Author:
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: March 16, 2001
Indraprasth, March 16 (HT Correspondent)
- Two members of the Taliban council that passed the edict calling for
the destruction of Buddha statues in Afghanistan's Bamiyan province were
Pakistani nationals, say diplomatic sources here. Analysts say this may
mean Islamabad, despite its pleas to the Taliban regime not to destroy
the statues, tacitly gave a green signal to the edict.
The Taliban have two theological
councils, or shura. The theological council, Dar ul Ifta, has five to seven
members. It was this shura, at the instance of the hardline Taliban Justice
Minister Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, which past the edict calling for the
breaking of "all statues and idols." But two of the council members are
Pakistanis and they each head two fundamentalist Islamic groups based in
that country.
According to a diplomatic source
both these Pakistani groups have ''well-known links with the Pakistani
establishment.'' Analysts say it is unlikely that Islamabad's military
and intelligence establishment would not, therefore, have known about the
vote or been in a position to influence the vote. In fact the members of
the Dar ul Ifta voted unanimously in favour of the edict.
Reports of Islamabad's links to
the Taliban edict are surfacing at a time when the Pakistani Foreign Minister
Abdul Sattar is in Tokyo trying to persuade Japan to resume financial aid
to Islamabad. It would mean Mr Sattar's 'regrets' over the Taliban edict
are the diplomatic equivalent of crocodile tears.
Most Japanese are Buddhists and
Tokyo was at the forefront of international efforts to try and save the
statues. ''Incidentally Pakistan was initially reluctant to issue any statement
critical of the Taliban edict,'' say the diplomatic sources.
