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Mizzima: U Nu's daughter appeals Ko
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U Nu?s daughter appeals Kofi Annan to protect Buddha statues in
Afghanistan
New Delhi, March 5, 2001
Mizzima News Group (www.mizzima.com)
Daw Than Than Nu, daughter of the former Prime Minister of Burma U Nu,
has appealed to the United Nations Secretary General Mr. Kofi Annan and
US President Mr. George Bush to take urgent necessary steps to protect
the site of the Buddha statues in the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
?These statues should not be looked upon as merely works of ancient art,
or even as objects of veneration to the Buddhists around the world, they
should instead be regarded as symbol of a glorious chapter in the
history of humanity as a whole?, said the letter.
The Taliban?s supreme leader Mulla Mohammad Omar ordered last week that
?all statues and non-Islamic shrines? located in different parts of the
country must be broken. Reports coming from Kabul suggest that
Afghanistan?s Taliban militia has started destroying the 2,000-year-old
two monolithic Buddha statues in Bamiyan in central Afghanistan and
other statues elsewhere.
Daw Than Than Nu, who is now residing in New Delhi, requested the UN
Secretary General to declare the site of these statues a World Heritage
Site and protect them under international law.
She also suggested the relocation of these priceless items of human
heritage to a safe location. ?If this strategy fails to have the desired
effect, a concerted international effort must be made to relocate the
statues to a location where they would be cherished and looked after?.
The New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art has already offered to
purchase the treasures rather than see them smashed.
The taller figure of the two Bamiyan Buddha statues (which stand roughly
50 and 34.5 meters tall) is considered to be the world?s tallest of a
Buddha standing rather than sitting.
The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has also expressed deep
shock and concern over the destruction of the statues. "I am deeply
concerned about the demolition of statues in Afghanistan at a time when
there is close understanding and better harmony among different
religious traditions of the world?, he said
Indian government had offered to bring the remaining Buddhist statues
and artifacts from Afghanistan at its cost to India in order to preserve
them.
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<center><b><u><font color="#000099"><font size=+1>U Nu?s daughter appeals
Kofi Annan to protect Buddha statues in Afghanistan</font></font></u></b></center>
<p><font size=+1>New Delhi, March 5, 2001</font>
<br><font size=+1>Mizzima News Group (www.mizzima.com)</font>
<p><font color="#660000"><font size=+1>Daw Than Than Nu, daughter of the
former Prime Minister of Burma U Nu, has appealed to the United Nations
Secretary General Mr. Kofi Annan and US President Mr. George Bush to take
urgent necessary steps to protect the site of the Buddha statues in the
Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.</font></font>
<p><font color="#660000"><font size=+1>?These statues should not be looked
upon as merely works of ancient art, or even as objects of veneration to
the Buddhists around the world, they should instead be regarded as symbol
of a glorious chapter in the history of humanity as a whole?, said the
letter.</font></font>
<p><font color="#660000"><font size=+1>The Taliban?s supreme leader Mulla
Mohammad Omar ordered last week that ?all statues and non-Islamic shrines?
located in different parts of the country must be broken. Reports coming
from Kabul suggest that Afghanistan?s Taliban militia has started destroying
the 2,000-year-old two monolithic Buddha statues in Bamiyan in central
Afghanistan and other statues elsewhere.</font></font>
<p><font color="#660000"><font size=+1>Daw Than Than Nu, who is now residing
in New Delhi, requested the UN Secretary General to declare the site of
these statues a World Heritage Site and protect them under international
law.</font></font>
<p><font color="#660000"><font size=+1>She also suggested the relocation
of these priceless items of human heritage to a safe location. ?If this
strategy fails to have the desired effect, a concerted international effort
must be made to relocate the statues to a location where they would be
cherished and looked after?.</font></font>
<p><font color="#660000"><font size=+1>The New York's Metropolitan Museum
of Art has already offered to purchase the treasures rather than see them
smashed.</font></font>
<p><font color="#660000"><font size=+1>The taller figure of the two Bamiyan
Buddha statues (which stand roughly 50 and 34.5 meters tall) is considered
to be the world?s tallest of a Buddha standing rather than sitting.</font></font>
<p><font color="#660000"><font size=+1>The Tibetan spiritual leader, the
Dalai Lama, has also expressed deep shock and concern over the destruction
of the statues. "I am deeply concerned about the demolition of statues
in Afghanistan at a time when there is close understanding and better harmony
among different religious traditions of the world?, he said</font></font>
<p><font color="#660000"><font size=+1>Indian government had offered to
bring the remaining Buddhist statues and artifacts from Afghanistan at
its cost to India in order to preserve them.</font></font>
<p> </html>
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