Introduction:
Moulavi Mohammad Saleem is the resident of Kandahar province and this is his actual place of birth. He has acquired his early knowledge in his home province from his father and various other scholars. He left for the neighboring country, Pakistan, for higher studies and completed his studies there. His graduation was coincided with the start of the Islamic Movement of Taliban and he joined it in 1994. He started his services in the movement from that time and served on various posts in Kandahar and Kabul. He served in high ranking posts as well. He joined alongside his other colleagues and participated in the Holy Jihad under the flag of the Islamic Emirate against the invading Americans and their allied forces. In addition to other services, he has performed as the deputy head of the Cultural Commission of the Islamic Emirate.
Question: Respected Moulavi Sahib, we will be thankful, if you could kindly shed some light on the activities and progress of the Cultural Commission.
Answer: الحمد لله وکفی والصلوة والسلام علی عباده الذین صطفی اما بعد
اعوذ بالله من الشیطان الرجیم ، والذین جاهدوا فینا لنهدینهم سبلنا و ان الله لمع المحسنین . صدق الله العظیم .
First of all, I would like to pay my best regards to the readers of this Magazine.
As far as your question is concerned, I would like to say that describing all the activities of the Cultural Commission of the Islamic Emirate in detail is a long discussion and it would be a bit difficult to discuss them thoroughly in this short interview. Let me describe them briefly. The Cultural Commission of the Islamic Emirate has various departments and portions i.e. website department or the internet activities department, the news agency department, the department of spokesmen or the media representatives of the Islamic Emirate, the department of authors and translators, the audio and video department, the department of telephonic broadcast, radio department, history and administration departments etc.
All these departments are independent organs which have wide range daily work. For example, if we take the internet department, the Islamic Emirate has a total of ten sites pulled together into one site. Pashto, Dari, Arabic, English, Urdu, Islam, video site, anthems, Al-Samood and Magazines site; all these sites are refreshed on the daily basis and fresh material is uploaded to them. Approximately more than 50 news items from all over Afghanistan is published in the sites of five languages i.e. Pashto, Dari, Arabic, Urdu and English. In addition, fresh incidents of the country and the world, interviews, reports, political and analytical articles, weekly analysis, messages and other material of literary touch is published. If we evaluate by the volume of the daily fresh news and moment to moment edit, we can say with full satisfaction that Alemarah site is the richest and widest read site on the level of Afghanistan. Allah Almighty has bestowed our friends in such circumstances that our site is incessantly facing the interruption and attacks of the enemy and our colleagues are working very hard to protect it. If our site had not been facing these hindrances and difficulties like other sites, we can assuredly estimate that our site would have been hundred percent richer and more advanced. But, by the grace of Allah Almighty, besides all these problems, our site is an exemplary site which provides publishing material in five international languages to its lovers.
About the print media, I would like to say that the Islamic Emirate has publications in four languages i.e. Pashto, Dari, Arabic and Urdu which comprises of Al-Samood, Morchal, Tsrak, Shahamat and Shariat monthly magazines. Moreover, the Cultural Commission has recently started the series of publishing books. Some books have already been published and more books will be published, Insha-Allah, in a very short span of time.
In the field of audio and video, three studios are working under the auspices of the Islamic Emirate i.e. Manba-ul-Jihad (the source of Jihad), Alemara and Alhijra. Each of them has, by the grace of Allah Almighty, successful and standard publications. 33rd volume of the Alemara studio namely ‘Let’s prepare ourselves’ has been released which has been warmly welcome by the audience.
I would like to say regarding the agency and news department that our colleagues are collecting information from all 34 provinces of Afghanistan in a well organized form on the daily basis; the spokesmen convey them to the world people and the news writers publish them in their related sites in five languages to the world. In this portion, by the grace of Allah Almighty, our performance is so well organized and swift that even the enemy has confessed repeatedly that Mujahidin are always ahead of them in the field of media and broadcast despite all their efforts and advanced and wide range media resources.
It is due to the Devine support and the sincerity and pious intentions of the sincere colleagues that we have gained such a great achievement and successful movement despite our limited resources and strength.
Question: How confident are you that the performance of the Cultural Commission of the Islamic Emirate is swift and effective than the opposite side i.e. the occupiers or the mercenary admin?
