Prof. Mohammad Hassan Kakar

Hassan Kakar, born in 1927 in Dewa village, Laghman Province, eastern Afghanistan, was a highly accomplished scholar with a remarkable journey. He held a B.A. from Kabul University and earned an M.Phil. and Ph.D. in history from the University of London. His academic pursuits led him to become a visiting Fulbright fellow at Princeton University (1971-73) and Harvard University (1973-76), where he transformed his doctoral dissertation into a book.

For many years, Professor Kakar dedicated himself to teaching history at Kabul University, eventually attaining the position of professor in 1981 and serving as the chair of the history department. His strong opposition to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1982 resulted in his arrest by the communist regime, leading Amnesty International to declare him a “prisoner of conscience.” With support from various human rights groups and scholars, including Professor Joseph Fletcher of Harvard University, Dr. Crystal A. Leslie of the Medical Center of Boston University, and Professor Felix Erma Cora, the special rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Commission on Afghanistan, pressure was continually exerted on the Kabul regime to secure his release.

Upon his release, Professor Kakar and his family sought refuge in Peshawar, Pakistan. There, he actively participated as an analyst of Afghan political developments within the Writers’ Union of Free Afghanistan. Before his immigration to the United States in 1989, he was elected as the first president of the Association of the Professors of the Universities of Afghanistan (in exile). In the U.S., he began as a Fellow at the East-West Center in Hawaii and later taught at the University of California, San Diego. Additionally, he served as the chair and founding member of the Movement for a Representative Government in Afghanistan, maintaining his involvement in current Afghan affairs and contributing to Afghan journals.

In the United States, Professor Kakar dedicated himself to raising awareness about Afghanistan’s situation. He authored and published several notable works, including “The Soviet Invasion and the Afghan Response, 1979-1982,” released by the University of California Press in 1995, and “A Political And Diplomatic History of Afghanistan, 1863-1901,” published in 2006 by Brill Publications. He briefly served as a visiting professor at the University of California, San Diego, where he continued to teach Afghanistan’s history.

Dr. Kakar was not only an accomplished scholar but also a prolific writer, with over ten books in Dari, Pashto, and English to his name. He also translated numerous books from English into Pashto and Dari. His final years were dedicated to making the ideas of Western philosophers available to young Afghans in Pashto, setting a high standard for translating scholarly classics into the language. Furthermore, he contributed articles to academic and public journals such as the Modern World Encyclopedia, the International Journal of Middle East Studies, the Asia Society, and the Wall Street Journal.

Professor Kakar passed away at the age of 87 in San Francisco, California, and was laid to rest near his birthplace in Surkhakan, Laghman Province, Afghanistan. He is survived by his wife, Maryam, two sons, Kawun and Sabawun, and three daughters, Palwasha, Wagma, and Khwaga, along with several grandchildren.