[MSN] Residents of the North West Frontier Province have asked a mine owner to stop using dynamite out of fear of damage to the giant Buddha of Jehanabad. The Buddha was mutilated on October 8 and Muslim militants continue to threaten its destruction.

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Priceless Buddha statue threatened by blasts   
 
Resident of the North West Frontier Province have asked a min owner to stop
using dynamite out of fear of damage to the giant Buddha of Jehanabad. The
Buddha was mutilated on October 8 and Muslim militants continue to threaten
its destruction.  
 
  
Monday, December 10, 2007 
PMC  
  
 
Residents of the Babozai village (North West Frontier Province-NWFP) have
asked the owner of a nearby mine to stop using dynamites in the mountains
because doing so put a Buddhist site at risk. The Kashmir Smast (cave), an
important Buddhist site situated in the mountains of the area of NWFP, was
discovered in 1862 and rare antiquities, including statues, coins and
pottery, were recovered from it during excavation, daily Dawn reported on
Nov. 19. The locals said the site was damaged by smugglers who carried out
extensive excavation work and recovered rare antiquities, which were sold in
the country and abroad.


Swat valley of NWFP is famous for its cultural heritage, especially
Ghandaran art and Buddhist monuments, where armed religious militants
recently attacked one of the oldest and most important sculptures of
Buddhist art. According to 'All Things Pakistan,' the giant Buddha of
Jehanabad, in Swat region, was mutilated by extremists on Oct. 8. Since then
there have been renewed calls and attacks by militants on Buddhist relics in
the area.


Dating from around the beginning of the Christian era and carved into a
130-foot-high rock, the seated image of the Buddha was second in importance
in South Asia only to the Bamiyan Buddhas. This, moreover, was the second
attack in less than a month. Murtaza Razvi of Pakistan's Dawn newspaper has
pointed out that the image that was attacked was not in a remote area. In
fact, it was next to the central road that runs through the valley.


Despite repeated requests by Pakistani archeologists to the local
authorities to protect the seated Buddha and other sites, especially after
the first attack, no action was taken, according to The Asian Society of
Nov. 11, 07.
 
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