This paper examines narrative and identity to signify the Bamiyan Buddhas’ existence to the local people, the Hazara population in their struggle with generational persecution. Taliban iconoclasm severed connections between tangible cultural heritage and its stakeholders. Discussing the cultural sensitivity of reconstruction to the Hazara, the wider nation and the international community. However, restoration is seen to discredit the legitimacy of the preservation of cultural heritage. Considering the collective struggle of the Hazara as a defining source to empower the Buddhas’ niches as a void for imagination and memory. How individuals choose to relate and assign meaning and significance to the past is very diverse and difficult to anticipate.
Nonetheless, the fact that many existing stakeholders appear to be enthusiastic about the Buddha monuments indicates that there is a lot of momentum. This should help with identifying a direction for the post-conflict narrative. The assimilation of meaning is re-claimed by the presence of a void within the niches of the Buddha. Despite, the erasure of their culture and belittling of their identity, Hazaras are fierce in their pursuit of recognition and continue to play an active role in the future-making of the Buddhas’ legacy.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In many expressions of gratitude, I would like to thank my supervisor Katherine McNeil and Module Leader Tulika Gadakari for their guidance and support. My appreciation also extends towards tutors, colleagues, friends and family (my sister, Zahra) who have also encouraged and assisted in the writing of this thesis.
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ABSTRACT.
DEDICATION
For a stronger collective Hazara consciousness and identity.
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‘Tila-ra har-chand ta-e khak kun-e basam khud-khu-ra màlum munah‘
Though you cover the gold with dirt it will again show up.]
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6 Cover Page Abstract Contents List Of Figures I. INTRODUCTION 08 II. CONTEXT 11 • The Buddhas Of Bamiyan • ‘Graveyard of Empires’ • The Hazara • Methodology + Structure III. CULTURAL HERITAGE 18 • Ideology And Legitimacy Of The Global Cultural Order • Safeguarding Cultural Heritage Material • Reconstruction Debates • Life After Death • Re-Claimed Nostalgia IV. IDENTITIES 25 • Re-/Construction Of Meaning • Void • Ground Zero • Wellsprings Of Our Imagination & Memory • A Radical Right? • Outraged Communities V. CONCLUSION 32 Glossary Bibliography CONTENTS.
LIST OF FIGURES.
01. Cultural landscape and archaeological remains of the Bamiyan valley.
02. Collage of Bamiyan’s historical time-line.
03. Landscape at Bamiyan, with high rocks and caves, surrounded by a fortified wall at left, and path leading to the rock face with niche cut for a statue; group of figures in foreground at right; image folded and mounted on card; after Eyre. Lithograph with hand-colouring.
04. Hazara fighters walk past the bamiyan buddhas.
05. The statue of Baba Mazari in Bamyan province, Afghanistan. Abdul Ali Mazari was the political leader of Hazara people and head of Hizbe Wahdat political party.
06. Theoretical Framework Overview.
07. Looters have stolen most of bamiyan’s ancient religious paintings.
08. One of the bamiyan buddhas before it was destroyed in 2001.
09. Two boys observe a Taliban conference in front of the ancient and unesco-protected site of the buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan.
10. Afghans listen to speeches during the final campaign rally for Abdullah Abdullah, Chief Executive of Afghanistan in Bamiyan.
11. A view of snow-capped mountains and the lush green valley below where a buddha statue stood.
12. The statue of liberty would fit comfortably in the western niche where a buddha once stood in Bamiyan, Afghanistan.
13. Memorial (pools) & museum (center-high, glass building).
14. A 3d light projection last month in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, of how a destroyed buddha, known as Solsol to locals, might have looked in its prime.
15. Hundreds gathered at the cliff, by a network of ancient caves.
16. Buzkashi the greatest game of all. Bamiyan, afghanistan.
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Thebeginning of the 21st century was hoped to spark fruitful opportunities of peace and global prosperity. Unfortunately, it led to deepened concerns for global terrorism. The presence of an absence of the Buddhas, that was destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban, left behind the international community in utter shock. Precisely, from the acts of terror made towards a prized possession of world heritage belonging to all humanity.
The voids left behind brought many individuals of different backgrounds to mourn the memory and loss of the monument. Though, it also brought the immediate debate on reconstruction or filling the voids with respect to its contextual landscape. The World Trade Centre was given a second life. After careful consideration of pre and postdestruction narratives and its symbolic identity played in the perception of the people closely affected. However, little to no development is made on the Buddhas of Bamiyan destroyed in the same year. This paper will de-construct the narrative and identity of the Bamiyan Buddhas concerning the people most affected by its erasure, the Hazara, but also the wider community. Particularly on its perception of value and symbolic nature that embodies the Hazara’s struggle with generational persecution.
