Scorched Churches and Cancelled Statues: Canada’s Story of Destruction Since 2021

Commentary The giant Buddhas of Bamiyan were built in the fifth century. Those revered statues were blown up in 2001. Afghanistan’s Ministry of Virtue and Vice was instructed to destroy the Buddha statues “by any means available” and so they used dynamite. That destruction order spread out to hundreds of relics across the country. More than 2,700 artworks were destroyed at the National Museum. Afghanistan’s  religious leaders stated that the Buddhist objects had to be “smashed” because they were “contrary to Islam.” One official explained that right-thinking Afghan people “do not need these statues.” Canadian leaders spoke out in 2001. The Department of Foreign Affairs issued a strong condemnation against the Taliban government and urged  “tolerance.” At the same time The Globe and Mail called the Afghan events “cultural vandalism.” The Edmonton Journal called them “barbarism against history and culture.” And The Ottawa Citizen lamented that Afghanistan was “ruled by savages and religious apes and fanatics.” Any approval of the Taliban wreckage was unthinkable....