Uzbek Pressure Prompts Taliban to Rebuild Destroyed Nava’i Statue
The Taliban have pledged to rebuild a monument to Amir Ali-Shir Nava’i in northern Afghanistan after Uzbekistan raised concern over the statue’s demolition.
The Taliban have pledged to rebuild a monument to Amir Ali-Shir Nava’i in northern Afghanistan after Uzbekistan raised concern over the statue’s demolition.
The governor’s office in Balkh province announced Thursday that reconstruction had begun on the memorial in Mazar-e-Sharif, with a budget of 1.5 million Afghanis. The project will include restoring the statue, creating green spaces, building a recreational area, establishing a library and installing information boards about Nava’i’s life and works, officials said.
The move followed contacts between Uzbekistan’s Foreign Ministry and Taliban officials. Tashkent said the Taliban had expressed regret over the statue’s destruction and promised to construct a more elaborate complex dedicated to the 15th-century poet, scholar and statesman.
Abdul Rahman Hemmat, the Taliban mayor of Mazar-e-Sharif, said the project would be completed within a month. Uzbek diplomats, Taliban foreign ministry representatives in the north and other officials attended the inauguration of the work, according to Uzbekistan’s Foreign Ministry.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Akhror Burkhanov said Tashkent immediately sought clarification after the statue’s demolition. Taliban officials reportedly responded that the location was “not worthy” of commemorating such a figure and that a more prominent memorial was needed. They assured Uzbek officials that Nava’i’s legacy was important for Afghanistan as well as Uzbekistan.
The statue had stood in Mazar-e-Sharif for around 17 years before it was torn down, provoking widespread criticism. Rahila Dostum, daughter of Uzbek leader Abdul Rashid Dostum, called the demolition a “symbol of the Taliban’s hostility toward the country’s cultural heritage.” Civil and social groups representing Afghanistan’s Turkic community also condemned it as part of what they described as the Taliban’s “anti-cultural and identity-erasing policies.”
It was not the first such incident. In 2022, the Taliban demolished another statue of Nava’i in the city, drawing criticism from Afghan citizens and Uzbekistan. At the time, Taliban officials similarly assured Tashkent that the memorial would be restored.
Amir Ali-Shir Nava’i, a celebrated figure of the Timurid era, is regarded as the founder of Chagatai literature and remains an influential cultural icon across Central Asia.
