The Taliban are selling tickets for people to see monuments they’ve destroyed

The Taliban are selling tickets for people to see monuments they’ve destroyed.

For hundreds of years, two monumental 6th-century Buddha statues stood proudly over the city of Bamian; the capital of Bamyan Province in central Afghanistan.

The statues were carved into the side of a cliff; the larger named ‘Salsal’, which means ‘the light shines through the universe’, and the smaller dubbed ‘Shahmama’, or ‘Queen Mother’.

Authorities have set up a ticket office at the foot of the larger of the two figures, where they charge Afghans 58 cents and foreigners $3.45 (₹282) to visit, Washington Post reported. In 2001, Taliban founder Mullah Omar declared the Buddhas false gods and announced plans to destroy them. Despite relentless pursuance from around the world, the Taliban detonated explosives and fired antiaircraft guns to smash the immense sixth-century reliefs to pieces, as the world watched.

Why this change of heart?

Amid Taliban administration’s vying for legitimacy from the rest of the world, Afghanistan is currently undergoing a massive economic crisis. The Taliban see the Buddha remnants as a potentially lucrative source of revenue and are working to draw tourism around the site.

In 2001, Taliban founder Mullah Omar declared the Buddhas false gods and announced plans to destroy them. Despite relentless pursuance from around the world, the Taliban detonated explosives and fired antiaircraft guns to smash the immense sixth-century reliefs to pieces, as the world watched.

Why this change of heart?

Amid Taliban administration’s vying for legitimacy from the rest of the world, Afghanistan is currently undergoing a massive economic crisis. The Taliban see the Buddha remnants as a potentially lucrative source of revenue and are working to draw tourism around the site.