The nature of detail and complexity of this topic, unfortunately, cannot be fully comprehended in this short thesis. Nonetheless, this study will stand as a testimony to Bamiyan’s rich and intriguing past. Refuting the typically black and white interpretations of its events, histories, and narratives. Being from the Hazara identity myself, I would question the meaning of identity and what it means to have one. What it means to be Hazara. Identity has always been an underlying privilege for many. Fortunately, there is a stronger sense of Hazara consciousness among the newer generations. The Hazara diaspora are taking greater approaches through online platforms to voice their suffering. Although, I don’t have the same first-hand experience of Hazaras struggling in Afghanistan. There is still a similar degree of struggle in identity loss for the diaspora. As a Hazara, I would identify myself from the perseverance against the erasure of our identity and the responsibility to turn struggle into strength.
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INTRODUCTION I
I.
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CulturalLandscapeandArchaeologicalRemainsoftheBamiyanValley. From Torsten Pursche (2015)
Figure. 01
The Buddhas of Bamiyan were two 6thcentury monumental statues carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamyan valley of central Afghanistan.
February 1989
December 1979
The Buddhas were destroyed by the Taliban using dynamite over several weeks. The destruction was carried out in stages.
Today, Bamiyan is a ‘negative heritage’ site, one which holds negative memories in the collective imagination.
August 2021
Fear of persecution against local Hazara population.
Carbon-Dated
544 AD
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan.
The 1989–1992 Afghan Civil War took place after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan.
March 2001
The Taliban emerged in 1994, amid the 19921996 Civil War.
Taliban re-take Afghanistan after Biden’s US troop withdrawal.
Now
2023
CollageofBamiyan’sHistoricalTime-line. From Author (2022)
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Figure. 02
THE BUDDHAS OF BAMIYAN
Carvedinto the sandstone cliff side of the Bamiyan Valley, stand two grand Buddhas.
Dating back to 629 C.E.; first historical accounts were cited by the prodigious Chinese monk Xuanzang (Hsuan-Tsang). Who had ventured hundredths of thousands of miles across Central Asia along the Silk Road, to the westernmost Buddhist expansion, in modern-day Afghanistan. Hsuan narrates, in the The Great Tang Records of the Western Regions (Da Tang Xiyu Ji), of his dauntless journey along dangerous precipitous trails, covered in snowdrifts. Eventually finishing across the last peaks of the Koh-i-Baba mountains to behold the magnificent view down the Valley of Shining Light (Bamiyan), and into the gaze of the two striking Buddhas (Li, 1996). Once considered the largest Buddhist statue in the world.
‘To the northeast of the city, there is at a corner of the mountains a rock statue of the Buddha standing, one hundred forty or fifty feet in height, a dazzling golden color and adorned with brilliant gems. To the east there is a monastery built by a previous king of the country. To the east of the monastery there is a copper statue of the Buddha standing, more than one hundred feet tall. It was cast in separate pieces and then welded together into shape.’ (Li, 1996, p.38)
Due to a series of unfortunate events, the Buddhas were destroyed by the Taliban in March 2001, shortly before the event of 9/11 that followed. This in turn called the U.S. to intervene with their ‘War on Terror’ military-led campaign to invade Afghanistan. To this day, a void is left in the buddhas’ niches; abandoned despite being glorified as a UNESCO site. Locals still live in the Bamiyan Valley, some as cavedwellers besides the buddhas, barely scraping by with hardship and a simple life.
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CONTEXT
II. II
‘Graveyard of Empires’
Afghanistan is often described to be the ‘Graveyard of Empires’. At the crossroad and heart of Asia it is easy to understand the geopolitics of the region. Including, as to why it has endured repeated invasions from varying empires and nations across history (Fergusson & Hughes, 2019). One of the many notorious was the Mongol invasions that swept through the region in the thirteenth century. Genghis Khan pillaged and destroyed the city of Bamiyan, along with the hilltop fortress opposite the Buddhas; known to this day locally as the ‘City of Screams’. Afghanistan’s current demographic data on the size and percentage of the country’s ethno-linguistic groups are deemed by scholars as unreliable. Reasons due to outright manipulation for political reasons used to underpin ethnic hierarchy (Ibrahimi, 2017, p.6). Nevertheless, Afghanistan’s local tribe or ethnic divisions are its most notable sociological trait. With some fifty-odd ethnic groups (Pstrusinska, 1990, p.7), each individual’s primary loyalty to their kin. The 2004 constitution names fourteen ethnic groups to comprise the nation of Afghanistan. Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara and Uzbeks are usually recognised as the largest of the ethnic groups. This paper will focus on the Hazaras, who are described to make up the third largest ethnic group. Their historical victimisation and prejudice based on religious and racial backgrounds, ranks them bottom of the social, political, economical and ethnic hierarchy.
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Landscape at Bamiyan, with high rocks and caves, surrounded by a fortified wall at left, and path leading to the rock face with nichecutforastatue;groupoffiguresinforegroundatright;imagefoldedandmountedoncard;afterEyre.Lithographwithhandcolouring.
