Taliban defense ministry inspector eeneral major General Latifullah Hakimi says Pashto is Afghanistan’s national language and that “there should be one national language, not two.”
In an exclusive interview with TOLOnews, Hakimi said Afghanistan has two official languages Pashto and Dari/Persian but stressed that there should be only one national language.
He cited India as an example, claiming that the country has one national language and several official languages. However, India’s language policy differs from his description. Under India’s Constitution, Hindi is the official language of the central government, while English is also used alongside it for official purposes. Legally, however, India does not have a “national language.”
In response to Hakimi’s remarks, some Afghans said that both Pashto and Dari/Persian are historical and official languages of Afghanistan and called for avoiding discriminatory statements regarding language.
During the previous republican government, Pashto and Dari were used as Afghanistan’s national and official languages in government institutions. The status of Afghanistan’s languages has for years been a major issue in the country’s political and social discourse.
Writer:Saeed Sameer
