Several Afghan citizens have responded to recent remarks by Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, the Taliban’s political deputy, about eliminating prejudice in Afghanistan. They claim that under Taliban rule, linguistic, ethnic, and regional biases have flourished. Instead of promoting tolerance, the Taliban have fostered intolerance, treating citizens differently based on their language, ethnicity, and region. Citizens also accuse lower-ranking Taliban commanders and fighters of disregarding Hibatullah Akhundzada’s orders to avoid discriminatory practices, pointing to the Taliban’s policies toward Persian speakers as a clear example of this double standard.
Abdul Hai, a resident of Panjshir, told the Hasht-e Subh Daily: “The Taliban discriminate against citizens based on language, ethnicity, and region. Not only have they done nothing to eliminate this discrimination, but they’ve also fueled linguistic and ethnic prejudices.” He added, “In Panjshir’s government offices, you won’t find a single Persian-speaking official. It’s extremely difficult for residents of Panjshir and Kapisa to obtain essential documents like passports and marriage certificates—they often wait for months.” Hai also noted, “Prisons in the capital are filled with Tajiks. In Panjshir, Parwan, and Takhar, the Taliban struggle to find space for prisoners due to overcrowding. Most of these detainees were arrested solely because of their ethnic and linguistic differences with the Taliban.”
Ahmad Saraj, a resident of Kapisa, shared similar concerns, saying, “If we need to visit the courts or government offices, we’re required to write our applications in Pashto and explain our problems in Pashto, even though most Taliban officials understand Persian. When we speak Persian, they tell us to switch to Pashto, claiming they don’t understand Persian.” Saraj continued, “Everyone in Afghanistan understands Persian, yet the Taliban act as if it’s a foreign language. Persian-speaking government employees are forced to speak Pashto out of fear of being fired. Isn’t this blatant prejudice?” He added that even in Tajik, Hazara, and Uzbek areas, government office signs are only in Pashto.
Manizha, a teacher at a public school in Kabul, criticized the Taliban’s discriminatory practices: “Taliban officials lie to the international community, claiming there’s no discrimination in Afghanistan. But right now, no Persian-speaking or Uzbek official has the authority to make decisions on national matters. All of the Taliban’s decisions are ethnically biased, and both the Afghan people and the international community see through their lies.”
High-ranking officials from neighboring countries have also acknowledged the Taliban’s linguistic, ethnic, and religious biases. Iran’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, stated in a video interview on October 1, 2024, that he had consistently advised the Taliban that their mono-ethnic, mono-linguistic, mono-gender and mono-religious governance structure cannot meet Afghanistan’s needs. He stressed that Afghanistan’s diversity must be reflected in its governance and called for efforts to eliminate prejudice. “We encourage the Taliban to include capable individuals from all of Afghanistan’s diverse communities,” he added.
Despite these criticisms, the Taliban routinely ignore both domestic and international complaints about their discriminatory practices. They claim Afghanistan is a peaceful, prejudice-free country. On October 2, 2024, during a security meeting in Panjshir, Mawlawi Abdul Kabir stated that the Taliban leadership would not allow anyone to apply linguistic, ethnic, or religious bias. He insisted that Taliban officials treat all citizens equally, regardless of their background.
The Taliban-controlled National Radio and Television of Afghanistan reported that several high-ranking officials attended the meeting, including Nuruddin Azizi, Minister of Industry and Commerce; Sheikh Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, Minister for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice; Mullah Abdul Haq Wasiq, General Director of Intelligence; Qari Fasihuddin Fitrat, Chief of Staff; and Hafiz Mohammad Hakim Agha, Governor of Panjshir.
For the past three years, citizens have consistently criticized the Taliban’s discriminatory policies and practices. They argue that the Taliban are actively working against the Persian language by removing it from government office signs and replacing it with Pashto in official correspondence. Additionally, they point to the construction of a new prison in Panjshir as further evidence of the Taliban’s prejudice against Persian speakers.
Although Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada ordered three years ago that citizens should not be treated differently based on language, and that anyone found discriminating between Persian and Pashto would be punished, this decree has proven ineffective. In the past three years, no reports have surfaced of anyone being punished for linguistic, ethnic, or religious prejudice.
You can read the Persian version of this daily report here:
واکنش شهروندان به اظهارات معاون سیاسی رژیم طالبان؛ تعصب رشد کرده است | روزنامه ۸صبح