From Sir Vincent Eyre (1843)
Figure. 03
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HazarafighterswalkpasttheBamiyanBuddhas.
From Pascal Maitre (1966)
Figure. 04
THE HAZARA
Livingwithin the central highlands and fringes of the Afghan society, in the place known as Hazarastan or Hazarajat, live the Hazaras. Although very little is known about their ethnic origins, like many other ethnic groups within Afghanistan, there are several theories to justify their ancestral bloodline. The most popular theory of which, supported amongst Hazaras themselves as well as scholars, is that they are of ‘Turko-Mongolian origin, possibly deriving from various invasions’ (Bacon, 1951, p.24). Quite noticeable in their cultural and Asiatic physical appearance. However, it was ‘not until about the year 1500 that they appeared in their present area under the name of Hazara (Mousavi, 1998, p.28).
Although the purpose of this study doesn’t need the long and complex breakdown of Hazara historiography, however, it is important to mention that the Hazaras are ‘one of the oldest inhabitants of the region’ (Mousavi, 1998, p. 43). The importance of this statement, albeit fruitless to the foreign tongue, can be described to have influences on the manifesto of the Hazara political party, the Hezb-e Wahdat.
Since the early 1890s, the Hazara population of Afghanistan have been subjugated to targeted persecution and selective discrimination including genocidal campaigns. The first significant accounts of these atrocities were initially displayed between 1890 and 1901. During this period the Pashtun ‘Mir’ of Afghanistan, Abdur Rahman Khan, had exercised his total power and control towards the Hazaras, with British support(Lee, 2018, p.397). In order to take control of the central autonomous regions of Afghanistan, where the Hazara had been living for centuries. The events of these dark days resulted in massacres of around 60% of the Hazara population; slavery, dispossession of land and property and displacement to neighbouring countries. Inevitably leading to the establishment of the Afghan state and overall influence on the contemporary history of Afghanistan.
Besides the ethnic-driven propaganda used by the Mir, he also influenced many others to his side by establishing the religious differences between the Afghan state and the Hazara. Taking a religious overtone to the campaign and declaring Shia Hazaras as infidels (Barfeild, 2010,p.150)(Lee, 2018, p.398). Unfortunately, this continues to this day. In 1996, Kabul had been witness to intense killings of Hazara Shia minority by the Pashtuncentric hardline Sunni Taliban. Who at the time would chant, ‘Tajiks to Tajikistan, Uzbeks to Uzbekistan, and Hazaras to goristan (graveyard)’ (Mohammadi & Askary, 2021).
During the latter half of the 1980s, after the withdrawal of the Soviets of its military forces from the region, emerged a civil war that was instigated by the warring factions that hoped for a share of power at the national level. This included the Hazaras, who in particular feared that the civil war would have strong ethnic and sectarian consequences. Thus, the Hezbe-e Wahdat party became the driving force to engage in political bargaining and armed conflict, on the behalf of the Hazara ethnic population, with the other ethnopolitical figures of the country (Ibrahimi, 2017, p.178). However, in the process, this had major consequences towards Hazara civilians who in turn became
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victims of the most severe atrocities seen in the civil war. Most notably in ‘the February 1993 massacre of civilian Hazaras by the mujahedin militias in the Afshar neighbourhood of the West Kabul, and the August 1998 genocidal killing of Hazaras by the Taliban in Mazar-e Sharif’ (Ibrahimi, 2017, p.178)(Co-operation Centre for Afghanistan, 1998, p.8).
The physical destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan has long been a symbol of struggle in generational persecution for the Hazara. Despite Hazara genocide being an ongoing issue for almost two centuries, the absolute destruction of the Buddhas was the first and largest of the cultural erasure of Hazara heritage. Seen by the Hazara, as the Taliban’s efforts to cleanse Hazara identity from the Afghan cultural landscape and history. The ‘only crime was being a Hazara’, says Hossein (Latifi, 2014), a Hazara man, one of many who were forced to carry out the destruction of their own heritage, the Buddhas of Bamiyan.
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ThestatueofBabaMazariinBamyanProvince,Afghanistan.AbdulAliMazariwasthepolitical leaderofHazarapeopleandheadofHizbeWahdatpoliticalparty. From Hazara-Birar (2011)
Figure. 05
The Taliban have recently destroyed the statue of a Shiite militia leader who had fought against them during the 1990s Afghan civil war. Abdul Ali Mazari, a militia leader martyred by the Taliban in 1996 when the Islamic militants took control from rival warlords. Mazari stood up for the Shiite Hazara minority and identity in Afghanistan, who had previously been tormented by the Sunni Taliban.
METHODOLOGY + STRUCTURE
Written material on the relationship between the Hazara to the Buddhas is very limited, due to reasons relating to war and persecution, and its relationship continuously evolving to this day. Thus, to achieve a well-grounded conclusion, this paper will follow a theoretical approach to the framework. Reviewing key concepts, to signal ideas and provide a roadmap to draw connections to make justified arguments. The investigation will take on an exploratory research method to formulate a better understanding of the topic and concepts in relation to its contextual background.
