RASC News Agency: The Taliban group’s reform commission for notice boards has made a significant announcement regarding the language used on shop signs. In an effort to promote national unity and cultural identity, the commission has requested all shop owners to exclusively use the national language on their signs, removing any foreign languages. Muhajir Farahi, the deputy of Publications Affairs and Head of the Taliban Group’s Placards and Notice Boards Reform Commission, raised this matter in a newsletter published by the Taliban group’s ministry on Tuesday, October 24th.
Furthermore, a newsletter from the Taliban group’s ministry states that shop owners, residents, commercial centers, and institutions are obligated to standardize their billboards and notice boards, incorporating terms and words in the national languages. The newsletter also explicitly prohibits the use of “illicit imagery” on signs and plaques, stressing the need to adhere to specific criteria for their usage. However, terms and words that lack substitutes or alternatives in the national and local languages are exempt from these regulations, as mentioned in the newsletter.
It is crucial to emphasize that the Taliban group’s ministry has commenced the process of modifying signs and plaques in Kabul province, as outlined in their newsletter. This action follows their previous initiatives to remove the Persian language from government institutions, with Pashto now being the dominant language used in many offices, obligating everyone to learn it. The implementation of these modifications is expected to extend to other provinces in due course.
Earlier, students at Balkh University voiced concerns about certain professors at the institution rejecting theses written in Persian. This issue poses a significant challenge for individuals who lack fluency in the Pashto language.
