KABUL: A religious scholar from Afghanistan’s Faryab province has been in the custody of Taliban intelligence for seven days, according to local sources.
The scholar, identified as Maulvi Ali Ahmad Jalali, is an Uzbek religious figure who serves as the imam of Imam Termezhi Mosque in Maimana city. Sources said Taliban intelligence arrested him after he made remarks opposing ethnic and linguistic discrimination.
According to relatives and worshippers familiar with the case, Jalali had previously been warned by the Taliban’s Directorate of Intelligence and the Directorate of Encouraging Right and Forbidding Wrong against publishing videos of his religious speeches on social media.
Jalali has delivered several recent sermons in Uzbek in which he criticized ethnic, linguistic and political discrimination. He also spoke about the importance of education in people’s mother tongues and warned against imposing one culture or language on other communities.
In meetings with young people and supporters, the scholar also called on Taliban officials to consult religious scholars, educated people and local communities when making major decisions and to prioritize the interests of the country.
Sources said Jalali had previously been summoned several times by Taliban intelligence and religious authorities. A source at the Imam Termezhi Mosque said he had also been instructed not to publish images of living beings.
The exact charges against Jalali remain unclear, and there has been no official statement from Taliban authorities confirming his arrest or providing details about his current location and condition.