A Poet Beneath the Tractor’s Tread

The Demolition of Professor Khalilullah Khalili’s Mausoleum at Kabul University

October 26, 2025

Today, the mausoleum of Professor Khalilullah Khalili, a prominent Afghan poet and scholar, was removed from the campus of Kabul University. Images circulating on social media and media reports confirm that the burial site of this iconic figure of Persian language and literature was flattened by a tractor, leaving no trace of his grave.

The news has sparked a wave of sorrow and outrage across Afghanistan’s cultural and literary circles. Many writers and intellectuals have described the act as “an erasure of cultural memory” and “a blatant disrespect for the shared heritage of Persian-speaking communities.”

Dr. Sami Hamed, poet, author, and president of the Afghan PEN Center, reacted on his Facebook page:

“We shouldn’t wait for the Talibs to commit new acts of destruction and only then react. The very fact that they rule that land is enough to know that our thought and culture are being martyred every day.”

Other writers have pointed to the Taliban’s ethnic and linguistic prejudices. Afghan satirist Mousa Zafar, sharing a photo of the tractor demolishing Khalili’s mausoleum, wrote on Facebook:

“If tomorrow they announce that speaking Persian in the streets and markets is forbidden, I won’t be surprised.”

Afghan poet and journalist Mujib Mehrdad also responded:

“How long must this destructive and demonic force bulldoze and tank the very roots of Afghan culture before their ethnocentric supporters begin to feel the pain of the rest of the Afghan people?”

Professor Khalili passed away in the spring of 1987 in Islamabad, Pakistan, and was buried in a cemetery for Afghan refugees on the outskirts of Peshawar.

Twenty-five years later, in 2012, his remains were transferred to Kabul and reinterred in an official ceremony near the mausoleum of Sayyed Jamal ad-Din Afghani on the campus of Kabul University.

Born in 1907 in Kabul, Khalilullah Khalili was one of the most distinguished figures of contemporary classical Afghan poetry. A Professor of traditional forms such as the qasida and ghazal, he was also among the first Afghan poets to experiment with modern verse.

In addition to his literary achievements, Khalili held several high-ranking government positions, including Vice Chancellor of Kabul University, Director of Independent Press, Press Advisor to King Mohammad Zahir Shah, and Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Iraq. After the coup of April 27, 1978, he withdrew from public service and spent his final years in exile.

Now, more than three decades after his death, the destruction of his mausoleum by the Taliban has once again raised deep concerns about the fate of Afghanistan’s cultural heritage under the rule of a group known for its hostility toward all symbols of civilization and culture.

During their first regime in the 1990s, the Taliban had already destroyed the tomb of Ahmad Zahir, the legendary Afghan singer. In 2001, they also dynamited the majestic 1,500-year-old Buddha statues of Bamiyan.