Unfair comparison, says Afghan Minister

NEW DELHI, MARCH 9. The Afghanistan Foreign Minister, Mulla Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, has said it was unfair to compare the destruction of Bamiyan Buddha statues with the demolition of ``the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.''

``In India, Hindus are planning to build a temple there (in Ayodhya). We haven't done anything like that,'' he said in an interview to the weekly, Outlook. The destruction was not aimed against any religion, nation or culture. ``We haven't destroyed any Church, Temple or Gurdwara in Afghanistan. Hindus and Sikhs are free to practise their religion.'' He claimed that Hindu and Sikh traders in Afghanistan enjoyed greater security under the Taliban than under any previous regime.

Worshipping statues was ``un-Islamic'' and the destruction had been undertaken because the possibility of worshipping them in future could not be ruled out. ``We don't want such a thing to happen in an Islamic country.''

India accorded de facto recognition to the Taliban when the External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, visited Kandahar to negotiate the release of the hijacked Indian Airlines passengers in 1999. ``It was painful that the Indian Government after thanking the Taliban for handling the hijacking in a responsible and mature way, made unfounded accusations.''

The Minister wanted India to recognise the Taliban regime as it controlled 95 per cent of the territory in Afghanistan.

- UNI

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