Nepal has a special place in my heart! As a Buddhist and visitor I fell in love with the holy sites and the people! This is so terrible. Heavy karma to steal these things! You can buy beautiful modern holy items from the great modern craftsmen in Nepal!
I'm a Tibetan and the Mustang culture is descended from the ancient Tibetan Empire and the Sakya Tibetan Buddhist school that emerged at the time of the Mongolian Empire. Thank you for your great service, the Tibetan cultural sphere needs to reform as this isn't a world where people will leave stupas alone or monasteries unrobbed. Inventorying artifacts is a great first step. In Buddhism we have the theory of the nirmanakaya (physical body of a Buddha), sambogakaya (celestial form of a Buddha), and dharmakaya (truth body of a Buddha). Statues and thangkas (cloth and silk tapestries with rich colorful designs of yidams or meditational deities) are believed to be the depicted enlightened being themselves as they serve as the nirmanakaya, which is a huge source of faith for the devout and the religious. So again, thank you Steve Chao and your team, and the Buddhists taking steps to preserve their culture.
Being myself from Mustang, Nepal, It’s sad to see our ancient monuments and religious artifacts are being smuggled all around the world , I feel ashamed ,guilty, and helpless too for not able to do anything to protect these religious artifacts from being stolen. But kudos to people like Tashi Bista from Mustang and Steve chau from Al Jazeera for showing us and putting the efforts for the safeguard of these historical and religious things.
I have a question to ask since you are from there. How are things stolen from there without local help? People can easily spot an outsider because there are very few people in those areas.
Its so sad that it took an international channel and international journalist to show our officials what should be done ! thank you so much steve chao sir and thank you so much al jazeera for doing this ! massive massive respect
Deepak Shakya is one of the artifact traders. He should be be in jail long time before, but irony of our country is that it's own bureaucrats are corrupt at infinity level. How easily he confessing that paying under the table. Charles Shobraj has already said, he has dareness to pass even an elephant through Nepal's customs.
First of all as a follower of Vajrayana tradition and Buddha dharma,my sincere thanks and big applaud to you sir.What a job you have done to catch these smugglers.Yes Nepali monasteries are in vulnerable condition and unsecured because they are ancient.I feel very sad for the people of Himalayan region in Nepal for their belongings and identity been stolen by cheap humans from Mustang to all the way to the higher society and big cities of the first world like NY. I hope someday all these items will be replaced to the monasteries where they belong.These items are many artists hard work and dedication of their lifetime.Three things won't be hidden for long, THE SUN,THE MOON,THE TRUTH - BUDDHA.
See, I have been thinking about what would happen if stolen artifacts were returned once again, take an example of Chaturmukha Shiva-linga, which was stolen from Pashupati in 1984, but when a replica of the shiva linga was made and mounted once again in Pashupati in 1987, it was stolen again since then there is only a blob of rock there. so the question is CAN NEPAL REALLY TAKE CARE OF ITS ARTIFACTS?- can you say that confidently when this video itself exposes the corruption inside the department of archeology? so as of now the best thing would be for private collectors or museums to provide detailed data of artifacts they collect, so someday when our country is 'HOPEFULLY' stable we can bring them home- if possible.
Not all heroes wear capes. What Tashi has done to protect and preserve the artifacts is remarkable. I have a huge respect for him for taking initiatives to protect the treasures that are culturally and religiously significant to Nepal.
ommmg i can't believe my most fav tibetan art Rubin musuem would do such things as illegal trading or stealing as it has been accused....:( + not a believer of Buddhism but appreciate the work of steve and police here & strongly believe ancient sculptures should always be preserved for their religious significance
super impressive. Through this documentary and several others it is evident how a lack of documentation culture is costing treasures for Nepal and Nepalese. Great to learn Tashi's initiative to start documenting. We really need more of it and more people involved in it! Its a reminder to myself as well. Again, good job!
I know ... ... i dont know when this will end and we will have a pure country nepal free from all the illegal and bad things... especially corruption...
Great piece of investigative journalism. Although I have little hope that the stolen items will be returned as the West is self-absorbed and delusional. The so-called first World has put itself on a pedestal by looting and plundering, be it East India looting colonies or foreigners looting artefacts from Nepal like these. The Buddhist and Hindu concept of ' karma' is my only hope by way of Justice.
incident? That's pure robbery from foreign countries. Because I don't think Both Himalayan government and foreign government are ignorant about this situation, it's always the same story as long as it serves western countries everything is fine....
You really have a problem Oriane, did it cross your mind that it might be rich individuals from all over the world, particularly people who are of Buddhist belief, that buy these statues? Yes, Western powers in the past looted artefacts from their colonies, but these practices have been stopped long ago, and these stolen artefacts should indeed be repatriated. But don't blame these recent robberies on the west.
