Sunday, February 26

Maldives lose their Buddhist History

First the story.

Islamists stormed the the Madives’ National Museum and destroyed the entire collection of 12th Century Buddhist relics. At the Maldives’ National Museum, smashed Buddhist statues are testament to the rise of Islamic extremism and Taliban-style intolerance in a country famous as a laid-back holiday destination.

“They have effectively erased all evidence of our Buddhist past,” a senior museum official told AFP at the now shuttered building in the capital Male, asking not to be named out of fear for his own safety.

“We lost all our 12th century statues. They were made of coral stone and limestone. They are very brittle and there is no way we can restore them,” he explained.

“I wept when I heard that the entire display had gone. We are good Muslims and we treated these statues only as part of our heritage. It is not against Islam to display these exhibits,” he said.

People who forget the past are condemned to repeat it. But then, welcome to Salafi Islam. This is what these obscurantists have done to a wonderful religion. They have reduced it to an image of violent barbaric behaviour. Good for them. Very soon, their lives will be reduced to a black and white, unemotional barren desert. The Prophet would be weeping at the thought of what these barbarians have wrought on the message he delivered to the world.

Also, just like Greece, Maldives lives for tourism. So its good to hear that mindless violence like this is going to really make tourists visit this country as well. bah

I didn't even know that Maldives had a Buddhist past, but I guess it wont be allowed to be even spoken about now. Tragic. I am just waiting for the pyramids and other pre Islamic art in Egypt to be destroyed..

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