Mob storms National Museum in Maldives, destroys Buddhist statues in Male’
Posted on February 10th, 2012
ByƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Hawwa LubnaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ On February 9, 2012 @ 8:36 PM InƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Society,Travel & ArtsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
Several historical artifacts exhibited at the Maldives National Museum, including Buddhist statues were destroyed in a mob attack on Wednesday morning, an act of vandalism that is said to have caused ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-unimaginable damageƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ to the treasured Maldivian heritage.
Speaking to Minivan News, a museum official said that a group of five to six men stormed into the building twice, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-deliberately targeted the Buddhist relics and ruins of monasteries exhibited in the pre- Islamic collection, destroying most items ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-beyond repairƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.
The official said that the details of the damage cannot be released as the police have asked the museum to withhold the information until the investigation into the attack is pending.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”But I can say that attackers have done unimaginable damage,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ he added.
ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-This is not like a glass we use at home that can be replaced by buying a new one from a shop. These are originals from our ancestorsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ time. These cannot be replaced ever again,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ the official exclaimed.
According to a source, a coral stone head of Lord Buddha, an 11th century piece recovered from Thoddoo in Alifu Atoll, was smashed up by the attackers, one of the most significant pieces at the museum inside SultanƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Park.
The museum was built with Chinese government aid and opened on July 26, 2010.
Other pieces vandalised include the Bohomala sculptures, monkey statues and a broken statue piece of the Hindu water god, Makara, while the two five faced statues discovered from MaleƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ were also damaged ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” the only remaining archaeological evidence proving the existence of a Buddhist era in the Maldives.
The glass casings holding the items were also destroyed in the attack.
According to the museum official, some of the attackers who returned to the museum for the second time were apprehended by the police who arrived on the scene.
ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Around five to six people were taken under police custody. But by then they had already done the damage they wanted,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ he observed.
Minivan News could get the confirmation on the arrest from the police at the time of press.
The attack on the museum coincided with the political unrest that escalated in MaleƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ on late hours of Tuesday night, after a group of policeman and military allegedly joined the opposition protestors, forcing Former President Mohamed Nasheed to resign the following day.
AFP reported Nasheed as saying that the vandals included Islamist hardliners who had attacked the museum because they believed some of the statues inside were ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-idolatrousƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.
The monuments gifted by the South Asian countries to the Maldives ahead of the 17thƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ summit of South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation SAARC, hosted in Addu city were also denounced as idolatrous monuments and vandalised, including the monument gifted by Pakistan.
Removal of the contentious monuments was one of the five demands of the December 23 protesters, including religious groups and opposition, who also demanded that the government prohibit Israeli airlines from operating in the Maldives.
The museum official who spoke to Minivan News earlier said that he cannot comment on whether the attack was connected to fundamentalists.
ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”We are not trying to promote any religion here. These artifacts are used for the purpose of teaching, archeological research and showing Maldivian history to visitors,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ he explained. ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-But a significant part of our heritage is lost now.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚
February 10th, 2012 at 9:49 pm
Intolerance of other religions is all too common in Islamic societies. They succeeded in erasing almost the entirety of the Buddhist Pre-Islamic identity of the Maldives.
Maldives Taliban should be handled decisively. This is similar to Afghan Taliban destroying Bhamian Buddhist statues in 2001, just months before the war that killed over 500,000 Afghans began. A similar catastrophe awaits the Maldives.
February 11th, 2012 at 9:46 am
islamic fundementalism propagated by Saudi Arabia at the behest of their masters in the west is to destabilise societies.It is part and parcel of the divide and rule policy. The others being minority Rights ,( Majority has no Rights),Human Rights that they blatantly abuse as and when necessary, NGOs funded by the west etc which do the bidding at their behest. The problems in the middle east so called Arab Spring has exposed the final effect to be exploitation. Iraqui Oil/Libyan oil are already being shared.by the western oil giants. , in egypt the status co remains. Until such time people refuse to be suckers this destruction will continue.
February 17th, 2012 at 12:02 am
Religious fanaticism and aggressive behavior have been raked up for political purposes during the last months.
The result is that nothing is safe in Maldives anymore, not only the respect for the recently-established political institutions, but also the respect for the nation’s own history.
I think that nothing stands between the historical remains of Maldives and Maldivians wanting to deliberately destroy their historical heritage. I am not optimistic, probably in the next political scuffle more historical museum artifacts will be destroyed.