By: Cynthia Wang

Faced with a latent economic crisis, the penniless Taliban recently turned to a promising revenue source: the Bamiyan Buddha statues that had been blown up over two decades ago by none other than the Taliban itself.

In 2001, the Taliban proclaimed the Buddhas to be false gods, deploying explosives and anti-aircraft guns to destroy several historic Buddha statues in Bamiyan, Afghanistan. According to Philippe Marquis, the director of the French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan, this attack not only drew the ire of thousands across the globe but also “illustrated the instrumentalization of political radicalization.”

Prior to the Taliban’s return to power, the U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) initiated a three-part project to preserve the remains of the Buddha statues and build a cultural center at the ruined site.

Now, the Taliban appears to have changed its tone towards Buddhism in Afghanistan, taking steps to preserve the monument along with other Buddhist artifacts. “This is the identity of our country,” says Kheyal Mohammad, a Taliban soldier. “It shouldn’t have been bombed.”

In fact, last month, senior Taliban officials were seen attending the presentation of a Buddhist artifact section at Kabul’s national museum. “Bamiyan and the Buddhas in particular are of great importance to our government, just as they are to the world,” Atiqullah Azizi, the Taliban’s deputy culture minister, noted.

Alongside the cultural revival in Bamiyan come the attached economic prospects for the Taliban. According to Saifurrahman Mohammadi, the information and culture director for the regional Taliban government, approximately 200,000 tourists visited the province in 2022, with each spending an average of $57. Mohammadi expressed hopeful aspirations for the future of the tourism industry in Bamiyan, currently one of the poorest Afghan cities, and its potential effects on the Bamiyan economy.

Nevertheless, visitors to the Bamiyan Buddhas remain skeptical of the site’s notorious history with the Taliban. An Iranian tourist commented, “The Taliban have a mentality from 500 years ago. They’re mentally not capable of making use of this place.” Only time can tell how successful the Taliban’s venture into tourism will be.