• Home
  • Politics
  • News
  • Business
  • Health
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
  • Education
  • Opinion
Saturday, 1 April, 2023
  • Login
topfmonline.com
 
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Education
  • Technology
  • Foreign
No Result
View All Result
topfmonline.com
No Result
View All Result
Home Foreign

Afghanistan museum reopens, with Taliban security

TOPFM NEWS by TOPFM NEWS
December 7, 2021
in Foreign
A A
0
Afghanistan museum reopens, with Taliban security
0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Taliban, which came to power in August, allows the National Museum of Afghanistan to reopen, showcasing the country’s ‘rich history’.

The National Museum of Afghanistan is open once again and the Taliban, whose members once smashed their way through the facility destroying irreplaceable pieces of the country’s national heritage, now guard the building located in the capital Kabul.

Currently, about 50-100 people visit the museum each day, some of them Taliban members.

The museum, which hosts artefacts from the Paleolithic period to the 20th century, reopened just more than a week ago for the first time since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in mid-August amid the chaotic withdrawal of US and NATO troops.

Its director, Mohammad Fahim Rahimi, and his staff have so far been allowed to continue in their positions although they, like many of Afghanistan’s civil servants, have not received salaries since August.

Afghanistan has been facing a banking crisis in the wake of the United States freezing billions of dollars in Afghan assets and international financial institutions cutting funding for Afghan projects.

Only the security guards have changed, Rahimi said, with Taliban now replacing the police contingent who used to guard the building and providing female security guards to check visiting women.

Power cuts are frequent and the museum’s generator has broken down, leaving many of the exhibition rooms plunged into darkness.

On Friday, several Taliban, some with assault rifles dangling from their shoulder, were among visitors using the lights of their mobile phones to peer into display cases of ancient ceramics and 18th-century weapons.

“This is from our ancient history, so we came to see it,” said Taliban fighter Mansoor Zulfiqar, a 29-year-old originally from Khost province in southeastern Afghanistan who has now been appointed a security guard at the Interior Ministry.

“I’m very happy,” he said of his first visit to the museum, marvelling at his country’s national heritage.

Zulfiqar said he had spent 12 years in Kabul’s notorious Pul-e-Charkhi prison, Afghanistan’s largest. While there, he said, someone had told him about the museum and he dreamed of the day when the Taliban would rule Afghanistan again and he would be able to visit the museum.

During its first stint in power during the 1990s, the Taliban ransacked the museum, smashing priceless statues, especially those it considered un-Islamic. One of such artefact, the remnants of a limestone statue believed to be of a king dating from the second century, stands at the entrance to the museum building, now restored by experts from France and the museum’s own restoration department.

In 2001, the Taliban destroyed two giant sixth-century Buddha statues carved into a cliff-face in Bamiyan in central Afghanistan on orders from Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, a move that met international outrage.

So, as the Taliban swept through Afghanistan earlier this year, taking province after province, there were grave concerns that a similar fate awaited the country’s cultural heritage, especially anything from pre-Islamic times. So far at least, this has not appeared to be the case.

Saifullah, a 40-year-old Taliban member from Wardak province and teacher in a religious school said he believed the 2001 destruction of artefacts in the museum had been carried out by lower-ranking Taliban members without orders from top-ranking officials.

Touring the museum for the first time, Saifullah, who goes by one name, said he would encourage his students, some of whom were now guards at the museum, to visit the National Museum of Afghanistan.

“Generations can learn from this, and what we had in the past,” he said. “We have a rich history.”

Perhaps Afghanistan’s new government now agrees with the inscription engraved on a plaque outside the museum building’s entrance: “A nation stays alive when its culture stays alive.”

Afghanistan National Museum
Afghanistan National Museum
A labelled artefact lies on a table in a conservation room at the museum. [Petros Giannakouris/AP Photo]
Afghanistan National Museum
Taliban fighter Mansoor Zulfiqar, left, visits the museum. [Petros Giannakouris/AP Photo]
Afghanistan National Museum
A museum staffer stands next to a 16th-century grey marble basin found in Kandahar. [Petros Giannakouris/AP Photo]
Afghanistan National Museum
Silver coins and a ceramic pot from the Gaznvied period, which ran from 977 to 1186 CE are on display. [Petros Giannakouris/AP Photo]
Afghanistan National Museum
Taliban Fighter Mansoor Zulfiqar, 29, exits the museum. [Petros Giannakouris/AP Photo]

