The Taliban destroyed a number of historical and cultural symbols of the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh province.
Mazar-i-Sharif, January 16 - Sangar, Qari Ahmad. These historical and cultural symbols of Persian civilization were created in due time by Ustad Atamuhammad Nur, the former governor of Balkh. This situation does not exclude the risk of destruction of Ravzae Mubarak, the grave of Hazrat Ali, the main attraction of Mazar Sharif.
A source in the Taliban administration of Balkh province told Sangar that the destruction of the symbols of the city of Mazar-i-Sharif was carried out on the orders of the governor of Balkh and with the approval of the Ulema Council of Afghanistan under the leadership of Mullah Haibatullah, the leader of the Taliban.
“These symbols are basically idols created contrary to Sharia law,” the source said.
At the same time, people familiar with this issue in Mazar-i-Sharif told Sangar that last Friday, a meeting of the governor with the civil and law enforcement agencies of Balkh took place in the administration building of Balkh province, and it was decided that by all means destroy what was built during the reign of Ustad Atamuhammad Nur.
“Essentially, the Taliban have declared war on the historical and cultural symbols of Persian speakers, generally non-Pashtuns,” the source said.
Last Saturday, January 14, people from the Taliban group destroyed the statues of warriors and chavandazes with axes, which were installed several years ago as a symbol of the buzkashi (national game) at the Kamgar junction in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif. After the destruction of these statues, the statues of doves in Kortae Sulh (Peace) were also toppled.
Similarly, during the year and a half of their rule in Afghanistan, the Taliban destroyed the historical and cultural symbols of Balkh, such as photographs of Ismail Samani, Burhanuddin Rabbani, Abdulali Mazari (the leader of the Hazaras) and the "Wall of the Elites" in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
“It is assumed that all the historical and cultural symbols of Mazar-i-Sharif will be destroyed, and Islamic or historical Pashtun names will be put in their place,” the source said.
The historical and cultural symbols of Mazar-i-Sharif as the cultural center of the Persian-speaking and non-Pashtun peoples were mainly created during the reign of Ustad Atamuhammad Nur (2018-2004). One of the major intersections of the city was named after the poet Vasif Bakhtari, the industrial city was named after Amir Alisher Navai, the founder of Uzbek literature, Balkh airport was named after Maulana Jalaluddin Mohammad Balkhi, schools and roads were named after Zardasht, Avesta, Jamshid, Shah Ismail Samani, Yakub Lais, Burhanuddin Rabbani, Abduali Mazari, and others.
Ustad Atamuhammad Noor said on his Facebook page that Balkh and the city of Mazar-i-Sharif were turned into a model of reconstruction and modernization with the efforts and support of thousands of proud sons of this country, national entrepreneurs, and the international community.
“When you cannot and do not want to create, it is better not to destroy or revive the memory of the destroyers of history in Balkh,” writes the former governor of the province.
According to historians, in addition to the attacks of the Arabs and Mongols, this is the second case of the destruction of historical monuments and symbols of ancient Balkh by the Afghan-Pashtun governments of Afghanistan. In 1311, Mohammadgul Mohmand, the representative of the central government in northern Afghanistan, burned 400 books in Turkic and Farsi and 237 copies of old books, and also destroyed historical sites such as the Naqarai Sanjari tower, Chaharsue Baba Janbaz, the Subhanqulikhan madrasah, the Nuhgunbad mosque, several Buddhist temples, the tomb of Rabiya Balkhi and other tombs, Zoroastrian gravestones, etc.
Unlike during Mohmand's time, the Taliban are now destroying these historical monuments under the Islamic pretext of "crushing idols", just as they destroyed the Buddha statues in Bamiyan in 2001.
In May this year, they also destroyed sculptures from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Kabul University.
In fact, the Taliban are doing the same thing as ISIS in Syria and Iraq, destroying dozens of historical and Islamic monuments on these lands. While the Taliban see themselves as anti-ISIS, they are no different in practice.
Therefore, according to a Sangar source, they have been plotting for a long time to destroy Ravzae Mubarak, the main symbol and calling card of Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh province, and Afghanistan as a whole. According to some reports, Ravzae Mubarak is one of the alleged burial places of the fourth righteous Caliph Ali, the son-in-law and cousin of the Prophet Muhammad.
