Ancient Buddhist rock carvings in Pakistan vandalized

Fundamentalists and miscreants backed by Pakistan Army have vandalised the archaeologically precious and ancient Buddhist rock carvings by painting slogans on this treasure in the Gilgit Baltistan area that is illegally occupied by Pakistan.

The outrageous action has come on the lines of destruction of the carved statue of Buddha by the Taliban in Bamyan valley of Afghanistan in 2001.

Slogans and Pakistani flags have been painted fresh on the 800 AD Buddhist rock carvings as the pictures posted on social media on Tuesday by some residents of Gilgit Baltistan show traces of the flowing wet paint.

The government on Wednesday expressed strong concern over reports of vandalism, defacement and destruction of ancient Buddhist archaeological sites in Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, “We have conveyed our strong concern at reports of vandalism, defacement and destruction of invaluable Indian Buddhist heritage located in so-called “Gilgit-Baltistan” area of the Indian territory under illegal and forcible occupation of Pakistan.’

The MEA spokesperson also accused Pakistan of trampling the rights of the people living in Gilgit-Baltistan in PoK.

“It is a matter of grave concern that the Buddhist symbols are being destroyed and the religious and cultural rights and freedoms are being trampled with impunity in the Indian territories under illegal occupation of Pakistan,’’ the MEA official stated.

“Egregious activities of this nature which display contempt for the ancient civilizational and cultural heritage, are highly condemnable,” the MEA official stated.

He informed that the Indian government has sought immediate access for its experts to the area in order to restore and preserve this invaluable archaeological heritage.

“We have once again called upon Pakistan to immediately vacate all illegally occupied territories and end gross violation of political, economic and cultural rights of people living there,” he said on behalf of the Government of India. Such carvings are also present in areas along the Indus River in Union Territory of Ladakh but Gilgit-Baltistan is rich in petroglyphs (rock carvings). It is estimated that there are 50,000 pieces of petroglyphs in Gilgit-Baltistan, especially along Karakoram Highway.