The following diagram provides a visual overview of the framework of this study. Each topic is intrinsically connected as parts of a whole, in relevance to its proximity in connection and scale in significance.
Theoretical Framework Overview. From Author (2022) Figure. 06
SAFEGUARDING CULTURAL HERITAGE MATERIAL
Thepainful loss of the Buddhas of Bamiyan angered many around the world, reminding the failure of our role to safeguard these places for the future. As a means to promote peace and protect human rights. Civilians’ safety must always come first in times of conflict. Protecting cultural assets, which provide both concrete and intangible linkages to the past, contributes to community identity and well-being, and helps create healthy, peaceful, secure, and sustainable futures, as a whole that are inextricably linked.
‘Where they burn books, they will in the end burn people.’ - From Heinrich Heine’s 1821 play ‘Almansor’.
In its early centuries, Afghanistan experienced immense religious and intellectual freedom, with its cultural collection expanding to reflect its ‘powerful influences of other nations in the region’ (Garcia, 2007, p.363). With its assembly of ground-breaking literature, arts and cultural heritage, it embraced its gems with that of an advanced civilization. However, it quickly began to fall short with the beginning of the Taliban’s regime and prior invasions and civil wars. Under the Taliban’s control, Afghanistan experienced a harsh replacement of their century-old intellectual advancements made to an extreme interpretation of the peace-seeking Islamic belief (Amirkani, 2001). This meant that greater constraints were placed towards education, freedom of speech and human rights. Women and girls in particular are discriminated against for the crime of being a girl.
Dr. Omar Sharif, the Country Director of the American Institute of Afghanistan Studies, argues that the modern nation of Afghanistan is stood on three principles, the first being that ‘we are Muslims from Afghanistan’, the second, ‘universal education’ and the third being ‘archaeology’ (De Montlaur, 2021). Dr. Sharif believes Afghanistan as a nation must have a past, as it gives a face to the nation’s identity of its cultural diversity. When the Taliban took power, they made sure to erase these pillars. Mere physical destruction far exceeding its actual valued loss ‘akin to cultural and social genocide’ (Ismail Serageldin 2022). For the Afghan people, history is an integral part of their culture; this includes archaeological sites, artefacts, and any intangible cultural traits. Preserving Afghanistan’s cultural heritage promotes tolerance and understanding in the country and boosts tourism. Cultural preservation is crucial for a country’s prosperity, and it is now more than ever as Afghans hope for stability to return amid ongoing peace efforts. UNESCO has identified a direct connection between the process of constructing Afghanistan’s rehabilitation, under the framework of the UN and international cooperation. With reference to UN Secretary-General’s dictum ‘Our challenge is to help the Afghans help themselves,’ policies and initiatives on training and capacity-building initiatives have a strong emphasis on preserving Afghanistan’s cultural legacy (UNESCO, n.d.).
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RECONSTRUCTION DEBATES
Globaldebates towards reconstruction narratives on the site of Buddha’s remain unresolved. Seeking to fix a meaning, we can appreciate the complex efforts made to understand for whom reconstruction is in line to be more orientated towards. Although ongoing debates on the historical connection between the Buddha’s existence to the Hazara local population of the region remain strong. It is certain to say there is no current religious connection between the Buddhist monument to the majority Muslim population. However, there is still an element of place identity for the Hazara. As the Buddhas existence through the century had slowly transformed its interpretation from ‘idol’ or a place of worship to ‘wonder’ (Klimburg-Salter, 2020). As the Buddhist community had ceased to exist in the Bamiyan Valley, the Buddhas were no longer regarded as Buddhist symbolism. Following several transformations, the local people gave the monuments new identities and incorporated them into their own culture and ‘mythic history of the Islamization of Bamiyan’ (Klimburg-Salter, 2020). Their evolution tells a local Hazaragi story of two lovers, the larger male Buddha, Salsal (‘The Light Shines through the Universe’)an ancient warrior and the smaller female Buddha, Shamama (‘Queen Mother’) his wife. Its legend characterizing their pledge to stand together in stone for eternity.
Despite its destruction by the Taliban, who claimed that they were an affront to their Islamic faith, the Muslim local people did not identify the Buddhist images in its initial purpose. Its transcendental figure no longer bound by its historical and religious fact (Inaba 2019). Effectively the Taliban did not just destroy a Buddhist religious figure but also Bamiyan valley’s sacred cultural landscape and identity. In light of this better understanding of the entangled symbolism of the Buddhas. We could still pose the question of what narrative should the reconstruction of the Buddhas memorialise? The long-forgotten centuries-old Buddhist sanctuary, that was only to be revived by the ironic acts of Taliban iconoclasm or the local folklore of the Hazara population. These questions should also help us to understand the position on the overall impacts of reconstruction towards the different stakeholders. Whether they are to be acknowledged as an internal motive and as a visible rejection towards acts of terror, or an external motive of its contribution towards the peace-building process.
