US to return smuggled Buddha sculpture to Pakistan

[Edevelop]

A Buddha sculpture that was smuggled from Swat to the United States in 1980s will be returned to Pakistan on Thursday.

The rare sculpture is worth more than $1.1 million, a private news channel reported.

A ceremony pertaining to the return of the smuggled unique figure is going to be organised in District Attorney General Office in New York’s (NY) Manhattan on Thursday.

The statue was exhibited at an art exhibition in New York for sale.

Last year, customs officials held a passenger with a Gandhara-era artefact from Benazir Bhutto International Airport (BBIA).

Khan Zafar Ali, a Pakistani-origin German national, was carrying eight statues of Buddha. The passenger was booked for Turkey on a private airline but was intercepted and taken into custody after the statues were found in his luggage.

The artefacts were sent to the Department of Archaeology and Museums, which said one of the statues was an original Gandhara-era artefact, while the rest were replicas.

Pillage of history

A customs official said the original statue was worth Rs1 million locally and around Rs1 billion in the international market. “Mixing originals with replicas is a popular trick among smugglers of archaeological artefacts,” he said.

The Gandhara civilisation existed in what is now the Potohar region, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Afghanistan from 1500 BCE to around 500 CE.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/1092990/us-to-return-smuggled-buddha-sculpture-to-pakistan/

 

[Kompromat]

Such artifacts can't be measured in money terms. We thank the US for returning this piece of history to its ancestral land.

 

[Neutron]

A good gesture from US.

 

[my2cents]

Such artifacts can't be measured in money terms. We thank the US for returning this piece of history to its ancestral land.

I would love to see some these beautiful artifacts. Any chance these artifacts will be displayed in your museums.

 

[Jungibaaz]

Buddhism has a long and ancient history in Pakistan, too bad it is neglected like a lot of our history, this is good news nonetheless.

 

[LeGenD]

Good gesture from the US. Bring it to Lahore Museum.

 

[PaklovesTurkiye]

@risingsinga

 

[Kompromat]

Definitely, Taxila museum has it all.

I would love to see some these beautiful artifacts. Any chance these artifacts will be displayed in your museums.

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

Very nice gesture.

 

[The Sandman]

WOW that's good

 

[Mentee]

ancestral land.

 

[aamirzs]

 

[Crixus]

Really want to visit Taxila once in my life if got a chance being Indian they may not allow me ... but the Taxila university has given a lot to sub continent want to sit for some time there ...may trust and peace prevails and people like me from both sides get chance to visit their desired places ... I am kind of history lovers and Pakistan has a lot to offer people like me

Definitely, Taxila museum has it all.

 

[Pakistani E]

Thank you USA, unlike other countries who flaunt the stolen histories of other nations under the guise of "protection". Much appreciated. I hope now we can not only put it on exhibition but also teach our younger generations the rich and beautiful history of this ancient land. Our history is as old and important as those of other ancient civilizations. Hopefully we'll learn to own it a lot more than than we already do.

 

[Edevelop]

US returns ancient Buddhist sculpture stolen decades ago from Pakistan

NEW YORK: An ancient stone sculpture of Buddha's footprints that was smuggled into the United States and had been expected to sell for more than $1 million was returned to the government of Pakistan on Wednesday.

The piece, called a Buddhapada, was taken from Swat, a region rich in Buddhist history decades ago. It was returned by New York prosecutors to Pakistani Deputy Chief of Mission Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, who said it will remain in the city for the time being and may be exhibited at a museum.

Sheikh said the Buddhapada, weighing nearly 500 pounds, was "an important element of the cultural history of Pakistan" and he was relieved to have it returned.

Pakistan's US Deputy Chief of Mission Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, center, accompanied by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., left, and Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos, speaks during a news conference in the office of the Manhattan District Attorney, Wednesday, April 27, 2016.—AP


A Japanese antiquities dealer pleaded guilty last month to criminal possession of stolen property in a scheme to smuggle it into the US.

Tatsuzo Kaku made the plea in exchange for a $5,000 fine and a sentence of time served and left the country voluntarily. He said he shipped the 2nd-century Buddhapada from Tokyo to New York to sell it at a gallery, where it was expected to fetch $1.1 million.

He said he knew it had been excavated and removed from the Swat River valley in 1982.

See: Third century BC stupa discovered at ancient Buddhist site

He said in court that, while he stood to benefit financially, he also was motivated by a lifelong desire to preserve such works for fear they would fall into disrepair or be destroyed if they remained in Pakistan. Scholars and art historians say there's little truth to the argument.

Unesco initiated a program more than a decade ago with funds from the US to preserve images of Buddha and other works found in the region.

During the time the Buddhapada was stolen, there were no major threats to any archaeological sites, said Muhammad Zahir, an assistant professor at Hazara University who works in the Swat valley.

Homeland Security Investigations New York Special Agent in Charge Angel Melendez, left, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., center, and Pakistan's US Deputy Chief of Mission Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, pose an ancient Buddhist sculpture during a news conference in Vance's offices, in New York, Wednesday, April 27, 2016.—AP


Even when the Taliban was present in 2009, the government of Pakistan had plans to protect or remove ancient Buddhist art from the valley and safely moved museum artifacts during military operations to combat the Taliban, he said.

Zahir said in an email from Pakistan that a far more realistic reason for the looting was the demand in the western and southeast Asian markets for Buddhist art from the region.

The repatriated piece is a large stone slab with columns and two large footprints. Within the footprints are symbols, including a swastika, a 5,000-year-old Sanskrit symbol that denotes auspiciousness and was co-opted by Nazi Germany.

Prosecutors said the Buddhapada is "so much more than a piece of property".

"It's an ancient piece that speaks to the history and culture of Pakistan that should be celebrated and protected," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said.

Kaku, who's 70 years old, was arrested in mid-March after a rival art dealer cooperated with authorities.

Prosecutors said he was spared prison time in part because he cooperated with an ongoing larger investigation. The district attorney's office and federal agents have been looking into the illegal sale of other antiquities from the same part of the world.

Just days before Kaku's arrest, two ancient Indian statues that had been smuggled out of that country and made their way to New York were seized from an auction house.

http://www.dawn.com/news/1254991/us...st-sculpture-stolen-decades-ago-from-pakistan