KP Police arrest offenders involved in vandalising ancient Buddha statue

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police have arrested offenders involved in smashing an antique Gandharan Buddha statue in Mardan, Adviser to KP Chief Minister on Information and Public Relations Kamran Khan Bangash has said.

In a Twitter update, the CM’s aide also said that an FIR has been lodged against the culprits under the Antiquities Act. Under the Act, demolition of archaeological sites is illegal.

Breaking News: All offenders who were seen smashing an antique Gandharan Buddhist statue in Mardan have been arrested by KP Police and an FIR has been lodged against them under relevant sections of the Antiquity Act 2016 (Photos courtesy Directorate of Archaeology KP) pic.twitter.com/B8EsB6sdFm

— Kamran Khan Bangash PK82 🇵🇰 (@kamrankbangash) July 18, 2020

The ruling party’s official Twitter handle also shared the update and said that the remaining parts of the Buddha have been recovered by the Mardan Police.

Culprits involved in damaging the Buddha statue in Mardan have been arrested by @KP_Police1 and the remaining parts of the Buddha have been recovered by the Mardan Police. #KPKUpdates pic.twitter.com/nbl0vkm3K0

— PTI (@PTIofficial) July 18, 2020

Read more – After Kartarpur, Pakistan is ready to welcome Buddhist pilgrims

According to reports, the statue was discovered by locals while construction work was being done in a village near Takht-i-Bahi Tehsil in Mardan District. Situated 80km from the provincial capital Peshawar, Takht-i-Bahi is an important site for Buddhist archaeological remains dating back nearly 2,000 years.

In a video, which is being widely circulated on social media, several men are seen smashing the Buddha with a sledgehammer and congratulating each other for doing so.

Preliminary reports suggested that the locals smashed the Buddha at the behest of a local maulvi sahab who advised them to smash the statue or else they would lose their imaan (faith) and their nikkah would become invalid. However, Director Archeology Dr Abdul Samad Khan has said that the Buddha was broken due to lack of knowledge.

Dr Samad added that the statue belonged to the Gandhara civilisation and was approximately 1,700 years old.

Meanwhile, Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry condemned the act.

If progressive people of Pakistan remains silent observers and neutral all hopes of progressive and modern Pakistan ll be dashed, social degradation is immense and silence is not an option unless you want this society to be as dead as graveyard….. https://t.co/bdHul4F0HI

— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) July 18, 2020

Actor Ali Rehman Khan also expressed his outrage at the incident.

I’m also angry to see clerics abuse power by spreading false omens in the name of religion. when will we learn? When will learn the difference between faith and preservation? 😒

— Ali Rehman Khan (@alirehmankhan) July 18, 2020