Chief Monk of Thailand, Most Venerable (MV) Arayawangso has stressed a concrete and a meaningful action plan to promote Pakistan’s ancient and rich Buddhist heritage to the outer world.
In an exclusive interview, MV Arayawangso held that although there were some efforts made in the past by the previous governments of Shehbaz Sharif and Imran Khan yet unfortunately, those efforts didn’t yield the desired results due to absence of a proper follow-up.
MV Araywangso who has visited Pakistan twice, first in 2019 and later in 2022, (during his second visit he opted to spend an important ritual of Buddhism, “Vaasa” or rain retreat in Taxila from mid-July to mid-October 2022) said Pakistan had some of the world’s most ancient and rare stupas and sites and if they are showcased properly the country can earn billions in revenue by attracting hundreds and thousands of the Buddhist tourists from around the world.
MV’s passion for promotion of Pakistan’s ancient Buddhist sites and restoring their former glory is known to all and he is considered an architect of Thailand’s ‘Dhamma Diplomacy.’
In 2022, MV Arayawangso had brought along with him more than 150 Buddhist tourists, the majority happened to be first time visitors. They participated in the concluding day ceremonies and paid visits to Dharmarajika Stupa in Taxila and other sites of Swat and Peshawar.
MV Arayawangos during his stay in Pakistan also met the government officials, authorities responsible for uplift of Buddhist sites and offered them support in this regard. He even penned down a book ‘The Buddhist Civilization of Gandhara’ during the Dhamma Journey to Pakistan showing the millions of Buddhists around the world how rich Pakistan is regarding Buddhism and the Buddhist sites. He also proposed the establishment of a ‘Gandhara University.’
Later, the Shehbaz Sharif government taking along MV Arayawangso’s vision organized an ‘International Gandhara Symposium’ in July this year in which monks and Buddhist leaders from around the world participated and again Taxila, Swat, Peshawar, Takht Bhai and other Buddhist places of Pakistan were in the limelight. A bill on the establishment of Gandhara Authority was also moved in the Lower House of the Parliament (National Assembly) and got passed. However, as the government completed its term within days of the passage of the bill, the Upper House of the Parliament (Senate) did not endorse it.
Now the Pakistan government is back to Square-1 and its Buddhist sites continue to present a picture of neglect and indifference. MV Arayawangso regretted the efforts he initiated first in 2019 and then in 2022 with the help and support of the Pakistani ambassadors of the two countries, the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab governments and volunteers like Imran Shauket seemed to have come to a halt and there is no concrete action plan as was intended.
“No one can deny that it is in these places of Pakistan (Taxila, Peshawar, Swat and others) where Buddhism thrived. However, unfortunately, today, very few Buddhists know about it. The government should have started work on construction of the Buddhist monasteries, roads and infrastructure providing facilities to the visiting pilgrims,” he said and still clinging to the hope it would be done one day.
About the International Gandhara Symposium, he said the timing of the event was not well-considered as a result, instead of benefiting or supporting the cause of Gandhara it backfired.
However, the MV is still hopeful and says one day the people around the world would see Pakistan as a worth visiting place. For this, the authorities in Pakistan need to make coordinated efforts to convert these Buddhist sites into state-of-the-art tourist destinations. “I am sure they have the capability to make it possible,” he said. It may be mentioned here that during his three-month stay in Pakistan, MV Arayawangso visited the far and wide of the country including Khyber Pass and also showed the world ancient ‘Gandhara Corridor’ that included Afghanistan-Pakistan-India and beyond.