As described in the prior chapter, the reconstruction of the Buddhas should ultimately assist with Afghanistan’s rehabilitation, as well as a better living standard in Hazarajat. Even to resolve the issue of reconstruction of the Buddhas with the narrative that effectively gives the site a powerful post-conflict image. Would the impoverished local population even care? Some would even criticise the large international attention the ruined Buddhas are getting, despite the worsened conditions of the lives of the local people. Questioning the international community’s moral intentions of giving more importance towards a ‘lifeless’ statue than human life. Regardless, of whether the fact that the notion of rebuilding the monuments is supported or not, we must not ignore the challenges: ‘the financial resources to conduct the enterprise, the human resources to manage the work and the site, and scientific and ethical principles around the physical reconstruction of built heritage’ (Nagaoka, 2020, p.9).
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JohnRuskin (1849), an English critic, argues that restoration is ‘the most total destruction which a building can suffer’ (1849, p.242). Ruskin regards restoration as ‘a destruction accompanied with false descriptions of the thing destroyed’ (1849, p.242). In this regard, the ‘Exceptional Universal Value’ of the Bamiyan landscape may be in jeopardy.The potential restoration of the Buddha statues could call into question the site’s historical legitimacy. Ruskin compares a structure’s progression from life to death to ‘the flow of a lava stream, first bright and fierce, then languid and covered, at last advancing only by the tumbling over and over of its frozen blocks’ (1849, p.193). His use of language discusses living architecture and how a building’s life is bestowed by intricate craftsmanship and dependent on the human engagement of experience (Roark, 2021).
Preserving the remnants of the Buddhas than restoration may be the key answer to cultural heritage protection. The Buddha sculptures from Bamiyan served as a testament to their era, and although their destruction was a distressing event. It may be more important to prohibit tampering, including any forms of restoration, to preserve the Buddhas’ evolved multi-layered symbolism. In this sense, the indulgence of useless lamentation over the loss can rather serve for a new inscription of meaning; an expression of protest towards violent cultural intolerance. An expression of acceptance of the world of its flaws and failures and the sublime nature of ‘seeing perfection in imperfection itself’ (Russell, 2012, p.260).
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LIFE AFTER DEATH
Afghans listen to speeches during the final campaign rally for Abdullah Abdullah, Chief ExecutiveofAfghanistaninBamiyan.
From Paula Bronstein (2019)
Figure. 10
Theconcept of nostalgia receives widespread distaste, as it is sometimes seen as being anti-progress, in the contemporary world. Svetlana Boym (2001), an architectural theorist and historian, emphasises that nostalgia is inherently speculative and that ‘the fantasies of the past determined by the needs of the present have a direct impact on the realities of the future’ (2011). In this essence, it would argue the significance of nostalgia, which is to be embodied by the spatial elements and double exposure, in the process of reconstructing the post-destruction narrative of the Buddhas. To understand how nostalgia can shape the future spatial quality of the cultural site, we can analyse Boym’s distinguishing between the two types of nostalgia, reflective and restorative.
Reflective nostalgia is defined by Boym as a creative and progressive impulse shared by all people; a yearning caused by the intrinsic idealized desires of the past. Restorative nostalgia is the motivation to restore a former truth and tradition. She wrote, ‘one is nostalgic not for the past the way it was, but for the past the way it could have been. It is this past perfect that one strives to realize in the future’ (2001, p.51). The distinction between reflective and restorative nostalgia may be quite complex to grasp. Principally, nostalgic sentiments arise from perceived threats to identity continuity. In the setting of current social and cultural anxieties, dissonance, and uncertainties, when identities have endured much from the turbulence of cultural suffering (Davis, 1979, p.107). Hence, re-claiming space for restorative nostalgia and yearning for the past, is vital to the creation, preservation, and reconstruction of our intangible identities and social interests. Further questions for anthropologists, can arise on nostalgic discourse over the experience of memory or its impact on future individuals who connect with heritage destruction through non-linear psychological trauma.
24 RE-CLAIMED NOSTALGIA
Aviewofsnow-cappedmountainsandthelushgreenvalleybelowwhereaBuddhastatue stood.
From Jim Huylebroek (2019)
Figure. 11
RE-/CONSTRUCTION OF MEANING
Therole which a reader plays is very important in constructing the narrative of meaning, in their respective process of reading (Sadjadi, 2017). A primary approach to the concept of ‘reception theory’ or ‘reader response theory’, would allow for an elaborate exploration of the mechanisms of the processes of reading. There is a strong focus on an individual’s reaction and analysis of the interpretation of literary works by philosophers and theorists, like Edmund Husserl, who present these concepts as reader-oriented criticism. A hermeneutic experience of interpretation challenges readers to trigger a greater understanding of the whole, within a given context.
