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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.
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