Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education has, through a letter, warned university lecturers to avoid criticizing the Taliban regime in their research work, sources said, Khaama Press reported. The Khaama Press News Agency is an online news service for Afghanistan.
In the letter, it is stressed that university lecturers should have a good command of both national languages (Farsi and Pashto) and utilize national terminologies rather than using terms that are alien to Afghan people and culture.
The letter contains seven decrees about research and translation, sent by Hamidullah Muzamal, the head of the research and translation department of the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education, on May 27, according to Khaama Press.
Muzamal said that university lecturers should defend the ruling regime and refrain from criticizing or speaking against Taliban officials to avoid possible problems. It is also stated that lecturers and researchers should avoid using alien terms in their write-ups, adding that the country has common expressions for these words.
Banning the use of the term “Danishgah”, which has a Farsi root, which translates university in English, has repeatedly sparked widespread reactions in universities and media in Afghanistan, as per Khaama Press. The Taliban officials, while describing the term “Danishgah” as foreign, have banned using the term.
The former government officials and the Taliban did not have sensitivity towards non-Persian words such as Urdu and English. The Taliban previously removed Farsi words from official plaques of universities in different parts of the country.
Some critics of the Taliban administration describe the move as a clear anti-Farsi language campaign that will further widen the gap among the people of Afghanistan, who are ethnically and linguistically very diverse. (ANI)
