They protected every drop of oil, but when it came to protecting 4,000 years of cultural heritage, the US-British forces looked the other way. Not only Asia’s past but its historical-religious connection with Europe was carried away piece by piece by the looters." (Getty Images)...

US ignored Iraq museum plunder’

Santwana Bhattacharya
New Delhi, April 17: They protected every drop of oil, but when it came to protecting 4,000 years of cultural heritage, the US-British forces looked the other way. Not only Asia’s past but its historical-religious connection with Europe was carried away piece by piece by the looters.’’

That was Munish Joshi, former director general of the Archeological Survey of India (ASI), deploring the ransacking of the National Museum of Antiquities in Baghdad on April 11.

Desperate calls from Koichiro Matsura, the head of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), to the US Army headquarters pleading protection for Iraqi museums were reportedly ignored.

Citing UNESCO’s helplessness and the ‘‘willful destruction’’ and looting of historical artifacts of over 4,000 years of civilisation stored in the Iraqi National Museum and libraries, former members of the UNESCO, archeologists and artists today urged the UN body to bring a resolution that would empower them to protect or remove cultural heritage from conflict zones.

‘‘If pre-emptive war can take place, surely pre-emptive steps can be taken to avoid destruction of invaluable heritage. We need a convention for protection of patrimony of humanity and that would empower the UN to remove or protect artifacts from conflict zones,’’ Kapila Vatsayayan, the well-known scholar and heritage expert said, expressing her grief over the inestimable loss of cultural heritage witnessed on April 11 and 12 in Iraq.

Vatsayayan, who has been associated with the UNESCO, also said that she is in touch with international groups to urge the UN to bring in a resolution. ‘‘Otherwise, conflicts of Kabul and Kandhar, of Basra and Baghdad will bring about the end of our civilisation record. Out heritage will find place in back alleys of Los Angles and Geneva,’’ she added.

Vatsayayan also pointed out that the US and Britain have technically protected themselves, the US by not signing and UK by not ratifying the Hague Convention of 1954, which required protection of cultural and religious cities during hostilities.

The value of the loss cannot be fully estimated, even in terms of money. So the experts, who gathered under the banner of Sahmat to protest the desecration of one of the richest collection of artifacts, listed the great works of world art that were lost in the Big Baghdad Looting — a solid Sumerian gold harp, a sculptured woman’s head from Uruk, cuneiform tablets containing invaluable records of the past, friezes, tapestry, works of Islamic art, Qurans.

Recounting his visit to the Museum during the Second International Contemporary Art Exhibition in Iraq, artist Vivan Sunderam said: ‘‘The museum was housed in a huge monumental building. It gave an extremely fortified ground. Controlling access to it would not have been difficult.’’

Remembering the boxes of tiny, exquisitely carved ornaments in the Museum (of 2000 B.C.) that attracted his attention, Sundram added: ‘‘I am sure of those have disappeared, no one will ever seen them again.’’

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