Martin Heidegger (1927) conceived the idea of how our understanding of the whole comes from our understanding of each part and how they interact with the whole. To put this into a more comprehensible manner, within the context of the destruction of the Buddhas. Upon hearing its news, as a single tragic event but at the same time, you’re understanding the individual elements of the event and weighing each of its meanings against the overall meaning of the event as its news unfolds. And continuously considering whether your current understanding aligns with your previous interpretation. This would essentially be understood as the concept of the hermeneutic circle.
Coming back to the reader-response theory, although the hermeneutic circle is intrinsically linked, there is still a central role played by the reader. Whether they’re to orientate themselves towards a social, historical, cultural or even psychological approach; it is inevitably a subjective affinity of the reading process. Rather than taking the element of ‘reading’ as the form for the analogy of the theory. We can still approach these concepts with the same line of thought by introducing it as ‘observation’ and its significant role in the construction of meaning in the process of observation for the observed. This is so we can re-adjust our perspective towards how we would see and observe the events of the destruction of the Buddhas, with all the possible reflective narratives associated.
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IDENTITY IV. IV
Thepresence of absence of the Buddha evoked subtle as well as provocative reactions from the local and international community. This essence of ‘void’ is very important and powerful in understanding the complex thought processes in the reconstruction debates. Since, the connotations attached to this emptiness present layered interpretative reflection. Fragments of this understanding include the aspect of the void having a stronger presence now compared to its former complete form. The place feeling incomplete becomes the testimony of the richness in Bamiyan’s cultural, and historical interchange. However, it also becomes the testimony of the erasure of its richness by acts of terror.
Considering the contribution of future-making, the absence of the Buddhas could recieve much more attention, as oppose to it being reconstructed (Sørensen, 2020). Dark tourism has become a motivation for visitors who search for places of dark events(Lennon, 2017); in an act of contemplation and desire to better understand history through its atmospheric quality. Nonetheless, would this perhaps call for more given attention towards understanding the Taliban narrative than Buddhist history? (Holtorf, 2020). The Taliban have voiced their agenda by destroying the Buddhas; the addition of dark tourism provides reflective emphasis on the stories about the Taliban. Thus, would allowing this sort of tourism to be morally justified in the current ethics of the world? In the case of other places of negative heritage, for instance, the Auschwitz concentration camp allows individuals to develop the capacity to be informed and open to up-stand behavioural resilience in the face of discrimination and prejudice. To summarise this line of thought, the interactive ways of processing the emptiness of the Buddhas should be examined where it would give the past a more valuable contribution to the future of the site. Enhancing heritage values through creative re-imagination and manifestations, such as the power of filling the voids with imagination and memory.
26 VOID
TheStatueofLibertywouldfitcomfortablyinthewesternnichewhereaBuddhaoncestood inBamiyan,Afghanistan. From Jim Huylebroek (2019)
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Figure.
GROUND ZERO
Given that the World Trade Centre suffered a similar fate to the Buddhas of Bamiyan in terms of erasure and loss, its comparison to the Buddhas would be very useful for this study. The WTC has seen a tremendous degree of development since, towards rebuilding for a post-conflict narrative. Its erasure brought infrastructural and financial disaster; the site at its complete emptiness brought a conflicting discourse on redeveloping either for profiting the financial sector or in commemoration and remembrance. Regardless, its aftermath demonstrated a deep understanding of the engagement of political forces that shaped its post-process. An attack on the WTC had meant its attack was directed towards the western powers of its global dominance (Oberg, 2020). The uniqueness in the reconstruction narrative of the WTC was its complicated relationship of ‘balancing architectural vision, memory, and memorial’ (Sagalyn, 2016, p.134). The public outcry and sentiment claimed its influence and their right to be part of the site’s redevelopment process; it also became part of the city’s resilience in identity and collective memory.
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Memorial(pools)&museum(center-high,glassbuilding).
From Jin S. Lee (n.d.)
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Figure.
The emotional weight of the void was heavily emphasised in the 9/11 New York Memorial at Ground Zero. In its absence the WTC has become more of a monument than ever before; Lewis (2001) suggests that ‘the physical void they leave is itself a poignant memorial’, furthermore, its raw void allows for the recalling of the previous existence of living people and the focus on memorialising the memory of them to be filled in the current emptiness. The WTC, unlike the Buddhas of Bamiyan which had a cultural presence in its region before its destruction, had experienced an interesting transformation. From a structure that attracted many criticisms at its initial construction to a sacred ground which has evolved an element of sensitivity. Acts of terror has led to the evolution of the site’s change in image. Arguments of narrative, however, would question the post-conflict identity, in terms of understanding meaning and approximate focus on the global perspective.
