In the present blood-bathed conflict of Syria, along with the loss of worthy human lives, the loss and damage of historic and holy sites would also be remembered for the years to come. After the war is over, it may take years to rebuild the cities and forget the loved ones who became the fuel of this conflict, but it would be impossible to bring back those historic sites that were the icons of inspiration for many, and in most cases, such beam of inspiration doesn’t remain limited to any specific nation, group, region or language and is kept dear by all.

In Syria, many notable and historic mosques and shrines were either partially or fully destroyed and it is not possible to blame any group of the warring factions for them as both the groups blame the other. Last week, the shelling between the government forces and rebels destroyed the mosque-mausoleum of Khalid bin Walid in the rebel held area of Homs, when the government forces launched an attack to retake the area. In the same way, the lovers of the family of Holy Prophet (PBUH) were moved by the damage caused to the complex of Syeda Zainab’s shrine located in the outskirts of Damascus and the shrine was the unlucky victim of the shelling and rockets between the two sides.

The Syrian conflict also witnessed a large number of similar losses. In September, parts of Aleppo city’s historic souks; which were the largest covered markets in the world which dates back to the 14th century, were blown away in the armed clash in the city. In the month of April, in the same city, the minaret of the historic Umayyed mosque was destroyed.

In Raqqa, the tomb of Ammar bin Yasir was blown up by anti-government protestors in March.

Like Iraq and other historic countries of the region, Syria contains a lot of historic buildings and monuments which were badly affected by the war now passing through its third year and till now, the most fierce and deadly year of the conflict. It is possible that there may be a number of other historic sites that might have got affected but they might not have reached to the media.

Like in all the wars, both the sides are eager to achieve their aim of inflicting more and more harm on each other and in this uncontrollable frenzy, all the standards and ethics of conflict have been sidelined and thus these important and historic buildings have also become the victim of the conflict. In some cases, such a loss may be termed to be ‘accidental’ as they were unlucky to be found in a wrong place at a wrong time and they were not targeted intentionally.

In some cases, it happens due to the ignorance of the warring factions that were not willing to grant any kind of relaxation to them and contest their rivalry away from these important places.

While in some other cases, the war becomes a good excuse to avenge your enemy in form of destroying the objects that are dear to them and which can infuriate or demoralize them. With every passing day, the conflict in Syria is becoming more and more divided between Sunni and Shia groups of the country and all the regional and global powers are using this card to meet their objectives. The military uprising started from the Sunni-majority areas of the country who wanted to get rid of the ruling minority Shias. In the same way, the role and interference of regional powers like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the Shias of Iraq and assistance of Iran and reportedly military involvement of Iran-backed Hezbollah of Lebanon are all based on the same criterion. Global powers are also concerned about the increasing influence of fundamental Islamic groups that have strongly penetrated in the lines of opposition forces and that aim to bring Sharia (Islamic government) after the Assad’s government is thrown away.

In other cases, however, they are directly targeted by human actors, assaulted for being markers of a group, ideology or religion that the aggressors seek to obliterate.

As an example, consider the destruction of the giant sixth-century statues of Buddha in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, destroyed by the Afghan Taliban in 2001.

Their obliteration was an act of wanton damage, a signal sent out to the world that the Afghan Taliban’s power was unchallengeable and that the group could do as it liked in the country.

Also, subliminally, it was an assault that spoke volumes for the Taliban’s intolerance of absolutely anything in the region that deviated from the manner in which they interpreted the past and the present, and the space they afforded to ideas they considered deviant. This is hardly a curious phenomenon. The point of any war, obviously, is to comprehensively take out the group against which you are fighting.

These losses, no doubt, focus directly to the group to which they relate like the loss of religiously important and respected mosques and shrines in Syria have moved the whole of Muslim community in the world but are also the legacy of humanity at large and to anyone that has an interest in linking the past with the future or studying it.

They were the sources of inspiration to many and their loss is considered a loss for the whole of humanity and it is the reason, collective efforts are undertaken to safeguard the places and buildings which have any historic value, without discrimination of region, or historic background relating to a particular group or nation.

These losses have been condemned by the leaders of various countries and both the sides have been urged to be careful. Public demonstrations were also held in a number of Muslim countries in which the losses were condemned and the related parties were asked to fight their war away from such places.

As a remedy for this serious problem, the warring factions can be given a serious message by their elders to uplift the safety and respect of such historic places and this can be carried out by their influential leaders. Secondly, the army of both the sides can be educated so that they should realize the importance of this historic legacy because, as noted above, the ignorance about the true worth of these historic sites mostly caused the damage. As a final step, immediate efforts should be made to restore the historic sites so that we should be able to see them again in the least time possible.

These losses have alarmed not only the Muslims but also all those who care for history and humanity. Though this important point was being ignored when this bloody conflict started but now it has been realized that all the efforts should be made to protect the historic sites and save them of any kind of destruction.

If the above points were considered seriously, we would be able to preserve those places for our coming generations that would be able to make them feel their culture and their basis and those things that were dear to their forefathers and that made them distinct in the world and earned glory and honor for them in the past.