Hasht-e Subh, Ghor – In the spring of 2019, a massive flood destroyed the protective wall of the minaret of Jam in Ghor and seawater penetrated the sides of the minaret. At the time, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had pledged $2 million to restore the world heritage site, following widespread petitions for the preservation and restoration of the minaret. However, after two years, there is still no news about the restoration and protection of the minaret of Jam and its budget of two million dollars. Now that the rainy and snowy season is approaching, concerns have once again been raised about the destruction of this world’s cultural heritage. Ghor residents warn that if the cultural heritage is not restored, the minaret of Jam may collapse in the coming winter.
Moreover, some of Ghor’s cultural activists say the fate of the amount promised by UNESCO and the previous government is still unknown, expressing hope that this money may not be wasted. The culturists are also concerned about the excavation and smuggling of antiquities in the area, saying that it is not clear what has happened to the ancient sites of the minaret of Jam since the Taliban took control. They call on UNESCO to take immediate action to preserve the Jam tower, which is part of the world’s cultural heritage. Because with the floods, this minaret is in danger of overturning.
A journalist of Ghor Amin Kawa told Hasht-e Subh that Ghor cultural activists had repeatedly warned of the minaret’s critical condition, but had been repeatedly ignored by the central government. Kawa said that two years ago, floods destroyed important parts of the citation wall built jointly by UNESCO and USAID. As a result of lawsuits filed by cultural and media activists at the time, UNESCO had allocated $2 million to repair the minaret which due to the war and insecurity, there is no news about the fate of this amount of money, Kawa said.
Furthermore, Abdul Ali Rasooli, another civil society activist in Ghor, says the protective wall erected around the minaret of Jam in 2012 was destroyed two years ago by floodwaters. According to him, the minaret is currently in serious danger of rain and snow if immediate action is not taken to protect it. The civil activist expressed concern about the unknown nature of UNESCO’s specific cost of repairing the minaret and called on former officials of the Ministry of Information and Culture to respond to the public.
In addition, the former head of the Ministry of Information and Culture Taher Zuhair did not answer a question at this time. Meanwhile, the General Directorate of Historical Monuments, which is directly responsible for the preservation and restoration of historical monuments, declined to comment.
The minaret of Jam was inscribed on the UNESCO world heritage list in 2002 and on the Islamic World Heritage List on December 10, 2020. This is the first cultural monument of Afghanistan to be registered in the list of the cultural heritage of the Islamic world. After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, it is not clear what the Taliban caretaker government plans to preserve historical and archeological sites. A few days ago, meanwhile, videos were released in which a Taliban soldier fired at the collapsed body of a Buddhist in Bamiyan.
The minaret of Jam was built in the twelfth century. The director of the UNESCO Cultural Heritage Center Francesco Bandarin has described the minaret as one of the most extraordinary architectural structures and the oldest surviving brick tower in the world. In the meantime, the continuation of the war and the negligence of the Afghan governments on cultural heritage have put this great brick building in danger of destruction.
[box type=”info” align=”alignleft” class=”” width=””]Hasht-e Subh, Ghor [/box]
