Writer who contributed to preserving the Uzbek language in Afghanistan passes away

Poet, writer, and journalist Muhammad Alim Kohkan, an Afghan Uzbek cultural figure, passed away on September 3 at the age of 63 in the United States due to a serious heart illness. The news was reported by Azizullo Arol, a linguist and publicist at Tashkent State University of Uzbek Language and Literature named after Alisher Navoi.

“I express my deepest condolences to the family members, relatives, and friends of our friend Muhammad Alim Kohkan on his passing. May God have mercy on him, may his soul rest in peace, and his memory live forever. May his children and relatives be granted patience and strength. Amen,” Arol wrote on his Facebook page.

Muhammad Alim Kohkan was born in 1962 in Afghanistan’s Faryab province, home to one of the largest Uzbek communities. He completed high school in Khoja Sabzpush district and studied at a lyceum in Maymana city. In 1983, he graduated from the Faryab Darulmuallimin Educational Institution, and in 2016, he obtained a degree from the Faculty of Law at Gawharshad University in Kabul.

Kohkan began his career in 1981 as a responsible secretary at the newspaper “Faryab.” He later served as its editor-in-chief for several years and also headed the Balkh provincial information and culture department for a time. In addition, he worked as the head of the Uzbek TV channel “Oyina” in Kabul and led the Uzbek department of the “Ariana” TV channel. He is regarded as one of the first Afghan Uzbeks to write prose.

His poems were published in outlets such as “Faryab,” “Yulduz,” and “Bilgi.” In 1999–2000, he was deputy editor-in-chief of the “Chavush” magazine in Peshawar. Some of his stories appeared in the collection “Terrible Days.” Kohkan was also a member of the Afghanistan Pen Society, the Turon Social and Cultural Foundation, and the Book Center Foundation. In 2016, together with Zikrullo Ishanch, he co-authored “Uzbek Literature Culture,” published in Maymana. His first poetry collection was published by the Afghanistan Pen Society, while his second, “Black Eyes,” was released in Kabul. He also translated Khaled Hosseini’s “Sea Prayer” and Nasir Ahmad Ahmadi’s “Ghazni Nigini” into Uzbek. Over the years, many of his social and cultural articles appeared in various newspapers.

Kohkan received the “Mir Masjidi Khan” award from the pre-Taliban Afghan government, as well as the “Chingiz Aitmatov” badge from the Kyrgyz Writers’ Union.

Following the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, he relocated to the United States. Throughout his life, Kohkan dedicated himself to the development of the Uzbek language, literature, and culture. The Afghan Journalists Protection Organization described his passing as a great loss for the country’s cultural and media community.

It is worth noting that recently, the renowned educator Jura Butakuz passed away at the age of 99.