Civil organisations representing Afghanistan’s Turkic communities say the Taliban have demolished the statue of renowned poet and scholar Alisher Navai in Mazar-e-Sharif.
They condemned the act as part of what they described as the Taliban’s ongoing “anti-cultural and identity-erasing” agenda.
In a joint statement issued Wednesday, 20 organisations said the demolition was “a blatant attack on the collective memory of the people and a part of Afghanistan’s shared identity.” They warned that the destruction of cultural symbols and historical heritage was harming the country’s history and diversity.
The groups urged UNESCO, international cultural institutions, and human rights defenders to take urgent steps to protect Afghanistan’s heritage.
Alisher Navai, a prominent poet, scholar and politician of the Timurid era, had been commemorated with the statue about 17 years ago by the municipality of Mazar-e-Sharif.
Reports of partial damage to the statue had surfaced earlier, but local activists said it has now been destroyed completely. Taliban officials have not commented.
The demolition has sparked strong reactions on social media. Abdulhanan Arslan, an Uzbek literature professor at Kabul University, described the act as “unfair” and called for transparency.
Over the past four years, the Taliban have repeatedly removed monuments and images of mujahideen leaders and other urban symbols across the country.