WELLSPRINGS OF OUR IMAGINATION & MEMORY
Asdescribed in a prior chapter on reconstruction narratives, the Buddhas’ transformative interpretation involved its Buddhist image being altered towards the image of an ancient wonder and marvel of human engineering. The Buddhas of Bamiyan have had a somewhat similar transformation in their image to the WTC. For the Hazara population of the region and throughout Afghanistan, an extra layer of symbolism was initiated through the Buddhas’ destruction. The Hazara continue the Buddhas‘ legacy as touchstones of the memory of persecution and struggle in their ethnic identity. Before the Buddhas’ destruction, Hazara’s confidence and consciousness were heavily reinstated by the late Hazara political leader Abdul Ali Mazari - who believed being Hazara should not be a crime. Still, after his passing, he is seen by the Hazara community as a ‘saint-like’ (Khan. R, 2020, p.26) figure. The two entangled narratives echo the position of overcoming the long line of oppression. Helping to pave the way for the collective voices among the Hazara to use creative strategies to challenge their circumstances in Afghanistan.
Despite the lack of access to educational institutions, for Hazaras in Afghanistan, due to marginalisation and lack in given priority development in infrastructure within Hazarajat regions (Changezi & Biseth, 2011). Hazaras power their ethnic struggle through education with female literacy rates and passing rates highest among Hazara women (Oppel Jr & Wafa, 2010). However, much of their educational progress was brought to nothing with the Taliban’s national insurgence in 2021. News of targeted bombings against girls’ education schools in the Hazara populated region of Kabul is among many other carried deadly attacks. Nonetheless, many Afghan women take to the streets to protest in demand of their right to work, education, and freedom.
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A 3D light projection last month in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, of how a destroyed Buddha, known as Solsol to locals,mighthavelookedinitsprime.
From Jim Huylebroek (2019)
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Figure.
A virtual resurrection of the Salsal Buddha was carried out at night in 2015, as an idea funded and raised by a Chinese couple, Janson Hu and Liyan Yu, to show their respects to the culture and history of the region (Nordland, 2019). An image of the Buddha was projected using a 3D holographic light projection onto the dark empty niche of the larger Salsal Buddha. Displaying an artist’s interpretation of the Buddha in its prime. The event, ‘A Night with Buddha’, brought many Hazara locals together, accompanied by lanterns and dancing, to memorialise the Buddhas’ significance to the region of its former glory. Although the demonstration was short-lived, for 15 minutes its projection lit the Bamiyan Valley of the void that not only was physically apparant in the niches of the Buddha but also the valley.
A lot can be learnt from this inspiring event, using twenty-first-century technology has enabled creative use of the niches that ultimately eliminates any future needs to reconstruct the Buddhas. Physical reconstruction, in the chapters above, has questioned the Buddhas’ authenticity in its cultural and historical sensibility. The light projection has enabled a deeper understanding of the visual language represented by the relationship between light and atmosphere. The qualities that light posses in darkness contribute to atmospheres of dynamic space. Moreover, it melds sensation and emotions, enchanting a spatial nature that fosters self-empowerment and spiritual development for the visitors of the event. Just as the architect for the 9/11 memorial presents the element of water to represent ‘absence made visible’ (About the Memorial National September 11 Memorial & Museum, n.d.). In contrast to the busy sounds of the city, the sound of flowing water creates a quiet and reflective atmosphere at the pools. The Buddhas of Bamiyan could again find their purpose, through the use of light, a visual representation that embodies a fitting portrayal of the emotional struggle that the Afghan people have exhaustively sought.
30
Hundredsgatheredatthecliff,byanetworkofancientcaves. From Wakil Kohsar (2021)
Figure. 15
A RADICAL RIGHT?
TheBuddhas were reduced to thousands of bits stacked in heaps at the base of the cliffs by the Taliban over the course of several weeks using artillery and explosive charges. Nordland (2019) claims ‘in an important sense they botched the job’, the Taliban’s iconoclastic statement has ironically re-surfaced the world’s attention to heritage sites and its significance towards global peace. However, to what justification was the Buddhas’ destruction made against? Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban, in 2001 declared all pre-Islamic history to be erased from Afghanistan. According to him the presence of the Buddhas was an impurity to the Afghan soil that needed to be gotten rid of (Centlivres, 2008). The Taliban leader, justifies his actions by pointing out, ‘all we are breaking are stones’ (Harding, 2001), this can be seen to some as criticism of Western cultural imperialism.
The exclusive concern for the monument’s safety by the international community ironically led to the Taliban’s resentment towards the Buddhas. Ostracism of the Afghan people ignited anger among the Taliban - who saw the Western society’s double standard and their ignorance of the ordeal and poverty endured by the Afghan people (Gambon, 2001). In this perspective, the Buddhas were held indirect victims by the international community of their lack of humanitarian values and indifference towards Afghanistan.
OUTRAGED COMMUNITIES
Inliteral sense, the Taliban’s argumentation provided some degree of validity in justifying the eradication of the Buddhas of Bamiyan. Mullah Omar argued against the preservation of ‘idols’ that no longer had any ‘religious character’ (Harding, 2001). However, this contradicts a previous point discussed on the change in the Buddhas’ narrative and meaning. In addition, although Buddhists no longer live in Afghanistan and there are neither any active Buddhism practices. For the Buddhist population around the world, the Buddhas of Bamiyan were a symbol of their religious identity as well as their cultural roots. The foreign Buddhist population had felt hostages and victims of the situation (Centlivres, 2008).
