Elias, Jamal J. “(Un) Making Idolatry: From Mecca to Bamiyan.” Future Anterior: Journal of Historic Preservation, History, Theory, and Criticism, vol. 4, no. 2, 2007, pp. 12–29. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25835009. Accessed 1 Mar. 2021.
In the piece (Un)making Idolatry: From Mecca To Bamiyan, author Jamal J. Elias discusses the events leading up to the destruction of the Buddha structures of Bamiyan, the oldest known pre-islamic idol still existing in Taliban controlled land. However, the main argument of Elias’s piece does not lie in the story of what happened to the monumental statues of Buddha, but rather how the story was told after it happened. Specifically, Elias took note of how there was not one professionally published story which told the history of Bamiyan, and its destruction, from the perspective of the Taliban. Although Elias does not support the Taliban, his writing incorporates witness testimony, analysis of Islamic culture, and an eye opening testimony of western media to depict a more balanced and fair image of why the Taliban committed such devastating actions.
The main overlooked reason, Elias discussed, for why the Taliban tore down the Buddhist Idols was the immense pressure put on by the Pakistani Media and Islamic holiday tradition. With regard to the first pressure, that of Pakistani Media, it is important to know that many officials in the Taliban are not only connected to the media, but rely on the media’s resources to survive. In this specific story, Elias brought relevance to Pakistani’s media encouraging these destructive actions in exchange for much needed resources including food and water. They did this because many lunar Islamic holidays were lining up and Pakistan wanted to show the importance of these holidays to show the importance of the Islamic religion. This is not to say, however, that these Taliban members were not on board, they just never had the chance to choose. Further twisting the story, Elias touched on how international media continued to criminalize Taliban actions by making their testimony of the events incomprehensible, furthering the notion that these were ruthless criminal acts with no other motive than being destructive.
Although I do not find the acts of these Taliban men to be anything other than completely condemnable, I enjoy Elias’s piece in the sense that he is shining light on one group’s perspective that has never seen light before. As much as the destruction of Buddha at the Taliban’s hands could be narrowed down to nothing more than historical concealment, Elias showing the world’s media what really happened is a preservation of history in itself. His statements remind us all that actions may be disheveling and brutal, but truth should never be forgotten and removed from history, as consequences proceeding such actions would be much worse.