Jacob as a Nepali and a Buddhist I don’t think the westerners who bought these artifacts have any beliefs in Buddhism or any religion at all ..had they had respect for the faith they wud never buy or sell these ancient religious artifacts ..these individuals I think are only motivated by the monetary benefit it brings along ..I don’t think the Rubin museum collected all those artifacts out of respect for Buddhism or our culture ..they only want to add to their collection so that it will bring a good return ..and sorry to say ,even if u may disagree the West is responsible for the loss of many of these artifacts from the east ,not for these recents one but no one can deny that in the past the British and all the countries who had set up colonies In the east did take away a lot of artifacts from the east like in case of India .i can’t say the same for Nepal for we were never ruled by any foreign power ,but def a lot of greed on part on some Nepalese and some foreigners is to blame
I am Proud Nepalese thanks for good work Al Jazeera. However, sooner than later time has come that other similar kinds of smugglers are apprehended by the Government of Nepal before these people thrive globally selling ancient Nepalese artifacts. Thanks again!!!
al jaxeera english u have done something more than a journalist does. u not only showed us the condition of ancient antique but also u made so quick action on those pissants like shakya and all of the grt was u made the interview on newyork.thankful to you sir!!
Its very sad that even with such evidence such little effort has been taken to stop the crime and whats even more heartbreaking is that we need foreign journalists not even police to find about these traders who are selling, trading in broad day light.
Alzajeera is the one of best and the most honest news channel in the world & all the news TV channels should learn from Alzajeera that news channels are not for a business or politic its should be for people to know the truth and realities about what's going on in the world.
Super,outstanding legendary job Mr Chao all our god will bless you many more fortune 🔮 for you and your family and also entire Al Jazeera Team,Your help and support highly appreciated on behalf of all the Nepalese soul hats 🎩 off and great Salute.All the criminals must be punished as much as the laws can do.
I like this guy Tashi he is not only preserving his own land Mustang also far Northernmost here in Ladakh India too, I saw him in one of the monastery here but I'm not sure our artifacts are safe here but safer then Nepal for sure if we go back to the history Mustang was part of a Ladakh's empire during the Zhang Zhung era.
The deity maybe unable to stop the stealing BUT the chors and all connected will loose out in life / sickness / unheard of illness / sudden deaths .... they never escape the wrath of the guardian deities,
Many ancient artitect stupa 1400 1500s statue had been stolen after earthquake 2015 it become double of robbery of ancient values statue even political person in the name of profit they steal such and some of them are found in usa uk most part of Europe … hope they all of them return as soon as possible
Oriane POIROT indeed ..that cud be a start to something good ..people going around in all these museums to watch all the artifacts that are miles away from their home land ,does it not cross their mind ever that how cud these artifacts have reached the museum ? And do they never feel that these artifacts are worth more when they are where they are supposed to belong ..in temples and monasteries ..and not some glass cabinets ? As a Nepali I wish we cud have all our artifacts back ..and i know there are many out there ..but then the irony is these have been sold by our own fellow countrymen..I don’t know how we will be able to get these back but then maybe some wise men like u can initiate steps like my going to these museums and demanding the artifacts to be returned to their homeland
I feel you I'm from DRCongo a lot of our precious artifacts are in Belgium and they won't give it back, and at the same time they keep on stealing our diamonds just for their own greet killing millions of innocents in the North of the country just thinking about it makes me mad!
A big thank you to your team on behalf of all nepalese.That was a pretty brave and courageous act .I wish such foreigners/tourists come to visit Np more often.
CALLING THEM NEPALESE CUS MUSTANG IS IN NEPAL BUT MOST OF THEM LIVING THERE WERE FROM THOSE ESCAPED FROM TIBET OR TIBETAN DESCENDED THEREFORE U CAN HEAR THEM SPEAKING ONLY TIBETAN.
Nepal is a very poor country, western money is greatly needed for food, energy, other necessities. This film makes Nepal look like a lawless place, but that is not true at all. The best thing for the west to do is to learn about Nepal, learn about Nepal Buddhism, appreciate their art and architecture, campaign to preserve the Stupas. But there will always be an antique market for "idols". BTW, more important is to concentrate on rebuilding the great Buddha at Bamiyan, destroyed by Islam, along with many other "Idols" if you get what I mean.
Francesca Nepal has been receiving billions and billions from Japan to improve infrastructure! The results are just like nothing" It's upto citizens of Nepal to get things done or make ur govt do things that helps the people not the politicians"
It is the leader of the country that is smuggling not just the dealer but the one who helps in export are the one who is in power. Thank you Al Jazeera for this operation.
Hats off to Al Jazeera and Mr Chow throwing lights on this matter. Hope our government will make strict rules and regular operation so that no further stealing happens in the future.
Namastey☺Mero desh Nepal.... My country where top of the world Everest is located.. Where Lord Buddha was born.. Where beauty of nature have no boundaries.. Where there is not racism,no religious conflict,no terrorism, oh yes we are rich in cultures,temples,monasteries...i accept we have not good smart system and we are in developing state... We have many problems..we can see here many unusual conflicts in comment section 😆.But also Iam proud for my country.. Thanks for making such documentaries
Many thanks to Al Jazeera & Mr Chow for their efforts ! Nepal government will have little bit shame for under the table operation ! Even CBI seems double standard .