Buddist teaching gives importance to the essence of ‘impermanence’. This word is defined in the school of Buddism as ‘Anicca’; where all manifestations, both physical and mental, are temporary, appearing before dissipating into nothingness (Agganyani, 2013). A similar narrative can be described by the arising of the Bamiyan Buddha and its passing. To conclude, there is a play in irony by the Taliban’s acts of destruction which inevitably completed the Buddhist doctrine of its ultimate truth in nothingness.
31
Attackson works of art in modern history frequently result from situations or emotions of exclusion. The true success of the concept of world heritage at the global level will depend on the extent to which universalism is regarded as truly universal. A cohesive and conflict-free setting cannot accomplish this. In this regard, it would instead require interaction between established bodies to resolve disputes according to each of their own visions of their legacy. Finding the answer in the physical reconstruction of the Buddhas is purely impossible. Looking for meaning is best to be implied than explicitly stated. Not all sites of destruction need to be restored to preserve their values. By the same token, the Bamiyan Buddhas can still have a positive impact on the future development of its region. If presented in the right manner, the monument can be widely recognized as an appealing symbol for the entire landscape, even in its current metamorphic state. Weighing in the saying of Mahatma Gandhi (de la Torre, 2013, p.162),
‘if ‘a nation’s heritage resides in the hearts and the soul of its people’, then heritage will change as people’s values change, and changes both in people and in heritage are inevitable. And the way heritage is conserved will have to change too’.
The Buddhas’ future should look beyond restoration in many respects. It should consider imaginative re-imaginings of both tangible and intangible representations. The ‘Night with Buddha’ was an exceptional example of the creative manifestation of heritage values through advanced 21st century technology. There is still the possibility to find and provide socio-economic benefits to the local population and Afghanistan. The functioning role which culture can play effect positive fundamental contributions to a future economic growth.
For the Hazaras, using creativity to resist the intergenerational ordeal is at the core of their strategies. More importantly, the collective recognition and acknowledgement to remember the neglected history, and lost identity are means to open the way for healing. However, the Hazaras should also look ahead into the future and not dwell in a particular past. Unfortunately, as much as the Hazara can voice their issues, it cannot
32
VCONCLUSION
V.
be heard without the full participation of the global community. Oral storytelling and traditional customs can travel in ways physical material cannot; the legacy of the Buddhas is a tool to transcend time. It should be used to heal multi-generational trauma and not simply defined by its current static material fabric.
Extended areas of thought and research:
• Consider the relationship between the Buddhas to other ruined heritage sites across Bamiyan Valley and how they can collectively evolve for contribution to the futuremaking of the region.
• What value does the Buddhas hold to other ethnic groups in Afghanistan? Do the rest of the Afghan society view the Buddhas as part of their cultural identity?
• Examine risks of particular steps made towards the Buddhas, in its present developing context and time, to future generations.
33
Buzkashithegreatestgameofall.Bamiyan,Afghanistan.
From Saad Mohseni (2019)
Figure. 16
• Hazara - One of the largest ethnic group, native to Afghanistan
• Hazarajat - Mountainous region in the central highlands of Afghanistan, home to the Hazara
• Mir - Obsolescent title of the nobility or tribal chief
• Salsal - ‘The Light Shines through the Universe’, Larger Western Buddha
• Shamama - ‘Queen Mother’, Smaller Eastern Buddha
• Abdul Ali Mazari - The political leader of the Hazara people and founder of Hizbe Wahdat political party
• Hezb-e Wahdat - ‘The Unity Party’, an Afghan political party founded in 1989
• Taliban - A predominantly Pashtun, hard-lined Islamic fundamentalist group that returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021
• Mullah Omar - An Islamic revolutionist who founded the Taliban and served as the supreme leader of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
• WTC - World Trade Centre
• Ground Zero - The area of impact directly below an explosion. Implicitly recalls the Trinity Test, Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
34 GLOSSARY.
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10. Bronstein, P. (2019). Afghans listen to speeches during the final campaign rally forAbdullahAbdullah,ChiefExecutiveofAfghanistaninBamiyan. https://www. gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/afghans-listen-to-speeches-during-thefinal-campaign-rally-news-photo/1171050742
11. Huylebroek, J. (2019). A view of snow-capped mountains and the lush green valley below where a buddha statue stood. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/18/world/ asia/afghanistan-bamiyan-buddhas.html
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35 BIBLIOGRAPHY.
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15. Kohsar, W. (2021). Hundreds gathered at the cliff, by a network of ancient caves. https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/residents-and-civil-societyactivists-hold-lamps-as-they-news-photo/1231613834?adppopup=true
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