Afghanistan is bankrupt, so it does not make any sense spending money to rebuild the giant Buddha statues in Bamiyan that the Taliban bombed. Whatever historical or cultural value the statue has is now gone and best left in the pages of history.

The statue is reputed to be 1,500 years old and its replica will not have the same attraction it once had. The destruction of the statue and other historical artifacts kept in the Kabul museum by the Taliban is regrettable too.

Buddhism was once a very strong religion in the region but it no longer is today and that is a fact. I am of the view that it is pointless to rebuild a statue of Buddha in a country that is now predominantly Muslim.

The world Buddhist community did protest and regret the Taliban's action. There was no violence whatsoever linked to the protests, perhaps because of the Buddhists inherent belief in impermanence and the law of Karma. From the Buddhist perspective the statue has historical value but no more or less.

I believe most Buddhists in this world would rather have the government of Hamid Karzai use the money to rebuild the devastated country rather than rebuilding the giant statue which is too expensive and which they can ill afford.