Pakistan excavations hampered by security fears

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ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s countless archaeological treasures await a time when scientists feel safe enough to resume digging.

In the remote Parwak village of Chitral District, excavators from the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have unearthed clay graves and artefacts dating to the 17th century BC.

“Since the … objects belonged to Aryan civilisation, (they) would definitely enhance our knowledge of the prehistoric epoch”, Zorawar Khan, a member of the excavation team, told Central Asia Online.

The late archaeologist Hasan Dani named the civilisation of that time the Gandhara grave culture, Zorawar said. Pakistan is the only country in the world where one can find two ancient civilisations. The country boasts more than 2,500 sites of the pre-historic Indus Valley Civilisation and Gandhara Civilisation, mostly in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan. Sites dating back to the Stone Age exist in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

But security concerns have slowed excavations.

“Seven foreign teams of experts will not join excavations, conservation and renovation work due to looming security concerns, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa”, said Bahadur Khan, deputy director, federal department of archaeology and museums in Islamabad.

Archaeologists from France, Germany, Italy, Korea, Japan, England and China have all taken the lead in excavating Pakistani sites. However, with so much turmoil in Pakistan, they are staying home these days.

“The Pakistani government did not provide them a security clearance”, Bahadur said, referring to Italian, German and Japanese scientists.

An Interior Ministry spokesman in Islamabad disputed that. “International missions have been restricted by their own governments”, he said. “At our end they all are highly welcomed”.

Sites lie waiting for archaeological discovery. In Peshawar, they bear motifs from Moghul, Sikh and even British conquerors. Decorative woodwork of different eras enables scientists to trace the provincial capital’s varied cultural history.

Within Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Gomal Valley has the richest array of prehistoric sites, followed by the Bannu District, Bahadur said.

“As for the Buddhist period, there are countless potential sites in Swat, Dir, Peshawar, Mardan, Swabi, Haripur and Mansehra”, he said.

Buddhist sites present a considerable security problem. Many of those in the northern region lie in areas contested by the Pakistani Taliban and security forces. They also arouse the special ire of Islamist extremists.

“Lack of peace threatens everything”, Bahadur said. “Destroying Buddhist ruins is not Islam, but some elements may do so to pressure the government and threaten the common people”.

He recalled that Islamists blew up seventh-century Buddhist rock carvings in Swat. Their campaign of destruction has smashed ancient sites in the Gandhara region extending from Swat to Bajaur.

“Pakistan is rich in cultural heritage, Mughal architecture, … if preserved properly, can become a hub of local and foreign tourists”, Bahadur said.

Terrorism and the war against it have taken their toll on the Taxila Valley, too. “Foreigners just don’t come”, lamented a worker at a souvenir shop in Taxila. “Locals have little interest in these sites. … We wait all day, but nobody comes in”.

“Growing religious hatred is imperiling our cultural legacy that goes back 2.2m years to the Palaeolithic Age”, Bahadur warned.