Mining threatens new Afghan Buddhas (audio)

David Leveille, TheWorld.org (Geo Quiz, Nov. 9, 2012); ZenPundit; Wisdom Quarterly

A gold-plated seated Buddha overlooks China's impending MCC mine (Brent E. Huffman/CNN).

  

CIA's Taliban demolishing Buddha (CNN/XTL)

For [The World's] "Geo Quiz" picture: a golden Buddha sitting atop a mountain of copper [gold, and rare earth minerals]. We’re looking for one of the largest underground copper deposits in the world. It’s in an eastern province of Afghanistan southeast of Kabul.

A Chinese company has purchased the right to mine the site. And cash-strapped Afghanistan stands to reap billions of dollars in revenue from the deal. But there’s a hitch.

(TheAbdaliBacha) Filmmaker Brent E. Huffman addresses the effort to save an ancient Buddhist archeological site from Chinese mining interests.

  

Bamiyan Buddha (culturalpropertylaw)

There’s an ancient Buddhist monastery [the oldest known and perhaps the most magnificent, situated near Siddhartha's birthplace, the actual Kapilavastu] there and the site is full of centuries old Buddha statues and artifacts.
  

Mining operations threaten all of them, and archaeologists are scrambling to save what they can. So which is more important? The copper representing Afghanistan’s economic potential -- or the Buddhas representing its cultural heritage?
  

For now just tackle this simpler question: Name the site where ancient Buddhas may soon be destroyed by a copper mine that’s set to start operations in December [2012]. Answer + Photos + Video

• Afghanistan's Vanishing Buddhas (Foreign Policy)
• Brent E. Huffman is a documentary filmmaker and assistant professor at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern Univ. He started making a film about the Mes Aynak site in the summer of 2011 thinking he would be documenting the site before it was demolished and recording the process of rescue archeology. Now he hopes he can use his film to raise awareness to actually save Mes Aynak. 

Posted in: Afghan,afghanistan,ancient india,bamiyan,central asia,china,CNN,Mes Aynak,military-industrial complex,mining,PRI The World,public radio,shakya goldsmith caste,Shakyamuni,the real Kapilavastu