Fighing Stereotyping Through Preservation of Buddhist Art

KASHMIR MONITOR
By P.K.Balachandran

In a video address at the opening of the Pakistan Single Country Exhibition here on January 12, Prime Minister Shahid Abbasi made a fervent plea. He asked his audience of Sri Lankan businessmen and entrepreneurs not to shun Pakistan, misled by the image of that country as portrayed by the Western media. “Pakistan is not what you see on CNN,” Abbasi said, and added: “We have won the war against terrorism, and with peace restored, we are taking great strides in economic development.” While Abbasi’s focus was, understandably, on investment and trade, there is another side to Pakistan which was crying to be bought out, namely, the image makeover that the country has been at for the last decade or so through the discovery, restoration, preservation and exhibition of its pre-Islamic heritage, especially its Buddhist heritage as represented by Gandhara art. [More]