The Sado mines are believed to have started operating as early as the 12th century and produced until after World War II.
| Photo Credit: AFP

A network of mines on a Japanese island infamous for using conscripted wartime labour was added to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage List on July 27 after South Korea dropped earlier objections to its listing.

The Sado gold and silver mines, now a popular tourist attraction, are believed to have started operating as early as the 12th century and produced until after World War II.

Also Read: Assam’s Charaideo Moidam included in UNESCO World Heritage list 

Japan had put a case for World Heritage listing because of their lengthy history and the artisanal mining techniques used there at a time when European mines had turned to mechanisation.

The proposal was opposed by Seoul when it was first put because of the use of involuntary Korean labour during World War II, when Japan occupied the Korean peninsula.

UNESCO confirmed the listing of the mines at its ongoing committee meeting in New Delhi on July 27 after a bid highlighting its archaeological preservation of “mining activities and social and labour organisation”.

“I would like to wholeheartedly welcome the inscription… and pay sincere tribute to the long-standing efforts of the local people which made this possible,” Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said in a statement.

The World Heritage effort was years in the making, inspired in part by the successful recognition of a silver mine in western Japan’s Shimane region.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said it had agreed to the listing “on the condition that Japan faithfully implements the recommendation… to reflect the ‘full history’ at the Sado Gold Mine site and takes proactive measures to that end.”

Historians have argued that recruitment conditions at the mine effectively amounted to forced labour, and that Korean workers faced significantly harsher conditions than their Japanese counterparts.

“Discrimination did exist,” Toyomi Asano, a professor of history of Japanese politics at Tokyo’s Waseda University, told AFP in 2022.

“Their working conditions were very bad and dangerous. The most dangerous jobs were allocated to them.”

Also added to the list on July 27 was the Beijing Central Axis, a collection of former imperial palaces and gardens in the Chinese capital. The UNESCO committee meeting runs until July 31.

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced that India will contribute one million dollars to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre to provide support for heritage conservation in countries, especially of the Global South.

Speaking at the inauguration of the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi today, PM Modi said that India considers the preservation of global heritage as its responsibility, and hence, is providing support for heritage conservation not only in India but also in countries of the Global South.

#WATCH | Delhi: At the 46th Session of the World Heritage Committee, PM Narendra Modi says, “…To know India, new thinking free from concepts is needed. I appeal to all of you to become a part of the new understanding of history that is developing in the light of new facts.… pic.twitter.com/9VmiFeKdth

— ANI (@ANI) July 21, 2024

“India considers the preservation of global heritage as its responsibility, and hence, we are providing support for heritage conservation not only in India but also in countries of the Global South. India is assisting in the conservation of many heritages like Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Cham Temples in Vietnam, and Bagan Stupa in Myanmar. In this direction, I am making an announcement. India will contribute one million dollars to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. This grant will be used for capacity building, technical assistance, and the conservation of world heritage sites,” PM Modi said.

“A certificate programme in world heritage management has also started in India for young professionals,” he added.
The Prime Minister also appealed everyone to come together to advance each other’s heritage.

“Today, through the 46th session of the World Heritage Committee, India’s appeal is to come together to advance each other’s heritage. Let us unite for the expansion of human welfare sentiments. The world has also seen a time when heritage was ignored in the race for development, but today’s era is much more aware,” PM Modi said.
He also asserted that India’s vision is both development and heritage.

“In the past 10 years, India has touched new dimensions of modern development and has also pledged to take pride in its heritage. Be it the Vishwanath Corridor in Kashi, the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya, or the modern campus of the ancient Nalanda University. Numerous such works are happening across the country. Today, the benefits of Ayurveda are reaching the entire world, but it is India’s scientific heritage,” he added.

PM Modi also pointed out that India’s heritage is not just history, it is also science.

“In India’s heritage, one can witness a glorious journey of top-notch engineering. Just a few hundred kilometers from Delhi, at an altitude of 3500 meters, is the Kedarnath Temple. Even today, that place is so geographically challenging that people have to walk a lot or go by helicopter. It is astonishing that the construction of the Kedarnath Temple was done in the 8th century. Its engineering took into account the harsh environment and glaciers,” he said.