Answer: The effect of our Cultural Commission is so wide and deep that they have deployed special nets and setups to paralyze our broadcasts. They have assigned special budgets for it. Sometimes they come down to vulgarity and block our site for a short period of time. They send fake messages from the cell numbers of our spokesmen. But the reporters in contact with our spokesmen are well-aware of this phenomenon and can easily discern that which one the real message and which one the forged one. They published a fake declaration by the name of ‘Khyber’ which was denied by our spokesmen immediately. You know that nearly all the media channels in our country are supported by the enemy and are assigned against us. Besides all these facts, you and your readers can ask the journalists that by whom they are humiliated and threatened. They will tell you that it is the invaders and their stooges. A journalist, whose identity cannot be disclosed here due to security risks, had told our spokesman, Mr. Mujahid, that a lot of fake news had been handed over to him by the puppet regime for broadcast and sometime they ask me not to announce certain true news. One day, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi asked a reporter of BBC why they are not able to keep the balance between us and our opponents and do not broadcast the information provided by us. This reporter finding no other argument; said that our mouth is full of water i.e. we (the BBC) are under censor. There are several other examples, but the above ones are enough.
Besides all these achievements, the leadership of the Cultural Commission is trying their best to expand and make their cultural Jihadi activities more effectual. Sporadic counselor meetings are convened for this purpose. Annual and monthly settings are arranged. The annual program in 60 articles which was decided upon in the yearly meeting of 2012, was successfully implemented by the grace of Allah Almighty which had fantastic outcomes. This year, in the spring season, we had similar annual general counseling meeting in which a working plan comprising of 43 articles was ratified which is being implemented step by step, Insha-Allah. In this yearly plan, new progressive efforts have been insinuated. For example, in the field of training people in various fields, an article says, “For the sake of having specialty and competence in writings, the colleagues are asked to choose and decide a historical and knowledgeable subject and field for themselves, so that they could read and write in that selected field and get some expertise in that field. Fortunately, the following subjects/fields were undertaken by the respective colleagues:
- 1.Afghanistan= Mr. Khapalwak
- 2.Knowledge Ihli= Mr. Shahid
- 3.Middle East & = Mr. Hasan Zoi
- 4.Islam & Politics in= Mr. Hamdard
- 5.Knowledge of= Mr. Aimal
- 6.Central = Mr. Saeed Badashani
- 7.Religions &= Mr. Shpunkai
- 8.Human Rights &= Mr. Hafiz Saeed
- 9.= Mr. Hikmat
- 10.= Mr. Ahmad Farsi
- 11.Literature &= Mr. Ihsas
- 12.Islamic= Mr. Mufti Abu Yasir
- 13.Islamic= Mr. Abu Sohaib Hirati
Question: In the advanced world of today where media and cultural foundations are called fourth column of the governmental organization and receive more attention than other administrative units, what is the viewpoint of the Islamic Emirate regarding media?
Answer: The Islamic Emirate fully understands that media is a very significant source of struggle in the present day world. May Allah reward the leadership of the Islamic Emirate! The leadership of the Islamic Emirate has given great attention to Cultural Commission and the expansion of media Jihad. We are very grateful to them. They have not left any stone unturned in fulfilling our requirements, keeping in mind their possibilities and resources. They have repeatedly issued orders to the heads of departments for all-encompassing co-operation and they have abided by it. It would not be an exaggeration if I say that our leadership has paid equal attention to our cultural activities as they are paying to the military activities.
Question: Although the international invaders and their internal mercenaries speak for the freedom of press and apparently say that they are committed to the freedom of speech but practically it is seen that the cultural personnel of the Islamic Emirate are targeted by the enemy and their collective media resources come under various attacks from time to time, according to your opinion, why does the enemy reacts so robustly against the Mujahidin of Pen and their publication activities?
Answer: Yes, they want to conceal their failures and Mujahidin’s victories. They cannot tolerate when we inform the masses about the ground realities inside Afghanistan and about the casualties which are inflicted over their soldiers. Now the masses have realized that their officials and soldiers are on the verge of a dead sure defeat. This is why our media is not acceptable to them. They have arrested a number of our workers. At present, they have restricted the so called free media to the extent that anything regarding the triumph of Mujahidin which is not confirmed either by Americans or their stooges, is not accepted or published by them and if they take it, they are threatened. Occasionally, some local journalists speak their mind to our spokesmen that there no freedom for them and when you(the Taliban) speak about the safety of reporters and freedom of press, this article is utilized by them for those persons who work for their vested interests and not for the freedom lover youth. Our Cultural Commission has rendered a lot of sacrifices in this path and even now we are ready for it. One of the prominent colleagues amongst our cultural friends was detained and carried away by the Americans. He was imprisoned for long time. Later, he was released by the grace of Allah Almighty. He said that the Americans told him that you people are more dangerous for us than any other Mujahid because when our tank is hit by the landmine or any of our plane is brought down, we do not want the masses to be informed about any corporeal or financial loss, but you are the people who keep the masses informed about our losses who in turn raise against us and oppose our war.
