Afghanistan reports reveal devastated libraries

摘要

Recent reports from National Public Radio, Reuters, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), and other sources paint an abysmal picture of libraries in Afghanistan, where the Taliban regime has left the nation's cultural and literary heritagein shambles. NPR correspondent Anne Garrels reported from Kabul January 17 that although the National Library of Afghanistan (NLA) is still standing, its contents have been plundered. She talked to librarian Mohammed Shaffi, who told her that 20 years agothe library was brimming with readers but under the Taliban women were banned and men avoided appearing in public places for fear of being drafted. While in other cities all library books were destroyed, Shaffi said, NLA books that were deemed un-Islamic were put under lock and key, among them books with illustrations, including children's books. "They said we didn't need books," said librarian Abdul Aziz Najuman in a January 24 Reuters report. "We had to hide the anatomy books in a part of the library," added Mohammed Azim Ibrahimi. The two are librarians at Kabul University's medical school, where libraries and laboratories have been vandalized. The library is refilling its shelves with help from the World Health Organization, the Iranian government, and Loma Linda (Calif.) University. National Library Director Fazlollah Qodsi told IRNA January 27 that about 80,000 books have been lost in the course of Afghanistan's civil war under Taliban rule. Many were burned for heating or used to wrap food. Eight of Kabul's 18 libraries were shut down and seven more were converted into residential buildings by the Taliban, Qodsi said, adding that "despite all the pressure, fortunately our colleagues managed to rescue a great number of handwritten and illustrated books on calligraphy.