A new campaign, “Against Book Burning,” launched by education activists, is drawing attention to the Taliban’s censorship and removal of books across several provinces.
Humaira Qaderi, a writer and university professor, along with her brother Khalid Qaderi, initiated the campaign to counter what they describe as the Taliban’s “policy of erasure and repression.”
According to Ms. Qaderi, the Taliban have censored thousands of books and confiscated them from libraries and universities nationwide.
“This is part of a systematic attempt to suppress knowledge,” Ms. Qaderi said, noting that hundreds of titles have been deemed “undesirable” and access to them banned, particularly in Herat province.
The campaign has garnered support both inside and outside Afghanistan, with people participating by sharing videos of themselves reading books in solidarity.
“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 said.
She sharply criticized the Taliban’s actions, calling the confiscation of so-called “forbidden books” an attack on intellectual freedom.
For nearly three years under Taliban rule, Afghans have faced increasing restrictions, with cultural and intellectual freedoms among the casualties of the regime’s hardline governance. Ms. Qaderi noted that the crackdown on books is part of a broader pattern of repression that has left Afghan citizens grappling with profound challenges.
