Kabul: University Prof Arrested for Criticising Taliban

Web Desk — A prominent Afghan university professor has been detained in Kabul for openly criticising the Taliban regime Kabul.

According to government spokesman, Prof Faizullah Jalal, in news talk-shows, was blaming the Taliban for the worsening financial crisis and criticising them for ruling by force.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted that Jalal had been detained on Saturday over statements he made on social media in which he was “trying to instigate people against the system and was playing with the dignity of the people”.

“He has been arrested so that others don’t make similar senseless comments in the name of being a professor or scholar that harm the dignity of others,” Mujahid added.

He shared screenshots of tweets he claimed had been posted by Jalal, which said the new government considers Afghans as “donkeys”.

In one television appearance, Jalal called Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem — who was also participating — a “calf”, a grave insult in Afghanistan. Clips of his passionate criticism went viral on social media.

Jalal’s wife Massouda, who once stood as Afghanistan’s first woman candidate for the presidency, posted on Facebook that her husband had been arrested by Taliban forces and detained in an unknown location.