In another practice to destroy a rock engraved image of the Buddha, militants in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province exploded two devices to blow the rock by calling the image as’ un-Islamic idol. According to the report, a group of militants asked the local people living in the foothills of Swat Valley to vacate the area on Saturday.
They had a plan to blow Buddha’s image but locals said the statue was safe. They exploded two devices that partially damaged the rock but the image remained safe. According to the report publish in the Dawn, local people made it clear that the blast did no harm to Buddha’s image of the Gandhara period (sixth century BC-11th century AD).
A police officer confirmed the blast report and told the Pakistani newspaper that they were not able to go to the site because of the unstable law and order situation in the region. He was quoted in the ‘Dawn’ as saying;
...we are restricted to the police station and could not go to the place.
The historical site is located at the main road that connects the town of Mingora with the tourist resort of Malam Jabba. Mingora was a famous site in the Gandhara civilization whose base ran from the Peshawar valley by crossing the Indus to Taxila in the Punjab.
Dawn further reported that the archaeologists in Pakistan had asked both the federal and provincial governments to take necessary steps to protect the historical site but the government did not take any step till the date. It also reported that the militants have taken control of the Swat Valley and destroyed several CD and video shops, salons and Internet cafes in the region.
