Fundamentalist extremists don't like anything that looks like it didn't come from their religious texts. And they tend to blow stuff up that they don't like.
Five years ago, the Taliban blew the face off a towering, 1,500-year-old rock carving of Buddha, called Jahanabad Buddha, which was etched high on a huge rock face in the 6th or 7th century in northwest Pakistan. Hard-line Muslims have a history of targeting Buddhist, Hindu and other religious sites they consider heretical to Islam. Six months before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the Taliban outraged the world by dynamiting a pair of 1,500-year-old Buddhist statues in central Afghanistan.
Italian archaeologist Luca Olivieri and his team can't fix everything that was done but they have tackled restoring the 6-meter (nearly 20-foot)-tall image near the town of Jahanabad ruined in 2007 - and they are taking on many other archaeological treasures in the scenic Swat Valley also; something that would not be possible if the Taliban were still in charge.
People sit near a sculpture of the Buddha whose face was destroyed by Taliban fighters at Jahanabad, Pakistan in the Swat valley. Credit and link: AP
Swat was once an important center of Buddhist culture and trade. The monk credited with introducing Buddhism to Tibet, Padmasambhava, was born in Swat.
Olivieri's mission is funded by the Italian government, which works with local Pakistani antiquities authorities. It has uncovered over 120 Buddhist sites among Swat's soaring hills and rushing rivers. Of roughly 200 Buddhist rock carvings in Swat, the Jahanabad Buddha was among the few to survive with its face intact for so long, said Olivieri. Most were defaced centuries ago by Muslim invaders who, like the Taliban, consider Buddha a false idol.
Pakistan: Buddha attacked by Taliban gets facelift by Sebastian Abbot, Associated Press