Question: As a high ranking official of the Islamic Emirate, how do you evaluate the spring operations inaugurated after the pious name of ‘Khalid-bin-Waleed?
Answer: I call them successful and victorious, Insha-Allah. This name itself carries the secret of triumph and a great awe for the enemy. The messenger of Allah Almighty, (peace be upon him) called ‘Khalid-bin-Waleed’ as the ‘Sword of Allah’; and the infidel invaders cannot combat the ‘Sword of Allah’. Secondly, the previous incessant Jihad of 11 years proved that every year our operations become more effective as compared to the previous one and it is quite obvious. Thirdly, the enemy is on the abscondence and the fleeing one has no morale. On the contrary, the morale of our Mujahidin is very high by the grace of Allah Almighty. At present, in various parts of the country, the effectiveness of our operations under the name of ‘Khalid-bin-Waleed’ and the signs of its awe on the enemy is visible. Mujahidin are quite courageous and in offensive position. In the near future, Insha-Allah, you will witness even more achievements.
Question: Member countries of NATO alliance announce that after the year 2014, no single foreigner will be seen in the shape of combatant or fighting soldier inside Afghanistan, are you optimistic for it?
Answer: We believe that the alien foreign forces will roll their beds and abscond because it is the Holy Jihad and resistance of Mujahidin which confronted them with overwhelming defeat and destruction. They cannot put up anymore with the confrontational war and its cost. This is what we are optimistic for, but the enemy is trying to put such tactics into practice to conceal his defeat on one hand and to achieve his objectives to some extent on the other hand because he has suffered a lot of financial and corporeal losses. The Islamic Emirate is fully cautious to all the conspiracies of the enemy. We will not let them do something which they could interpret as their triumph. The savage net which has been founded by them in the name of Arbakis, instead of creating headache for us, has now fully disclosed the true face of the external and internal enemy to the ordinary Afghans. The Afghans are fed up with them and have increased their financial and corporeal support with Mujahidin. We are sure that the foreign invaders and their internal stooges will abscond just as the then Soviet Union and their internal puppets did. We are fully equipped with courage, determination, love for martyrdom and a strong Jihadi spirit; on the contrary, they have nothing. I would like to tell you a strange thing and there is no doubt in it. An American General told someone in his discussion at Kandahar airport that the Karzai government inside Afghanistan is just like a small baby which cannot stand by itself and is in need of someone else’s support. Now the question is,, how long will it be supported by someone else before it collapses?
Question: On 10th May 2013, the head of the stooge admin of Kabul, Hamid Karzai told the media that America demanded 9 military basis inside Afghanistan. How do you evaluate these expressions of Karzai being a cultural and diplomatic personality?
Answer:The invading Americans and their allies had this ambition and still have it to stay here for long period of time for achieving their malicious objectives. Their stooges are also very anxious for their stay for the sake of their existence but if the Islamic Emirate nourish this firm standpoint and do not let the enemy stand on his foot, their malevolent aspiration will never be accomplished. The enemy should not think that they will be safe and sound in their bases and Mujahidin will not be able to get access to them. We are determined that by the support of Allah Almighty, these spiteful plans of theirs will be abolished. The successful attack on the stronghold of the internal forces in Mosa Qala of Helmand province on 13th May, and according to the chief organizer of those operations approximately 100 alien intruders were either killed or wounded, demonstrated our determination. No one is ready to believe any more in Karzai’s gossips. He is regularly fluctuating from his words. If the Americans want to do something inside Afghanistan, Karzai’s admin can never stop the progress of their programs, because Karzai and his colleagues are those people who are deployed to be faithful to the American interests. For example sometime ago, Karzai was very vigorously raising the issue of handing over the Bagram Jail to the Afghans and then announced that this prison was handed over to the Afghan side. We also thought that it might have happened but sometime later a few who were released from that jail, when I asked them who is controlling the prison now, he told me that even now the jail is fully controlled by the Americans and only the food stuff which was previously provided by the Americans, is now provided by the internal stooges. The captivity and release of the prisoners is under the control of Americans.
So Karzai has totally lost his credibility among the masses. All of them know him as a puppet in the hands of Americans and a time will definitely come when Afghans will hold him accountable for all this cruelty and barbarity as he and his colleagues have given their homeland and nation in the hands of foreign forces and they are doing whatever they want to do.
Question: Can we say that the diplomats of the Islamic Emirate in Qatar had any significant achievements?
