Books to ban the Taliban written by women from Afghan universities

The Taliban government has removed books written by women from the University Teaching System in Afghanistan as part of a new ban that also exceeded the teaching of human rights and sexual harassment.

About 140 books from women – including titles such as “Safety in the Chemical Laboratory” – were among 680 books that were found to be of “anxiety” due to “anti -sorts and Taliban policies”.

It was said further that they were no longer allowed to study 18 objects, as an employee of the Taliban say they were “in conflict with the principles of Sharia and the system’s policy”.

The decree is the most in a series of restrictions that the Taliban brought after their return to power four years ago.

This week alone, the fiber optic internet was banned in at least 10 provinces of the Taliban Supreme Leader in progress, which employees said it was to prevent immorality.

Although the rules have influenced many aspects of life, women and girls have been particularly affected: they are forbidden to have access to education through the sixth grade, with one of their last routes to further training being cut off at the end of 2024, when the midwife courses were quietly closed.

Now even university subjects for women are directed: six of the banned 18 are specifically for women, including gender and development, the role of women in communication and women’s sociology.

The Taliban government said it respects women’s rights in accordance with their interpretation of Afghan culture and Islamic law.

A member of the Books Committee confirmed the ban on books written by women by telling the BBC Afmangan that “all books, author of women, have no right to teach.”

Zakia Adeli, the former deputy minister of justice before the return of the Taliban and one of the authors who found their books on the banned list, is not surprised by this move.

“Considering what the Taliban had done in the last four years, it was not far expected to make changes to the curriculum,” she said.

“Given the Mizoginistic Thinking and the Taliban policies, it is natural that when women themselves are not allowed to study, their views, ideas and works are also suppressed.”

The new guidelines, which were viewed by Afghanistan, were published in late August.

Ziaur Rahman ARYUBI, a deputy academic director of the Taliban Government Ministry of Higher Education, said in a letter to the universities that the decisions were made by a group of “religious scientists and experts”.

Like women’s books, it seems that the ban has targeted books by Iranian authors or publishers, as a member of the book review panel tells the BBC that it was created to “prevent Iranian content from penetrating the Afghan curriculum.”

The list of 50 pages sent to all universities in Afghanistan appear 679 titles, 310 of which are the author of Iranian writers or published in Iran.

Two different people, including one in the book review committee, told Afghans on the BBC that it was decided to “prevent Iranian content from penetrating” through the curriculum.

Neighboring countries have no easy relations, faced with matters such as water rights in recent years. Iran has also forced more than 1.5 million Afghans who lived in the country back across the border of January against the background of increasing anti -Afghan sentimentsS

But the decision is worried about some teachers with a professor at an institution who speaks for anonymity, stating that he is afraid that it will be almost impossible to fill the gap.

“The books of Iranian authors and translators serve as a major link between universities in Afghanistan and the global academic community. Their removal creates a significant void in higher education,” he said.

A professor at the University of Kabul told the BBC that in such circumstances, they were forced to prepare themselves for textbooks, taking into account the DOs and did not impose on the Taliban government.

But the decisive question is whether these heads can be prepared according to global standards.

The BBC addressed the Taliban Ministry of Education for comment.