Advertisement

Afghanistan National Museum
Visitors walk in front of a second-century limestone in Bactrian Language on a Greek script in the museum. [Petros Giannakouris/AP Photo]
A conservator works at the facility. [Petros Giannakouris/AP Photo]
Afghanistan National Museum
Conservator Mohammad Name Noorzai works at the museum. [Petros Giannakouris/AP Photo]

Related Posts

Kamala Harris lists Sarkodie, Kuami Eugene, Black Sherif and others in Africa trip playlist

Kamala Harris lists Sarkodie, Kuami Eugene, Black Sherif and others in Africa trip playlist

March 28, 2023
1
Bola Tinubu’s travel abroad is for him to rest – Spokesperson

Bola Tinubu’s travel abroad is for him to rest – Spokesperson

March 23, 2023
0
Source: Aljazeera
Via: Aljazeera
Tags: AfghanistanKabulTaliban
Previous Post

Hackers increasingly target Canada key infrastructure – Spy agency

Next Post

Rohingya sue Facebook for $150bn for fueling Myanmar hate speech

Related Posts

Kamala Harris lists Sarkodie, Kuami Eugene, Black Sherif and others in Africa trip playlist
Entertainment

Kamala Harris lists Sarkodie, Kuami Eugene, Black Sherif and others in Africa trip playlist

March 28, 2023
1
Bola Tinubu’s travel abroad is for him to rest – Spokesperson
Foreign

Bola Tinubu’s travel abroad is for him to rest – Spokesperson

March 23, 2023
0
Former Pope Benedict XVI dies at 95
Foreign

Former Pope Benedict XVI dies at 95

December 31, 2022
2
China to end Covid quarantine for foreign arrivals
Foreign

China to end Covid quarantine for foreign arrivals

December 26, 2022
0
Pope Francis calls for end to ‘senseless’ war in Ukraine
Foreign

Pope Francis calls for end to ‘senseless’ war in Ukraine

December 26, 2022
2
Ukraine war: Drone attack on Russian bomber base leaves three dead
Foreign

Ukraine war: Drone attack on Russian bomber base leaves three dead

December 26, 2022
0
Next Post
Rohingya sue Facebook for $150bn for fueling Myanmar hate speech

Rohingya sue Facebook for $150bn for fueling Myanmar hate speech

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

BROWSE BY CATEGORIES

  • Business
  • Education
  • Entertainment
  • Foreign
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Technology
  • Uncategorized

BROWSE BY TOPICS

2022 Budget Afghanistan akufo addo Amazon Apiate explosion apple AT&T Black Stars covid COVID-19 COVID 19 E-Levy facebook Fuel Ghana Police Service Google Government health Intel iphone Mahama Majority Microsoft Minority momo NDC news NLC NPP Nvidia OMICRON Parliament police Russia security South Africa Taliban tech Tesla twitter US UTAG vaccine vaccines Xinjiang

Recent Posts

  • New revenue bills approval: Your walkout won’t affect us – Majority tells minority
  • Bawumia Must Win (BMW) Agenda Campaign Launched
  • Prove Seth Terkper’s authorisation for Letters of Credits – Judge tells Ato Forson
  • We’ll vote against govt’s new tax bills – Mahama Ayariga
  • ECG releases nationwide ‘Dumsor’ timetable

Recent Comments

No comments to show.

RECENT NEWS

  • New revenue bills approval: Your walkout won’t affect us – Majority tells minority March 31, 2023
  • Bawumia Must Win (BMW) Agenda Campaign Launched March 31, 2023
  • Prove Seth Terkper’s authorisation for Letters of Credits – Judge tells Ato Forson March 31, 2023
  • We’ll vote against govt’s new tax bills – Mahama Ayariga March 31, 2023

MAIN CATEGORIES

  • Business
  • Education
  • Entertainment
  • Foreign
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Technology
  • Uncategorized

Entertainment

US Veep Kamala Harris hails impact of medical drone delivery in Ghana
Health

US Veep Kamala Harris hails impact of medical drone delivery in Ghana

4 days ago
1
  • ABOUT US
  • CONTACT
  • ADVERTISE

© 2023 Top Media Group - Powered by BackUp Data Systems

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Politics
  • News
  • Business
  • Health
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • Lifestyle
  • Education
  • Opinion

© 2023 Top Media Group - Powered by BackUp Data Systems

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In