ONCE upon a time, naturally in Greece, the great Plato claimed that all Greeks were made of gold, the Mediterranean of silver and rest of the humanity of iron. His disciples were amazed and asked humbly as to who would accept such a ridiculous thesis. The great teacher replied, “The present generation will laugh at it, the next generation will start doubting it and the third generation will accept it as the ultimate truth.”
I suppose that is how the historical misconceptions take root and we Pakistanis are the champions of such distorted misconceptions. Some “Plato” of ours floated the idea that Pakistan is castle of Islam and we have been parroting it for the last half-century or so with total conviction without ever bothering to analyze this ridiculous statement.
If there has to be a some sort of castle of Islam why not Saudi Arabia, or for that matter the largest Muslim country in the world Indonesia? Although Turkey and Iran could be close contenders but it has to be Pakistan because once upon a time some “Plato” said so. We thrive upon another great misconception that Pakistan will last till the Day of Judgment without ever realizing that geographical boundaries change over the course of centuries; nothing remains the same, countries, ideologies and even holy convictions. As a matter of fact our day of judgment came on 16the of December 1971, the original Pakistan lasted only till then.
Now I would like to draw your attention to another historical misconception which is very prevalent in the official and art circles; the so called smuggling of Gandhara sculpture and artifacts is a great loss to the cultural heritage of Pakistan. Recently the New York customs authorities confiscated a consignment of Gandhara antiques booked from an Arab country. Immediately Pakistan laid claim to it and demanded that these antiques be returned to the rightful owner, as these were the cultural heritage of our country.
Numerous editorials and letters to the editor mourned the loss of such priceless objects and demanded their immediate return to Pakistan. However the American customs did not co-operate and asked us to furnish solid proof of their ownership in the form of museum catalogues in which these stolen artifacts were listed, as was required under the law. How could we provide any proof of ownership, as there was none? These artifacts did not belong to any museum; I think they were mostly bought from the supermarkets of Gandhara pieces in Swat and NWFP and shipped abroad to the rightful owners. I don’t think it will be out of place if we take a stock of our attitude on the national level towards all art forms, especially sculpture. We are mortally afraid of all forms of sculpture and detest its presence anywhere in our homes or cities. Hence we find horrid missiles and Chaghi replicas littered all over the place, being depicted as our real cultural heritage.
Recently in Lahore’s Defence Housing Authority, a mere relief depicting Pakistani soldiers was vandalized on the pretext that it portrayed human beings, which was sacrilegious. And on top of it, the hooligans who were responsible for this violence, were obliged by the authorities by removing the same and today, there’s a nondescript garbage in its place.
A sculpture of beautifully designed white horses on a city crossing is also under threat, again it is a replica of a living thing hence a grave danger to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
My own mother-in-law, whenever she visited us, always complained, “Mustansar, where do I offer my prayers? Your house is full of these ungodly statues.”
And jokingly I would say, “Ammijee, when you are offering prayers in the nearness of a statue, does that statue attract you and you are tempted to bow before him?” Naturally she scolded me in return.
I am afraid that it is the still breathing Hindu in us and just to deny that he is not there anymore, we oppose all sculptural forms vehemently. Whenever I offer my Fajar prayers in my house, I assure you my small collection of Gandhara sculptures does not bother me a bit, they absolutely do not tempt me to bow before them instead of the Almighty. It is only we Pakistanis who are terrified of any sculptural form, rest of the Muslim world does not feel threatened by these infidel images be it Syria, Indonesia, Turkey or Morocco. Saudi Arabia, however, is an exception. Saudis will adorn their cities with monstrous bicycles, ships, pots and pans, but will not touch anything, which vaguely resembles a living form, even images and photographs are taboo. However, they do not uphold such strict moral code while displaying provocative ladies under garments on headless busty mannequins, easily the sexiest I have ever set my eyes upon.
The mannequins are headless because the face is again a taboo. Besides the Saudis believe that a woman does not have a head, hence they cannot drive or own property etc. The Pakistani hatred of a sculpture was also transmitted to Taliban who were trained and educated in Pakistani seminaries and they displayed it by destroying the most magnificent Buddha statues of Bamiyan, an act of unparalleled madness.
The Afghans for many centuries prized their cultural heritage even. Mahmud of Ghazna, the idol destroyer, did not think of destroying the Bamiyan masterpieces; it was the singular honour of the Pakistani educated Taliban. During the so-called Jihad of Afghanistan, the Mujahideens looted the Jalalbad and Kabul museums, but they did not destroy sculptures which were thousands of years old. They were not that stupid. Instead they smuggled these ancient treasures to Pakistan and made millions.
I have had the opportunity of viewing some of these magnificent pieces, which were latter smuggled out of the country. Please do not ask me to pinpoint the location or the name of the gentleman who offered me such a rare opportunity.
I remember that in times of Zia-Ul-Haq, Ayaz Mir rightly commented that we were not that bad a nation to deserve a Zia-Ul-Haq. Pakistan Television was told to make a documentary on Gandhara art for foreign consumption. However, the showing of any sculpture in this documentary was strictly forbidden. I also remember that some high-ups very passionately defended the decision claiming that showing statues on TV was also un-Islamic. It was like making a documentary on Everest without showing the Everest or asking a player to play tennis without a tennis racket.
After the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas there was a lobby in this country, which suggested that all the statues on display in our museums be removed, and there was a rumour that the famous classic of Gandhara ,the fasting Buddha could become a target for the purification of land of pure.
How can such a society claim that artifacts and sculptures smuggled out of the country are our cultural heritage and demand its return? I have visited most of the Gandhara sites in Pakistan and they are in bad shape. There are numerous villages in Swat whose inhabitants deal in Gandhara objects although most of them are homemade. These people really know the value of these antiques and hide them from the Mullas roaming around, hell-bent on finding them and destroying them. Thanks to the local and foreign buyers, these poverty stricken areas make a decent although from the government point of view, illegal living. In bargain these objects either land in some collector’s drawing room or are shifted abroad. In both cases they are at least saved from an idol destroying society.
Am I advocating the so-called smuggling of Gandhara antiques? In a way I am, what would a villager do if he finds a rare Gandhara piece while digging his land or a nearby site? Throw it away or destroy it. Once an old man from these areas approached me, he had two fabulous Gandhara pieces wrapped in a blanket, I sent him to a Lahore museum official. The official regretted that the museum could not buy these pieces because already there are hundreds of such sculptures lying around in a cellar for the lack of space to exhibit them. Now what could that patriotic old man do, naturally sell it to the first private buyer who approaches him.
Let the Gandhara sculpture be smuggled out of the country so that it is safely kept in some foreign collection or in some museum so that when a time comes, if it comes at all when we realize the importance of our cultural heritage at least we can take pride that it is still intact somewhere in the world.
If you ask me, I would suggest that the Fasting Buddha should also be dispatched to Japan or America for safekeeping.
ONCE upon a time, naturally in Greece, the great Plato claimed that all Greeks were made of gold, the Mediterranean of silver and rest of the humanity of iron. His disciples were amazed and asked humbly as to who would accept such a ridiculous thesis. The great teacher replied, “The present generation will laugh at it, the next generation will start doubting it and the third generation will accept it as the ultimate truth.”
