My knowledge and understanding of Buddha and Buddhism has its bases in the discussions my father had with my younger brothers and me when I was six or seven years of age. We would go with our father for evening walk daily. On the way we would see two carved Buddha’s on a rock beside the road. They were about two feet in size. That is the first ever impression of Buddha in my memory. On another occasion my father took us to visit the Buddhist remains at Gulkada. My father would tell us what these structures were and who was Buddha.
I still remember how much I liked those two small carved Buddha’s on the rock and the patterns made of stones on the Stupas at Gulkada. I showed them to my friends with great excitement. I wanted to know more about them. I liked the walls made of stones with beautiful and unique designs. I wanted to express in words what I felt about these unusual structures. I wanted to analyze and criticize them like experts do on TV. But I had no solid notion of what they really were about; it was rather their form that fascinated me most.
Unfortunately I couldn’t give much thought to them because I had to give most of my time to my school studies and I had no subjects related to cultural or historical heritage there. With the passage of time newer and newer subjects were occupying my mind. Still I read a few books on Buddha and sometimes getting a chance to visit some other Buddhist remains in Swat Valley.
As a result of these intermittent studies and tours I came to realize certain ideas about the condition of Buddhist remains in the valley and the attitude of the People and state departments towards them.
Most of the Buddhist sites in Swat Valley are not fully excavated yet. Though work on them was started during the State era about 1950. After their discovery in that time they are left unguarded. There are no boundary walls or fences round them. At most one watchman is appointed for their safety. But one watchman is not sufficient care to save them.
They are not safe from persons involved in the antiques- business. They search these sites for coins, pots and other remains. What is unearthed is further sold to other business men at national and international level. So a lot of evidences that may have been helpful in understanding and unlocking the mystery of these remains and compiling the authentic history of those ancient people are going into illegal hands and scattered places around the world.
Moreover no serious excavation efforts have been seen during the last forty years or so after merger of Swat state with Pakistan. I have seen several partially unearthed sites in the valley but I have neither read about them anywhere nor heard their names in documentaries on ancient remains. So they are in even more danger of being defaced as people may think they are not recorded in the lists of the authorities concerned.
Along with the structural preservation of these remains what is of more importance and urgency to me is shaping the attitude of the common people towards them.
At present the common man of these areas does not have a friendly and tolerant understanding of what all these remains and monuments are about. They have got the wrong notion from somewhere that these strange or odd structures represent idolatry. They name them as Butkhana and "da kafiro korona" meaning infidels-houses. And so they think it as their religious duty to demolish them.
Thus beside illegal diggers this attitude of the people is posing greater threat to the safety of these remains.It is often heard that Mr. so and so has found idols, statues, while constructing his house and has then destroyed them. There are innumerable instances of such acts throughout Gandhara region.
The need is that the common man should be made realize that these are not mere idols but sacred religious monuments of the people of that faith. And that they must give protection and honor to them as they desire for their own religious monuments elsewhere in the world.This shift in people’s attitude if brought about will hopefully be more beneficial than the safety measures taken by the archaeology department.
Things were going in the right direction though when Swat was still a state. “The taking out of the state any antiquities of ancient Buddhist sculptures is strictly forbidden”, writes Mr.George Getley in his book, SWAT-Switzerland of the East published about 1960. And a museum had been established by the ruler of the state for these remains.
The question is that how to bring this change. The answer is through Teachers and Parents. These two are the forces having great influence on the minds of the common man. In my own case I have a tolerant view of the Buddhist remains just because of what my father told me about them. And if supported by Media the results may be more rapid and lasting.
To preserve these ancient remains and promote interfaith harmony the governments of the countries having Buddhist followers in the majority should play a more active role in negotiating this matter with the government of Pakistan and other non government actors. This will be a great contribution to world peace and international understanding.
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