Workers vandalise ‘unIslamic’ Buddha statue discovered in Pakistan’s Mardan
Islamabad: A Buddha statue, which was recently discovered while digging the foundation for a house in Pakistan’s Pashtun-dominated Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s Mardan district, was smashed by local workers as they considered it to be unislamic, media reports said.
The video of the destruction of the statue has gone viral online.
The statue was discovered in Mardan’s Takht Bhai area, which was a part of the Gandhara civilisation, while the workers were digging to lay the foundation for the under-construction house, reports Hindustan Times.
In the video, the workers could be seen damafging the statue with sledgehammers.
Takht Bhai is known for its relics.
#WATCH :Buddha statue discovered in Pakistan’s Mardan vandalised by workers.
— The Voice Of Liberty (@VOLFdotTV) July 19, 2020
BECAUSE MAULVI THREATENED THE WORKERS TO BE CHEATED ON IN LOVE LIFE & OF HELL If they didn’t destroy the ‘unIslamic’ statue. #Buddha #Pakistan #Mardan #volftv #Maulvi #BREAKING #BuddhaStatue pic.twitter.com/92K5ADjN5M
It was a part of the Gandhara civilisation.
Meanwhile a report in Dawn on Sunday said all four men accused of vandalising the life-size Buddha statue were arrested on Saturday.
According to Dawn, Police sprang into action when a video went viral on social media showing a man smashing the half-buried statue with a hammer as the other men looked on.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Archaeology and Museums Director Dr Abdul Samad said disrespecting any religion was intolerable and damaging the statue was a crime. He said it belonged to the Gandhara civilisation and was at least 1,700 years old, the newspaper reported.
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