Taliban launches another campaign against the Uzbek language. Afghan Uzbeks outraged

north_east

Since coming to power in 2021, the Taliban have pursued a policy of erasing the cultural and historical identity of millions of Uzbeks in Afghanistan and promoting Pashtunization. As part of this policy, inscriptions in Uzbek and Persian have been removed from the facade of Samangan University, located in northern Afghanistan, where large numbers of Uzbeks live. Afghanistan International reported this development.

The move followed the appointment of a new university rector on January 2 this year. According to reports, the Taliban removed the old sign about four days ago and reinstalled it after excluding the Persian and Uzbek languages.

Afghan statesman and politician, former vice president, and ethnic Uzbek Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum described the removal of the Uzbek language from the Samangan University sign as an act of open hostility by the Taliban toward Uzbek language and culture. He said that no force would be able to eliminate this language from the country’s cultural and social fabric.

Former Faryab governor Naqibullah Faiq, in turn, described the incident as “tribal-based,” warning that such actions would further fuel ethnic and linguistic hostility in the country.

Commenting on the former university sign, Samangan University lecturer Muhibullah Muhib said that after the institution was granted university status, the sign was changed by order of the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education. According to him, based on an official letter from the ministry, the proposal to include the Uzbek language on the facade was rejected. The previous sign had featured four languages: Pashto, Persian, Uzbek, and English.

A sign in the Uzbek language written in the Arabic script on the former facade of Samangan University

The current state of the facade, from which Uzbek and Persian have been removed

It is worth noting that this is not the first nationalist-driven action carried out by the Taliban. Previously, the group had reportedly removed Tajiks and Uzbeks en masse from the security forces, the Alisher Navoi monument in Mazar-i-Sharif was destroyed by local officials, Uzbeks suspected of links to Abdul Rashid Dostum were executed, and in November 2025, Uzbek-language inscriptions were also torn down from the facade of Jowzjan University. That incident sparked widespread protests, after which Taliban officials were forced to restore the Uzbek language.

Over the past four years, the Taliban have repeatedly been accused of restricting the Uzbek and Turkmen languages and exerting pressure on those who speak them. During this period, Uzbek-language signs were removed from government institutions, and monuments and images dedicated to Turkic-speaking poets and writers were subjected to vandalism.

If such an incident had involved the Russian language, it is well known that Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova would have reacted strongly. However, Uzbekistan’s Foreign Ministry has remained deeply silent. Despite sending tons of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, the attitude toward Uzbeks and the Uzbek language in the country has not changed.

Earlier, reports circulated that the Taliban’s interim government in Afghanistan had completely dismantled the monument to the great poet and thinker Alisher Navoi, who lived during the Timurid era, in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif. Following this, Uzbekistan’s Foreign Ministry contacted representatives of the Taliban’s interim government to obtain an official explanation.

After that, Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum and his daughter Rohila Dostum issued threats against the Taliban, stating that the group would sooner or later regret its actions.

At the time, the Afghan side claimed that the monument had been removed by local authorities because the location where it was installed was not worthy of Navoi’s legacy, promising that a more fitting complex would be built in honor of the poet and thinker in the near future. However, this promise has yet to be fulfilled.

It should also be recalled that in February 2023, the same Alisher Navoi monument in Mazar-i-Sharif was partially destroyed. At the time, Uzbekistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Akhror Burkhanov described the incident as “vandalism” and, citing Afghan representatives, said the monument had been damaged by unknown individuals.