Editing Mullah Omar (section)

=== Demolition of the Buddhas of Bamiyan ===
{{Main|Buddhas of Bamiyan}}
[[File:Buddha of Bamiyan.jpg|150px|thumb|Omar ordered the destruction of the [[Buddhas of Bamiyan]] (''pictured in 1976'') in March 2001, receiving international condemnation.]]
In July 1999, Mohammed Omar issued a decree in favor of the preservation of the Bamiyan Buddha statues. Because Afghanistan's Buddhist population no longer exists, so the statues are no longer worshiped, he added: "The government considers the Bamiyan statues as an example of a potential major source of income for Afghanistan from international visitors. The Taliban states that Bamiyan shall not be destroyed but protected."<ref>{{cite news |last=Harding |first=Luke |date=3 March 2001 |title=How the Buddha got his wounds |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/mar/03/books.guardianreview2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060228113747/http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0%2C4273%2C4145138%2C00.html |archive-date=28 February 2006 |access-date=23 March 2008 |location=London |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://theworld.org/stories/2015/06/11/they-were-destroyed-taliban-now-buddha-statue-returns-bamiyan-3d-light-projection|title=They were destroyed by the Taliban. But now the giant Buddha statues of Bamiyan have returned with 3-D light projection|date=11 June 2015|website=The World from PRX}}</ref>

In early 2000, local Taliban authorities asked for UN assistance to rebuild drainage ditches around tops of the alcoves where the Buddhas were set.<ref>Semple, Michael [http://aan-afghanistan.com/index.asp?id=1538 Why the Buddhas of Bamian were destroyed] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707072441/http://aan-afghanistan.com/index.asp?id=1538 |date=7 July 2011 }}, [[Afghanistan Analysts Network]] 2 March 2011</ref>

In March 2001, the Bamiyan Buddha statues were destroyed by the Taliban under an edict issued from Omar, stating: "all the statues around Afghanistan must be destroyed."<ref>{{cite news|author=Luke Harding |url=https://www.theguardian.com/Archive/Article/0,4273,4145138,00.html |title=How the Buddha got his wounds|date=3 March 2001|work=The Guardian|access-date=27 August 2010 |location=London}}</ref> This prompted an international outcry.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bearak |first=Barry |title=Over World Protests, Taliban Are Destroying Ancient Buddhas |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/04/world/over-world-protests-taliban-are-destroying-ancient-buddhas.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=4 March 2001 |access-date=9 March 2020}}</ref> Information and Culture Minister Qadratullah Jamal told [[Associated Press]] of a decision by 400 religious clerics from across Afghanistan declaring the Buddhist statues against the tenets of Islam. "They came out with a consensus that the statues were against Islam", said Jamal. A statement issued by the [[Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs|Ministry of Religious Affairs]] of the Taliban regime justified the destruction as being in accordance with Islamic law.<ref>{{cite news |date=12 March 2001 |title=Destruction of Giant Buddhas Confirmed |agency=[[Agence France-Presse]] |url=http://www.beliefnet.com/story/70/story_7096_1.html |access-date=6 January 2008}}</ref> The then Taliban ambassador to Pakistan [[Abdul Salam Zaeef]] held that the destruction of the Buddhas was finally ordered by Abdul Wali, the [[Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Afghanistan)|Minister for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice]].<ref>Zaeef p.126</ref>

Omar explained why he ordered the statues to be destroyed in an interview:

{{blockquote|I did not want to destroy the Bamiyan Buddha. In fact, some foreigners came to me and said they would like to conduct the repair work of the Bamiyan Buddha that had been slightly damaged due to rains. This shocked me. I thought, these callous people have no regard for thousands of living human beings{{snd}}the Afghans who are dying of hunger, but they are so concerned about non-living objects like the Buddha. This was extremely deplorable. That is why I ordered its destruction. Had they come for humanitarian work, I would have never ordered the Buddha's destruction.<ref>{{cite news|author=Mohammad Shehzad |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/apr/12inter.htm |title=The Rediff Interview/Mullah Omar|date=3 March 2001|work=The Rediff|access-date=27 October 2010 |location=Kabul}}</ref>}}