Taliban Leadership Directs Government Offices to Replace Non-Native Terminology

DID press: Ministry of Justice of Taliban announced a new directive issued by Hibatullah Akhundzada requiring all government institutions to submit lists of “foreign terms” currently used in their administrative work. These terms will be reviewed, modified, and replaced, after which the final approved versions will be formally communicated back to the relevant departments.

According to the text of the decree, a committee has been established under the leadership of the Ministry of Justice, with representatives from the Ministry of Higher Education of Afghanistan, the Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan, and the Administrative Affairs Office of Afghanistan. The committee is tasked with reviewing terminology used in official documents and determining “Islamic and Afghan” equivalents. The directive states that once issued, it will be legally binding and must be published in the official gazette.

Another section of the document specifies that the committee is authorized to summon representatives of government agencies during the review process to provide necessary information. The closing note further clarifies that the Arabic language is considered the “shared language of Muslims,” and its vocabulary will not be classified as foreign.

Observers believe that the emphasis on removing “foreign terms” is, in practice, largely directed at the Persian language, a language that has historically formed the backbone of Afghanistan’s administrative, cultural, and historical identity. Given what analysts describe as a familiar governance pattern under the Taliban, the directive is expected to deepen linguistic divisions rather than strengthen national cohesion, potentially leading to the gradual erosion of Persian-language administrative and cultural heritage.

According to commentators, the Taliban’s language policies in recent years indicate a pattern of structural marginalization of Persian within the government apparatus—an approach that may not align with Afghanistan’s multilingual reality and could significantly affect administrative efficiency and mutual understanding among civil servants.