Opinion Bamiyan,Timbuktu…next?

My second visit to Afghanistan in 1989 gave me an opportunity to travel to the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif,famous for the Blue Mosque or the Shrine of Imam Ali.

July 8, 2012 12:05 AM IST First published on: Jul 8, 2012 at 12:05 AM IST

My second visit to Afghanistan in 1989 gave me an opportunity to travel to the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif,famous for the Blue Mosque or the Shrine of Imam Ali. I was flying Afghanistans national airline Ariana,a derivative of Aryan,which shows the countrys cherished link to its pre-Islamic past. As our plane flew over the Bamiyan region,my interpreter,an official in Afghanistans foreign ministry,said to me: Look out the window at the valley below. We have the worlds tallest statue of the Buddha there. I asked him if his countrymen were proud of Afghanistans pre-Islamic history. Why not? Its as much a part of our history and identity as Islam is.

Twelve years later,after the Taliban had taken over Afghanistan,the awe-inspiring Buddha statues at Bamiyan,which had been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO,were dynamited by Islamist extremists. Why? Because,they said,idols are forbidden in Islam.

It was a war on heritage. A heritage that belonged not only to Afghanistan but to the entire humanity. All of UNESCOs World Heritage Sitesindeed,all pieces of artistic and cultural heritage anywhere on this planetare the common assets of the human race.

Another war on heritage is now being waged in distant Timbuktu,a fabled city in Mali in West Africa. And the target of this war is not some non-Islamic statue or shrine. Rather,several mausoleums of venerable Muslim saints were destroyed last week by hordes of armed Islamist attackers crying Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest). Why? Because erecting tombs in memory of saints,they claimed,is idolatry. Never mind that generations of devoutly Muslim Malians have revered their saints,buried under these centuries-old tombs,which display the unique beauty of desert architecture.

The order to blast Bamiyan Buddhas had come from the Taliban leader Mullah Omar,an ally of al-Qaeda. In Timbuktu,the attack was carried out by the Islamist fighters from Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith),which too has links to al-Qaeda.

UNESCO has condemned the destruction of these heritage sites as a war crime. Indeed,in view of the continuing violence,it has listed Timbuktu,famous as a City of 333 Saints,as an endangered site. But does al-Qaeda care? Islam is supreme, Ansar Dine spokesman Sanda Ould Boumama stated when asked about the outpouring of anger over the destruction of the mausoleums. All of this is haram (forbidden in Islam). We are all Muslims. UNESCO is what? He further said the group was acting in the name of God and would destroy every mausoleum in the city. All of them,without exception.

On a positive note,the destruction of Timbuktus spiritual-cultural heritage has met with protest from many people in Mali itself. No to imported Islam; Yes to the Islam of our parents, read a banner at one of the protest events.

That lineNo to imported Islam; Yes to the Islam of our parentscarries a strong resonance in the Indian subcontinent and also in South-East Asia. Observers of the religious landscape in this region know that a highly intolerant,exclusivist and extremist interpretation of Islam,backed by petro-dollars,is being exported by Saudi Arabia. This has wrought havoc not only in Afghanistan,but also in Pakistan,India,Bangladesh,Malaysia and Indonesia,where native Islam differs significantly from Saudi Islam. True,the imperialist military interventions,first by the now-extinct USSR and later by the US,are primarily responsible for Afghanistans prolonged agony. However,the poisonous impact of Wahabbism and other extremist sects,which are torchbearers of religious imperialism,cannot be belittled. Their influence has also grown immensely in Pakistan,whose military rulers have often protected,patronised and used extremist and terrorist groups for their delusionary geo-political designs.

How extremism has endangered Pakistans own social and cultural fabric is candidly described in the following excerpt from a July 2 editorial (Heritage under attack) in The News,a prominent Pakistani newspaper. For Pakistanis,weary of their own battles against extremism,there is more than a passing whiff of déjà vu about such attacks (in Timbuktu). Over the years extremists,influenced by a highly puritanical strand of religion that sees shrines and mausoleums as idolatrous,have targeted dozens of religious structures across the country,including some of the most venerated. Among the shrines targeted are the Data Darbar in Lahore,Abdullah Shah Ghazis shrine in Karachi,Rehman Babas tomb near Peshawar,Sakhi Sarwar near Dera Ghazi Khan,the shrine of Bari Imam in Islamabad,and many,many more….Mali may seem like another world to us. (But) it is time to at least speak out against these wanton attacks.

We in India shouldnt commit the folly of thinking that the trouble in Timbuktu,a synonym in popular consciousness for some far-away place,doesnt concern us. Indias history is replete with egregious instances of idol-breaking,inspired by the same extremist mindset that is now behind the religious-cultural cleansing in Kashmir,including the cleansing of its sacred Sufi ethos. That mindset also provides the motivation for the 26/11 type of terrorist attacks.

My closing thought is this. Extremism of one type cannot be countered by extremism of another type. Hindu extremism isnt the answer to Talibanisation of Islam. It is the common duty of Hindus and Muslims to resolutely shun religious intolerance,hatred and violence. If we succeed in doing so,if we protect peace,harmony,and spiritual diversity and freedom,India will have made a sterling contribution to religious reform all over the world in the decades to come.

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