PESHAWAR: A uniquely large Buddha statue that has been in Peshawar Museum for more than a century will soon be displayed at an exhibition in Switzerland, officials at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Department of Archaeology said on Friday.
The department’s director, Abdul Samad, said KP’s Archaeology and Tourism Minister Muhammad Tariq signed an agreement to this effect with Rietberg Museum Director Albert Lutz on Tuesday in Zurich.
The exhibition will begin in December this year and last for three months and 18 days, Tariq said.
“The statue has been insured for $20 million,” he told Arab News. “In case of any damage to it, the money will be paid to Peshawar Museum.”
This is the first time the statue will be taken to an international exhibition. “Every exhibition has a central attraction,” Samad told Arab News. “This sculpture will play that role in Switzerland.”
The KP administration is promoting religious tourism, he said, adding that the province was not only home to the popular Gandhara civilization but is also sacred to Hindus and Sikhs.
“Last year, we did an exhibition about Buddhism in South Korea and displayed 42 objects for three months,” Samad said.
“Young people who’ve been brought up in Buddhist lands after the 9/11 attacks don’t know much about Pakistan, especially KP, and its significance to their religion. We want to raise awareness about it throughout the world.”
Tourists from around the world visit Switzerland and its museums, and their encounter with the Buddha statue will help promote a positive image of Pakistan, Samad said.
The statue is 2,000 years old, said one of the department’s research officers, Nawaz-ud-Din, adding: “It was discovered during British rule in Seri Bahlol in Mardan in 1909, and handed over to Peshawar Museum in 1911.”
Seri Bahlol is a world heritage site located about 70 km northwest of KP’s provincial capital Peshawar.
Nawaz-ud-Din said the statue is 365 cm high and 46.42 cm wide, and the museum has 4,147 other objects related to Buddhism.
Peshawar Museum was established in 1907. Its previous name was Victoria Hall, as it was established in Queen Victoria’s memory during British rule.
2000-year-old Buddha statue from Peshawar to be exhibited in Switzerland
2000-year-old Buddha statue from Peshawar to be exhibited in Switzerland
Pakistan arrests suspect arriving from Cambodia amid crackdown on human smuggling
- Suspect worked at an “online fraud company” in Cambodia, later started smuggling people from Pakistan, says FIA
- Pakistan has intensified crackdown against human smugglers after hundreds of migrants drowned near Pylos in 2023
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Sunday said it had arrested a key suspect involved in smuggling humans who had arrived from Cambodia, alleging he was also part of an international fraud network.
The suspect, identified as Zainullah, was arrested by FIA officials when he arrived in the southern port city of Karachi from Cambodia.
Zainullah had traveled from Pakistan to Cambodia in September 2024, a press release issued by the agency said.
“He worked at an online fraud company in Cambodia and later became involved as an agent in recruiting individuals from Pakistan,” the FIA said.
The FIA said it recovered images of multiple individuals’ passports, payment receipts and bank transaction records after extracting data from Zainullah’s phone.
It said the suspect received money through personal bank accounts and a cryptocurrency account.
“The suspect has been handed over to the FIA Anti-Human Trafficking Circle, Karachi, for further legal proceedings,” the FIA said.
“Further investigation is underway.”
Pakistan intensified action against illegal migration in 2023 after hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, drowned when an overcrowded vessel sank off the Greek town of Pylos, one of the deadliest boat disasters in the Mediterranean.
Authorities say they continue to target networks sending citizens abroad through dangerous routes, following heightened scrutiny at airports and a series of arrests involving forged documents.
Pakistan’s interior ministry said this week illegal migration to Europe has declined by 47 percent this year after its nationwide crackdown, saying that more than 1,700 human smugglers have been arrested in 2025.
