a trickle and there
are only three-four hotels scattered across the city. "Without
doubt, reconstructing the statues would do good to local
tourism," Merajan said. "I really hope the Buddha statues
can be rebuilt as early as possible. They are part of the lives of
Bamiyan and Afghan people." — IANS
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