Taliban Remove ‘Persian’ from Kabul University Sign, Replace It with ‘Dari Literature’

DID Press: Taliban have removed the title “Persian Dari Department” from the signboard of the Language and Literature Department at Kabul University and replaced it with the wording “Dari Literature” in their latest changes at the university.

According to Afghanistan International, the signboard was changed in recent days. However, the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education has so far provided no explanation for the move.

In recent years, the Taliban have also imposed restrictions on the use of several commonly used Persian words, including “Daneshgah” (university), “Daneshkada” (faculty) and “Daneshjoo” (student), in academic and administrative correspondence.

These measures have drawn criticism from a number of cultural activists and advocates of the Persian language in Afghanistan, raising concerns about the possible restriction of the language’s status in the country’s educational and administrative institutions.