A new campaign launched by education activists in Afghanistan is shedding light on the Taliban’s systematic censorship and removal of books across the country.
Humaira Qaderi, a writer and university professor, along with her brother Khalid Qaderi, initiated the campaign “Against Book Burning” to counter what they describe as a concerted effort to suppress intellectual freedom and erode access to knowledge.
Afghan citizens — particularly women and young girls — have faced mounting repression under the Taliban, following the introduction of a raft of policies that severely curtail education, culture, and free expression.
Since seizing power in 2021, the group has overhauled the secular curriculum of elementary schools, built hundreds of madrasahs or Islamic seminaries across the country, and increased detentions of reporters, activists, and other critics.
As part of this effort to control public discourse and limit access to ideas that challenge the regime’s authority, the hardline Islamists have also intensified their censorship of ‘undesirable’ literature.
A commission established under the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture is now identifying and removing books deemed “un-Islamic” from libraries and bookstores, as well as instructing educational institutions to clear their libraries of materials that conflict with Taliban approved interpretations of Islam.
Since formation, the commission has identified over 400 titles for censorship, citing violations of Islamic and Afghan values. At least 50,000 books have so far been confiscated from publishing houses and bookshops in Kabul, while lists of banned books have also been distributed to libraries and bookshops across the province of Kabul and other provinces.
The censorship targets a wide range of literature, including works on modern governance and political freedoms, titles exploring democracy, social and civil rights, literature, art, poetry, and studies of prominent resistance figures like Ahmad Shah Massoud, a guerrilla commander during the resistance against the Soviet occupation during the Soviet-Afghan war (1979-89) who later fought against the Taliban.
“We have not banned books from any specific country or person, but we study the books and we block those that are contradictory to religion, sharia or the government, or if they have photos of living things,” said Mohammad Sediq Khademi, an official with the ‘Department for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice’ in Herat Province.
“Any books that are against religion, faith, sect, sharia… we will not allow them,” the 38-year-old explained to AFP, adding that “evaluations” of imported books started in earnest three months ago.
Separately, library managers told Amu TV that Taliban officials recently issued them with instructions to stock books that align with the Taliban’s ideology. “We have been given a list by the government with several books that are now banned, making their sale illegal,” said one source.
Another library official, also speaking anonymously, said that the Taliban’s aim is to “prevent any materials that could change mindsets or mislead individuals from an Islamic perspective”.
Now, however, “Against Book Burning” is encouraging Afghans to participate in its campaign of resistance against the restrictions, by posting social media videos of themselves reading books in solidarity, alongside the hashtag #againstbookburning.
The campaign has received growing support both domestically and internationally.
Speaking to AMU TV, Humaira Qaderi said: “We are seeing people from all walks of life join this movement by celebrating the very act the Taliban want to silence — reading.”
Ms Qaderi went on to express hope that the campaign will create a platform for resistance within Afghanistan, and playing an important role in shining an international spotlight on the Taliban’s attack on cultural and literary freedoms.
