A bookseller told Tolo News, “There are issues because of the lack of female students’ presence in the universities. This issue also affects the book business.”

Another bookseller stressed that the market is down and people lack the capacity to buy. He also spoke about various taxes that the booksellers need to pay. Bookseller Mansour Qazizada added, You know that the market is down and the people lack the capacity to purchase books. Also, there are many types of taxes and the Kabul municipality sends their representatives.”

Meanwhile, the Taliban-led Ministry of Information and Culture said that efforts were being made to pardon the taxes of the libraries to support the book markets in Afghanistan, according to the report.

Mahajar Farahi, deputy minister of Taliban-led Information and Culture for publications, said, “We are trying to waive taxes on books and thus we can implement a tradition of book reading. We have held various exhibitions.”

Earlier this week, a group of young people in Kabul organised the “Smart Way” book display to strengthen the reading culture in Afghanistan according to a Tolo News report.

By implementing such initiatives, young people claimed they want to inspire residents, particularly other young people, to read literature, as the Taliban has already put strict restrictions on the education of young girls and women in Afghanistan.

Speaking to Tolo News, several expo attendees said that the reasons why people don’t study enough are related to the economy, a lack of employment opportunities, and a high usage of social media. Visitors, however, claimed that organising such displays was successful in promoting reading culture.

Updated: 13 Aug 2023, 06:33 AM IST