1,652 books were stacked on the floor and tables for removal, including some Korans, many other religious or scholarly texts, and a number of secular works, including novels and poetry.
“So the decision is ‘We are going to burn these books,’ ”a US military officer said.
When the work detail began to heave the books into the flames, an Afghan laborer standing nearby drew close nad he realized what was happening and began to scream. For him and others it was a nightmare come to life. “One of my friends called to me, ‘The Americans are burning our holy books,’ and we rushed over there,” said Mohammed Zafar, 24, who has worked for five years as a laborer near the gate.
As the Afghan laborers tried to extinguish the flames with their water bottles, at least one laborer plunged into the smoldering ashes to retrieve the books. (New York Times)
No comments:
Post a Comment