Kabul (BNA) The Acting Minister of Information and Culture Mohammad Tahir Zuhair on Thursday said that the Bactrian treasury, one of Afghanistan’s greatest gold historic resources, is “safe and sound.” He said that the politicians should not politicize the historical assets of the nation.
This comes as tensions between the government and the parliament are still high over the 1400 (2021) financial budget.
Earlier this week, the speaker of Afghanistan’s parliament, Mir Rahman Rahmani, and a number of lawmakers in the parliament, said that the government has taken the budget plan “hostage.” They also said that the Bactrian gold treasures was facing an imminent threat of theft.
Rahmani and other members suggested the treasures be transferred abroad, in view of the danger of theft.
“Please don’t exploit the culture for your political purposes and do not use culture as a pressure tool,” said Mohammad Tahir Zuhair, the acting Minister of Information and Culture during a press briefing on Thursday.
The Bactrian Treasures is recognized as one of the biggest collections of gold in the world and was discovered 4 decades ago in the Tela Tapa area of Sherberghan district, the center of northern Jawzjan province.
The collection is composed of jewels and gold and was discovered from a royal cemetery. 7 corpses were decorated with thousands of pieces of gold.
The collection, which was displayed abroad, is composed of 21,145 pieces of gold.
