RASC News Agency: Local sources in Badakhshan province report that the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education has dismissed six senior professors from the Faculty of Sharia Law at Badakhshan University. On Monday, March 10, sources confirmed to RASC News that the dismissed academics held advanced degrees and had over a decade of teaching experience at the university. According to the sources, the professors removed from their positions include:
Sanatullah Joya, Mohammad Anwar Zafari, Mohammad Rashid Rahimi (Head of the Department of Jurisprudence and Law), Mohammad Qasim Rashidi, Abdul Basir Azizi and Aminullah Halimi.
While the Taliban have not provided an official explanation for their dismissal, reports suggest that the professors were accused of adhering to Salafi ideology and having links with Hizb ut-Tahrir, an Islamist political organization. This move is not unprecedented; previously, the Taliban also dismissed professors from the Faculty of Sharia Law at Al-Biruni University in Kapisa province and Kabul University. University sources speaking to RASC News describe the dismissed professors as staunch opponents of democratic values during the two-decade rule of the previous government. They actively denounced democracy, human rights, elections, and even justice advocacy, while also branding students as heretics simply for reading books and seeking knowledge.
Ironically, the very scholars who once excommunicated others for ideological differences have now fallen victim to the same ideological purging they once practiced. For years, these individuals rallied against Afghanistan’s fragile democratic system, calling for the establishment of a purely Islamic government. Initially, they welcomed the Taliban’s rule, believing it aligned with their vision. However, in an ironic twist of fate, it is now the Taliban’s own “Islamic system” that has ultimately removed them from power.
