The Gandhara Paradox: Pakistan celebrates ancient Buddhist art via 2026 conference & tourism festivals, yet erases its living legacy through neglect, vandalism, & laws persecuting minorities. Heritage promotion must include freedom for all faiths. #ReligiousIntolerancePakistan
From Taxila stupas crumbling from neglect to Swat rock carvings fading under vandalism—Gandhara sites suffer chronic underfunding & radical attacks. Parallel: Rising blasphemy cases & minority atrocities (HRCP/USCIRF). Time for real protection? #GandharaDecay
HRW June 2025: Blasphemy laws exploited for blackmail, profit, & evictions—targeting poor/minorities. Same environment enables defacement of Gandhara Buddhas as "idolatrous." Pakistan's cultural diplomacy rings hollow without reform. #BlasphemyBusiness
Census reality: Buddhists <0.01% in Pakistan—virtually extinct community. Blasphemy impunity leads to lynchings, church burnings, temple attacks. Hosting 2026 Gandhara Conference while minorities flee or hide? Performative heritage at best. #ErasingThePast
Over 50,000 ancient petroglyphs in northern Pakistan vandalized in recent years—Buddha figures painted white/black, scratched out by radicals. State glorifies pre-Islamic Gandhara for tourism but fails to protect it or minorities from extremism. #HeritageVandalism
USCIRF & HRW 2025 reports: Mob violence, land grabs via blasphemy accusations, forced conversions of minority girls. Meanwhile, Pakistan invites the world to explore Gandhara's "peace & progress." The disconnect is glaring. #PakistanMinorities#Gandhara
2024 saw 344 blasphemy cases in Pakistan (CSJ data)—minorities (Christians, Hindus, Ahmadis) disproportionately targeted despite most accused being Muslim. Yet state pushes Gandhara festivals & conferences. Selective memory on religious tolerance? #Gandhara#ReligiousIntolerance
Jahanabad Seated Buddha dynamited by extremists in 2007—restored, but Swat carvings still damaged. 2025 reports show petroglyphs in Gilgit-Baltistan painted over & scratched out. Pakistan promotes tourism while heritage decays amid minority persecution. #BuddhistHeritagePakistan
While Pakistan hosts global talks on "Heritage for Peace & Progress" in 2026, ancient Gandhara statues & petroglyphs face vandalism: faces smashed, paint defaced, neglect rampant. The irony? Blasphemy laws fuel the same intolerance erasing living minorities. #GandharaUnderSiege
Pakistan gears up for the 3rd Int'l Conference on Buddhist Heritage (May 2026, Islamabad) to promote Gandhara's ancient legacy. Yet Buddhists number near zero, & minorities face relentless blasphemy-driven violence. Heritage without heirs? #GandharaParadox
“Gandhara Without Buddhists: Pakistan’s 2026 International Conference on Buddhist Heritage Amid Demographic Erasure and Systemic Minority Persecution” #Pakistan#GandharaPakistan
Erasing the Past: Vandalism, Neglect, and the Systematic Decay of Gandhara Buddhist Statues, Petroglyphs, and Sites in Pakistan Amid Blasphemy Laws and Atrocities Against Religious Minorities” #ReligiousIntolerancePakistan#Pakistan
NEWS via @CBSNews: An Iranian drone attack in Kuwait that killed U.S. service members in the early hours of the war with Iran was more severe than previously known, with dozens suffering injuries that included brain trauma, shrapnel trauma and burns, per sources. More than 30 remained in hospitals yday with battle injuries — one at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, 12 at Walter Reed, and about 25 at Landstuhl in Germany, sources said.
Of those, about 20 arrived on a C-17 military transport aircraft at Landstuhl on Tuesday with injuries the military designated as “urgent” and requiring evacuation.
More than 100 medical personnel were sent to Landstuhl to assist.
Report here from @ellee_watson@JimLaPorta and me.
https://t.co/3PCJO7xdGU
Last election, Conservative MP Randy Hoback handed Poilievre a 70-page report on how to manage Trump’s trade war after consulting 290 stakeholders
Officials say Poilievre never read it; his office denies it.
In it? “Exactly what Carney is talking about"
https://t.co/FjnZ5CZFxY