SRINAGAR: The Taliban government has ordered the removal of hundreds of books from Afghanistan’s universities and imposed a ban on 18 academic subjects, citing violations of Sharia law and state policy, the BBC reported.
Among the blacklisted works are more than 140 written by women, including titles such as Safety in the Chemical Laboratory. At least six of the prohibited subjects focus on women, including Gender and Development, The Role of Women in Communication, and Women’s Sociology.
The decree, issued in late August and signed by Ziaur Rahman Aryubi, deputy academic director of the Taliban-run Ministry of Higher Education, followed recommendations from a panel of “religious scholars and experts,” officials said. Books by Iranian authors or publishers were also targeted, with 310 of the 679 banned titles falling into this category, in what one review committee member described as an effort to stop “Iranian infiltration” of the curriculum.
The restrictions add to a string of measures introduced since the Taliban retook power in 2021. Women have faced the harshest limits: barred from education beyond the sixth grade, excluded from midwifery training since late 2024, and most recently affected by a ban on fibre-optic internet in at least ten provinces.
Zakia Adeli, former deputy justice minister and one of the affected authors, said the move was unsurprising. “When women themselves are not allowed to study, their views, ideas and writings are also suppressed,” she remarked.
The Taliban insist women’s rights are upheld “in accordance with Afghan culture and Islamic law.”