“There are various centers of heritage in the world, but India is so ancient that every point of the present narrates a story of a glorious past. The world knows Delhi as the capital of India, but this city is also a center of thousand-year-old heritage. Here, at every step, you will witness historical heritage. About 15 kilometers from here, there is an iron pillar weighing several tons. A pillar that has been standing in the open for 2000 years, yet it is rust-resistant to date. This shows how advanced India’s metallurgy was even at that time. It is clear that India’s heritage is not only history, but it is also science,” PM Modi added.

The Prime Minister also informed that a historic place in north-east India has been proposed to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage list.

“The World Heritage Committee’s program is a proud achievement for India. I have been informed that the historic “Maidam” of North East India is proposed to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. This will be India’s 43rd World Heritage site and the first heritage site in North East India to receive the status of a cultural world heritage,” PM Modi informed.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

An aerial view of a mural depicting Palestinian photographers Mohammed Al-Masri (L), Ali Jadallah (2nd L), Abdelhakim Abu Riash (R) and Palestinian journalist Hind Khoudary (2nd R) in Ilford, east London, on March 28, 2024, as part of a project launched by the art platform Creative Debuts called “Heroes of Palestine”.
| Photo Credit: AFP

UNESCO on May 2 awarded its world press freedom prize to all Palestinian journalists covering the war in Gaza, where Israel has been battling Hamas for more than six months.

“In these times of darkness and hopelessness, we wish to share a strong message of solidarity and recognition to those Palestinian journalists who are covering this crisis in such dramatic circumstances,” said Mauricio Weibel, chair of the international jury of media professionals.

“As humanity, we have a huge debt to their courage and commitment to freedom of expression.”

Audrey Azoulay, director general at the UN organisation for education, science and culture, said the prize paid “tribute to the courage of journalists facing difficult and dangerous circumstances”.

According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 97 members of the press have been killed since the war broke out in October, 92 of whom were Palestinians.

The war started with Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel estimates that 129 captives seized by militants during their attack remain in Gaza. The military says 34 of them are dead.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 34,596 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s Health Ministry.

In another regressive move, The Taliban have banned women from visiting one of Afghanistan’s most popular national parks, BBC reported. Afghanistan’s acting minister of virtue and vice, Mohammad Khaled Hanafi, said women have not been observing the proper way to wear the hijab while visiting the park.

“Going sightseeing is not a must for women,” said Hanafi as he urged security organizations and religious leaders to prohibit women from entering until a solution was found.

”There are complaints about lack of hijab or bad hijab, these are not Bamiyan residents. They come here from other places,” Sayed Nasrullah Waezi, head of the Bamiyan Shia Ulema Council told Tolo news.

Established in April 2009, Band-e-Amir National Park is Afghanistan’s first national park and remains a popular tourist spot. UNESCO describes the park as a “naturally created group of lakes with special geological formations and structure, as well as natural and unique beauty”.

The decision has raised concerns among human rights advocates. ”Not content with depriving girls and women of education, employment, and free movement, the Taliban also want to take from them parks and sport and now even nature, as we see from this latest ban on women visiting Band-e-Amir,” said Heather Barr, the associate women’s rights director at Human Rights Watch.

“Step by step the walls are closing in on women as every home becomes a prison,” she added. 

UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan wrote on X, ”Can someone please explain why this restriction on women visiting Band-e-Amir is necessary to comply with sharia and Afghan culture?”

Can someone please explain why this restriction on women visiting Bande Amir is necessary to comply with Sharia and Afghan culture? #womensrightsarenotnegotiablehttps://t.co/QbC6azYbmm

— UN Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett (@SR_Afghanistan) August 27, 2023

Despite promising a softer rule when they seized power, the Taliban have ratcheted up restrictions on all aspects of women’s lives, ignoring international outrage. A few months back, they barred entry of families and women into restaurants with gardens or green spaces in Herat province, Afghanistan, reported Fox News.

Women in the country are also prohibited from leadership posts, banned from university and secondary education, and not allowed to work as well as travel unless accompanied by a male companion. Many public places, including bathhouses, gyms, and parks, have also been made off-limits for women.