Ismail Youn’s Strong Reaction to His Dismissal from Kabul University: “We Work with Books, Not Bombs”

RASC News Agency: Ismail Youn, a former professor of Pashto Language and Literature at Kabul University, has vehemently condemned his dismissal by the Taliban, remarking, “Our misfortune is that we work with books, not barrels of explosives.” In a scathing Facebook post, Youn decried the radical transformation of Kabul University, asserting that it has been completely reduced to a Taliban-controlled madrassa. He revealed that since the Taliban’s takeover, over 600 university professors have fled Afghanistan, while another 200 who traveled abroad for further studies have not returned. According to Youn, student enrollment has nosedived from 38,000 to just 14,000, while many faculty members have either resigned or are operating under oppressive constraints. He also underscored the militarization of the university, highlighting that Ubaidullah Ubaida, the institution’s administrative deputy and the brother-in-law of the Taliban’s Minister of Higher Education, routinely carries a firearm into his office.
Youn’s criticism marks a sharp departure from his previous stance, as he was once known for his close ties with the Taliban, even participating in televised poetry recitations alongside senior Taliban officials. However, he now describes the university’s decline not only as an academic and intellectual downfall but also as a moral and cultural collapse. Drawing a stark comparison, Youn lamented that Kabul University has been reduced to the equivalent of a rural madrassa, expressing his profound disillusionment as an academic and advocate for intellectual freedom. “It pains me to witness the institution I once cherished being dismantled by dogma and ignorance,” he stated.
In response to Youn’s remarks, Mahboob Shah Mahboob, a fellow academic and former colleague, acknowledged that the university has indeed succumbed to rigid ideological control. However, he also pointed out the irony of Youn’s current predicament, recalling that in 2023, Youn had fervently supported the Taliban and even awarded them a 95 out of 100 in performance ratings. “Today, Youn finds himself a casualty of the very regime he once championed,” Mahboob remarked.