UNESCO has defined cultural heritage as the tangible objects (artefacts, museums, monuments, etc) and intangible assets (practices, knowledge, skills, etc) that have symbolic, historic, ethnological and social importance. For decades, cultural heritage has been targeted in conflicts. Major examples include the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddha statues by the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2021; the 2015 attacks by Daesh on the historic city of Palmyra in Syria and on Mosul's museum, libraries and universities in Iraq; and the looting of Sudan's national museum by the Rapid Support Forces. But despite international obligations, the cases of cultural destruction have been increasing, and very little emphasis has been placed on why cultural heritage matters.

Pakistan is highly vulnerable to rich cultural heritage both in terms of cultural sites (Mohenjo-daro, Taxila, Makli Necropolis) and symbols (languages, practices, diversity) but also faces internal security threats from extremist groups, ethnic or sectarian clashes, illegal smuggling of antiquities from Taxila or Mohenjo-daro and vandalism of cultural or public property due to insurgency or separatist movements. These threats pose serious danger to cultural heritage preserved for centuries, as its destruction means erasing the identity, history and memory of people and is also against human dignity. But there is little Pakistani legal scholarship on cultural heritage protection in conflict, despite Pakistan's obligation under international law.

The Hague Convention 1954 was the first international treaty exclusively dedicated to safeguarding cultural heritage in both international and........

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