Continuing their widespread restrictions on publishers and booksellers in Afghanistan, the Taliban have seized thousands of books without compensation, and this process is ongoing. The Hasht-e Subh Daily obtained a copy of the list of books banned by the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture, revealing that over 400 titles have been confiscated and their sale prohibited. Publishers argue that the actual number of banned books exceeds this list and that, within less than two years, the Taliban have collected thousands of books, causing significant financial losses. The Taliban justify these seizures by claiming the books are “against national interests, contrary to religion, harmful to minds, and propagandistic.” Instead of returning the confiscated books, the Taliban have offered booksellers some interpretations in front of cameras, only to take them back later. Sources report that during the confiscation process, the Taliban have humiliated booksellers, referring to the former government as “a government of terrorists.”
Sources within the booksellers and publishing community have confirmed that this list was sent by the Taliban’s Evaluation Commission, and they were informed that these books are not allowed to be distributed or sold. A source, who requested anonymity, stated that around 10 titles from his bookstore are included in this list, totaling thousands of copies, which are now banned from publication and sale.
Another source reports that booksellers and publishers are frustrated with the Taliban. According to this source, the Taliban visit bookstores and publishing houses daily, insulting their employees with vulgar language, and mocking them as “servants of infidels.” The source adds, “The Taliban call the previous government, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, terrorists, and harasses booksellers with terms like ‘servants of the infidels’ and ‘servants of Jews and Christians,’ using other derogatory language.”
Kawos (pseudonym), a Kabul publisher who requested to remain anonymous, told the Hasht-e Subh Daily that booksellers and publishers in Afghanistan are in a very dire situation. He explained that all publishers and booksellers are suffering, and the Taliban have inflicted heavy financial losses on them. In his view, besides the collapse of the book market, the imposition of restrictions, bullying, daily harassment, and book confiscations have made the working environment extremely difficult.
This publisher continued: “This list [of 433 banned books] is not only accurate but more books are being collected every day. They took about 16,000 books from us, which cost over $40,000. They come and take the books, and no one dares to ask why so many books are being taken. They make their list and take the books.”
Kawos emphasized that not long ago, the Taliban had asked booksellers to exchange their collected books for others. He said, “They took the booksellers into custody and told them that the Islamic Republic government of the ‘terrorists’ was distributing books. So, we are doing the same by giving you books with our Islamic interpretation. We also gave them books and settled the accounts. They handed us a set of Kabul-based Islamic interpretation books, but later took them back at the gate.”
A list compiled by the Taliban’s Evaluation Commission, a copy of which has been confirmed by the Hasht-e Subh Daily, includes 433 titles in politics, philosophy, religion, and fiction. Some of these books include “Afghanistan in the Fire of Oil” [1] by Khwaja Bashir Ahmad Ansari, “Looking for the Enemy: Mullah Omar and the Unknown Taliban” [2] by Bette Dam, “The Last Warlord” [3] by Brian Glyn Williams, “First In: How Seven CIA Officers Opened the War on Terror in Afghanistan” [4] by Gary C. Schroen, “Afghanistan Under Five Years of Taliban Sovereignty” [5] by Vahid Mojdeh, “Ghost Wars” [6] by Steve Coll, “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism” [7] by Max Weber, “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” [8] by Yuval Noah Harari, and hundreds of other titles that the Taliban’s commission has deemed against national interests, thus banning their sale and distribution.
Additionally, all books written by both domestic and foreign authors about Ahmad Shah Massoud, the former anti-Taliban resistance commander, have been described by the Taliban’s Evaluation Commission as contrary to national interests and are prohibited from being published or circulated.
Books like “The History of the Fourteen Infallibles” [9] by Mohammad Javad Mowlavinya, “God in the Qur’an (God in Three Classic Scriptures)” [10] by Jack Miles, “From Modernism to Postmodernism: An Anthology” [11] by Lawrence e. Cahoone, “An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion” [12] by Michael J. Murray and Michael C. Rea, “Approach to Understanding of Islam” [13] by Ali Shariati, and other works by both domestic and foreign authors, have been deemed by the Taliban’s Evaluation Commission as contrary to Islamic beliefs and banned from sale.
Furthermore, the Taliban’s Evaluation Commission has classified all books by Abdulkarim Soroush, the Iranian writer and philosopher, as against national interests and Islamic doctrine. Additionally, the book Islamic State: The Digital Caliphate by Abdel Bari Atwan, translated by Hossein Ehsani, has been deemed harmful to minds, and its publication and sale have been banned.
Previously, the Taliban had also seized thousands of books from bookstores and publishing centers in Kabul. Their intelligence services had warned publishers and booksellers that anyone who protested against this decision would be sent to prison.
At the time, sources told the Hasht-e Subh Daily that the Taliban had collected over 20,000 books on ethnic history, particularly books written about ethnic leaders, Shia Islam, and materials about “jihad and the resistance of the Afghan people,” from bookstores throughout the city. The Taliban’s intelligence services had warned publishers that this issue must not be made public.
Previously, the Ministry of Higher Education under the Taliban had also ordered all universities in the country to purge their libraries of books from the Republic era and replace them with “Biography of the Prophet of Islam” books. According to this order, books to be collected included works by Salafis, reformists, Shias, and political opponents of the Republic era. The acting head of the Ministry of Higher Education also instructed that the list of books to be collected be shared with him before the purge.
It should be noted that over the past three years, the Taliban have consistently engaged in media censorship, raided bookstores, and confiscated thousands of books, demonstrating their disregard for the diverse realities and society of Afghanistan. Anything outside the narrow ideological framework of this group is deemed worthy of removal and rejection.
Reference
[1] – افغانستان در آتش نفت
[2] – در جستوجوی دشمن ملا محمد عمر
[3] – آخرین سپهسالار
[4] – ماموریت سقوط
[5] – افغانستان و پنج سال سلطه طالبان
[6] – جنگ اشباح
[7] – اخلاق پروتستان و روح سرمایهداری
[8] – انسان خردمند
[9] – تاریخ چهارده معصوم
[10]- خدا به روایت قرآن
[11]- از مدرنیسم تا پستمدرنیسم
[12]- درآمدی به فلسفه دین
[13]- روش شناخت اسلام
[14] کتاب دولت اسلامی
You can read the Persian version of this daily report here:
دشمنی طالبان با کتاب؛ هر چه مخالف ایدیولوژیشان باشد جمعآوری میشود | روزنامه ۸صبح
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