In one of the rarest incidents in Afghanistan, a recently found historical object was handed over to the museum in the southeastern province of Khost, last weekend. A tribal elder, Haji Ali Khan, found the relic in the Sur Kakh area of Spera district and handed it to the governor, who presented it to the Khost Museum at a ceremony. Governor Abdul Jabbar Naeemi appreciated this action by the elder and insisted that such artifacts represent the rich and valuable history of Afghan culture and they must be preserved in an appropriate manner.
As a matter of fact, many years of civil wars and clashes have had severe impacts on Afghanistan's socio-political scenario. These wars and clashes have influenced the country in so many different ways. There have not been losses only in life and blood but in culture, tradition and values, as well. It is believed that for a civilization to flourish, it is necessary that there should be peace, tranquility and stability. Unfortunately Afghanistan has suffered in this regard.
Though there has been relative peace and stability and there have been efforts to reestablish the Afghan society after the downfall of Taliban, a lot more has to be achieved to make a real difference in Afghan society. It is necessary, at the present scenario, that Afghanistan must have a sense of national integration and harmony. It must be reiterated for the people of Afghanistan that they once had a rich culture and civilization and they had times in their history that knew nothing of violence and terrorism and a relatively peaceful and rich civilization flourished on their land.
Moreover, this should be insisted for them that they have to preserve the traces and remains of their rich history that should help the new generations realize the worth of their history and tradition. Unfortunately such insistence is very rare to see in the society where most of the discussions are centered on clashes and terrorism.
It is really unfortunate to note that the members of Afghan society themselves have not been very much careful about the rich traditional remains and artifacts. There have been culprits even from within Afghan authorities who have been involved in the filthy business of selling their traditional treasures.
Moreover, the instability and the absence of a particular system to take care of such treasures also play a negative role in this regard.
It is also unfortunate to note that Taliban, during their rule in the country, played a negative role regarding the preservation of the rich Afghan tradition.
The destruction of the Buddha of Bamiyan in this regard was clear indication that Taliban had not respect for the historical wealth and they considered them to be the remains of the non-Islamic civilization. However, they forgot the fact that they depicted the truth about the history of Afghanistan and they also depicted a more peaceful and tranquil era.
It is also important to note that the foreigners have been more helpful for Afghanistan to keep alive its tradition and history and have assisted Afghanistan in this regard to a great extent. The recovery of the hundreds of valuable artifacts a couple of months earlier could not have been possible without the support of the British government and British Museum and the generous contributions from different donors which made the purchase of the artifacts possible.
The insensitive attitude of the Afghan authorities themselves in this regard is unfortunate and the government needs to play a tremendous role to make sure that they themselves start guarding their tradition and culture. Definitely, there have been many other problems, more basic in nature, for Afghans to ponder upon and spend time on but now when they are in a better position they must play their role; otherwise, the growing insecurity will weaken the capability of Afghan authorities to guard their relic, artifacts and tradition.