‘Our views can be different on politics but not on shared cultural heritage’: Afghan Minister Khairullah

Shazia Mehboob

Peshawar: ‘There can be differences in our views on politics but the entire world has a shared cultural heritage. Like the rest of the world, our approach towards historical sites is pro-archaeology, and we want the international community to visit our heritage sites and assist us in their preservation and conservation’.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Directorate of Archaeology and Museums Director Dr Abdul Samad quoted Afghan Minister of Information and Culture Mullah Khairullah Khairkhwa as saying during his recent meeting in Kabul.

The Afghan cultural minister gave the assurance that they would provide all security measures for the visitors and Dr Abdul Samad shared his exchange with Khairullah Khairkhwa.

Dr Samad was invited by the Afghan government to get his advice on preserving and conserving the rich Afghan heritage, including the Buddhist site of Mes Aynek, a 2,000-year-old Buddhist city, and beneath it lies the world’s largest copper deposit.

The Afghan government wants to do mining there as well as preserve the archaeological site. For that purpose, they have set up an advisory board and I’m a member of it, Dr Samad said while talking to ThePenPK.com.

Afghanistan has an abundance of archaeological sites, he added. Regardless of their hard impression, he was amazed to see their heart-warming and welcoming response. “This was my first visit to Afghanistan and I was very well received. The Afghan people had a very good attitude,” as Dr Samad recounted his experiences.It is pertinent to mention here that this was the first official visit to Afghanistan conducted by any Pakistani archaeologist since the 1960s.

Director Samad was really impressed by Afghanistan’s archaeological wealth. “I had a memorable visit to Afghanistan, and I am delighted to report that the present government in Afghanistan has decided to support the preservation and conservation of all archaeological sites in their country in letter and spirit. This is an extremely exciting and favourable development,” he informed.

Regarding security issues, the noted Pakistani archaeologist said there were no security issues because he was roaming at different heritage sites independently. “I also met the Cultural Deputy MinisterAtiqullahAzizi and he wished to collaborate with Pakistan, especially with the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, towards initiating a cultural exchange programme so that they could learn from that and implement it in Afghanistan,” Director Abdul Samad stated.

Currently, the Aga Khan Trust is working on a project to conserve and excavate heritage sites in Afghanistan. Aga Khan Trust for Culture Afghanistan Chief Executive Officer (CEO) AjmalMaiwandi has done a great job there, including his current work on the excavation and conservation of Bala Hissar, Kabul, where work is progressing rapidly, the Pakistani archaeologist observed.

There are many other heritage sites, including Mashin Khana, Bagh-e Babur and Bamyan, where excavation work is currently going on. “Given our shared ancient Buddhist and Islamic heritage, I see great potential for future collaboration with Afghanistan,” he observed.

From prehistoric times to Buddhist civilization, Hindu civilization and the British Colonial Era, monuments from all these time periods are present there, the Director of Archaeology informed.

Photo Credit: Dr Abdul Samad