RASC: According to a letter that reached the media, the Ministry of Higher Education of the Taliban group asked university professors to refrain from criticizing the “current system” of the Taliban group in their academic writings.
In this letter, the use of “national terms” and mastery of Pashto and Farsi languages are emphasized.
This letter contains seven orders about research and translation, which were sent by Hamidullah Muzamal, the head of the research, compilation and translation department of the Ministry of Higher Education of the Taliban on May 27, 2023.
A reliable source in the Ministry of Health confirmed this letter.
At the beginning of the letter, Mozamel asked the professors to “defend the current system and avoid any kind of criticism” in their writings so as not to get into “problems”.
In the letter, it is explicitly requested that the professors “seriously avoid using foreign terms such as court, prosecutor, student, university, student school, etc. in their works.”
The Ministry of Higher Education of the Taliban group has said that the country has “national terms” for these words.
Banning the use of words such as university has repeatedly caused reactions and controversy in universities and media in Afghanistan.
The Taliban group has prevented its official use by describing these Persian words as “foreign”.
The officials of the former governments and the Taliban group did not have this sensitivity towards non-Persian words and terms such as Urdu and English.
The Ministry of Higher Education of the Taliban group has also emphasized the foreignness of words such as university and court.
Previously, the Taliban group has repeatedly removed Persian words from official plaques.
In the letter of the Ministry of Higher Education, all university professors are asked to learn “the two official languages Dari and Pashto”.
The Taliban group has threatened that “any kind of disobedience” to the letter of the Ministry of Higher Education will have consequences for the professors.
