RASC News Agency: Reports from Kabul province indicate a heightened exertion of influence by the Taliban to regulate the book publishing and sales market. It has come to light that the Taliban is systematically gathering and seizing books with political and religious themes, with an exception made for religious books pertaining to the Hanafi sect of Islam, as disclosed on Tuesday, January 16th.
Renowned researcher and author Mujib al-Rahman Rahimi revealed on his Facebook page that his literary works were among those confiscated by the Taliban. He detailed that the group conducted raids on publishing houses and bookstores in Kabul to secure these books. In a statement on his official Facebook page, Mr. Rahimi conveyed his conviction that the Taliban’s efforts to control book publication are futile in the digital age, where information is readily accessible via the internet, and technological advancements have diminished the traditional controls of governments and authoritarian systems over publications.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture recently issued recommendations to publishers and bookstores, urging them to refrain from offering a specific list of books. The deputy minister of the Taliban group clarified that no concrete action has been taken to confiscate these books. However, reports from students in Kabul province suggest that the Taliban’s Ministry of Education has imposed a ban on books opposing the group’s ideology and religion in university libraries. Furthermore, academic research in this domain has also been proscribed.
