'Heritage sites need to be preserved in conflict situations'
PM Manmohan Singh has said awareness should be increased to preserve heritage structures even in a conflict situation.
By PTI |
NEW DELHI: Cautioning that heritage sites around the world faced a renewed threat from fundamentalists and terrorists, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said awareness should be increased to preserve heritage structures even in a conflict situation.
"Fundamentalism in attitudes and beliefs often targets mankind's heritage structures and sites, leading to their destruction.
"The destruction of the Bamiyan Buddha in Afghanistan is only one sad and stark example of such threats to heritage preservation," he said, inaugurating the 12th International Conference of National Trusts here.
In recent years, heritage conservation saw renewed threats from fundamentalists, extremists and terrorists, Singh said, adding "there was a need to send a message across the globe that no one has the right to destroy what humanity has inherited from the past".
Observing that India was conscious of the need to preserve, protect and promote its cultural heritage, the Prime Minister said "but we cannot be satisfied with the status quo. We have not always succeeded in doing so.
"Our cultural properties have been exposed to various threats - natural and man made - over the centuries. Conquerors, explorers, colonisers, vandals and thieves have added their bit to the vagaries of nature and the passage of time," he told the conservation specialists who are attending the three-day meet.
"Fundamentalism in attitudes and beliefs often targets mankind's heritage structures and sites, leading to their destruction.
"The destruction of the Bamiyan Buddha in Afghanistan is only one sad and stark example of such threats to heritage preservation," he said, inaugurating the 12th International Conference of National Trusts here.
In recent years, heritage conservation saw renewed threats from fundamentalists, extremists and terrorists, Singh said, adding "there was a need to send a message across the globe that no one has the right to destroy what humanity has inherited from the past".
Observing that India was conscious of the need to preserve, protect and promote its cultural heritage, the Prime Minister said "but we cannot be satisfied with the status quo. We have not always succeeded in doing so.
"Our cultural properties have been exposed to various threats - natural and man made - over the centuries. Conquerors, explorers, colonisers, vandals and thieves have added their bit to the vagaries of nature and the passage of time," he told the conservation specialists who are attending the three-day meet.
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