Khatam al-Nabiyyin chief says Taliban motives are political and religious, not legal
Mohammad Jawad Mohseni, head of the Khatam al-Nabiyyin complex, told Amu that the Taliban administration’s action against the centre goes beyond a legal dispute and is, in his words, driven by “political and religious” motives. He criticised what he called the “religious prejudice” of some Taliban officials, especially Abdul Hakim Sharaei, the acting justice minister in the Taliban administration.
According to Mohseni, Taliban forces have detained 28 teachers and students affiliated with the complex, and 24 of them remain in custody. He also rejected allegations by the Taliban administration that the institution has ties to the Islamic Movement of Afghanistan and that its buildings were constructed on state and usurped land.
Mohseni said Mohammad Asif Mohseni, the founder of the complex, had stepped down from the leadership of the Islamic Movement before these institutions were established, and that Tamadon TV is not a party media outlet. He added that the land belonging to the complex was purchased from private owners and that its legal documents are held by the institution’s officials.
Amid the continuing tension, Tamadon TV said that after suspending its broadcasts about two months ago, it will resume activity on social media and will also make public its correspondence and documents with the Taliban administration’s acting justice minister. The media outlet said the Taliban administration has chosen a path of “force and coercion” by forcibly entering the Khatam al-Nabiyyin seminary and detaining a number of teachers and students.
The Taliban administration’s justice ministry had previously claimed that institutions affiliated with Khatam al-Nabiyyin had links to the Islamic Movement of Afghanistan, a party whose activities, like those of other political parties, were banned after the Taliban returned to power. However, the ministry has so far said nothing about the latest incident or Mohseni’s remarks.
Following the incident, some social media users have also reacted. Some supported the closure of the centre, while others said it amounted to disregarding the religious rights of Shiites and described Khatam al-Nabiyyin as one of this community’s important religious centres.
The Khatam al-Nabiyyin complex includes a seminary, Khatam al-Nabiyyin University and Tamadon TV, institutions that were active on a large scale during the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. According to sources and based on developments over the past two years, the dispute between the complex and the Taliban administration began some time ago, although the exact reason for the shift from the relatively calm relationship of the first years of Taliban rule to the current confrontation remains unclear.