Answer: Yes. The presence of the representatives of the Islamic Emirate in Qatar had accomplishments in various portions and the process is incessant. Previously, the enemy used to say that Mujahidin know only fighting in their way of struggle and do not try to reach their objectives through other channels. With the inauguration of office, the first issue which was raised by our representatives was the release or exchange of prisoners with the American side and it was the first great achievement for Mujahidin. When the enemy failed to stand to his promise, the Islamic Emirate stopped negotiations with an unyielding stance. Secondly, with the inauguration of office in Qatar, the representatives of other countries can easily contact us and vice versa. Similarly, our representatives can express and explain the objectives and demands of the Islamic Emirate to them. Thirdly, through this channel, our representatives have visited different countries and participated in the meetings and informed the world community from the stance of the Islamic Emirate very openly. They also stopped the fortified people who used to misuse the name of the Islamic Emirate for personal interests and privileges or sometime such things were referred to the Islamic Emirate which did not parallel to the policies of the Islamic Emirate. There are some other accomplishments as well which I do not want to mention here.
Question: The enemies of Islam and our beloved homeland want to divide the Afghan nation by the name of Pashtuns and Persians and want to spread mistrust in the ranks of Islamic Emirate through these spiteful conspiracies, God forbid, have you ever noticed some biased or discriminative conduct on the basis of race, language or zone?
Answer: By the grace of Allah Almighty, from the beginning till today, no discrimination has been found or felt in the ranks of the Islamic Emirate on the basis of race, language or zone. This is a pure and pious Islamic movement. The above mentioned things enjoy no importance in the religion of Islam. Here piety, sincerity and devotion to Allah’s creation are counted the most. This is the propaganda of the enemy who wants to divide the courageous and Muslim nation of Afghanistan by various names because they are busy in Jihad with firm conviction and they have fortified the ranks of Mujahidin. Now you see that in Badakhshan, Takhar, Jozjan, Bamyan, Faryab, all Eastern and Western provinces, the Jihadi process is going on under one command and control and under one flag. This is only because of unity and non-discriminating conduct in our ranks. The enemy is stunned that whether any incident take place in Badghis province, that Mujahid belongs to the Islamic Emirate or it take place in Kunar and Nooristan, that Mujahid belongs to the Islamic Emirate or it takes place in Paktia or Khost province, it is the Islamic Emirate’s Mujahid or it takes place in Ghazni, Kandahar, Zabul or Helmand provinces, it is the Islamic Emirate’s Mujahid or it takes place in Herat, Nimroz and Farah provinces, it is the Islamic Emirate’s Mujahid or it takes place in the North, it is the Islamic Emirate’s Mujahid; this shows the extensive unity and solidarity of Mujahidin which have badly embarrassed the enemy. Therefore they are trying to create a cleavage in the ranks of the Islamic Emirate but all their malicious efforts will be in vain, Insha-Allah.
Question: Some time ago, the international media reported that the English diplomats are working out a plan to divide the central government of Afghanistan on various zones and form a federal form of government in which every province will be autonomous from the centre and will be able to deal with the neighbors and outside world independently. If God forbid, the English invaders put forward such a plan for diving the country, what is your anticipation about the reaction of the Islamic Emirate?
Answer: Islamic Emirate will bring all such conspiracies to a standstill which is going to damage the unity and territorial integrity of Afghanistan. The messages of Amir-ul-Mominin, the head of the Islamic Emirate explicitly bears that we will not allow anyone to think about the disintegration of Afghanistan, under whatever label it might be and it is our stance. Before the start of the Islamic Movement of Taliban, Afghanistan was practically facing this menace. These were Mujahidin of the Islamic Emirate who brought all plans of the enemy to naught and brought approximately the whole of Afghanistan under one leadership. The Muslim masses of Afghanistan should rest assured that we will not allow anyone to implement this kind of malevolent plans for the disintegration of our country for the vested interests of others and jeopardize the unity of Afghanistan.
Question: You might have gone through the Monthly editions of this Magazine, how do you evaluate the innovations as the deputy head of the Cultural Commission? And from what angle do you see its significance like other magazines of the Commission?
Answer: I wonder what to say. If I praise it, it will be the admiration of my own department. It is better that people beyond this commission should make judgment about it. But I would like to say one thing that this Magazine has really conveyed numerous facts and historical incidents to the readers related to the Afghan Jihad, their sacrifices and unprecedented and crushing blows to the enemies i.e. the Americans, their allies and mercenaries. It has also preserved these facts and figures for the future generations. It has always raised the voice of the oppressed nation and has disclosed the cruelty and barbarity of the enemy. It is an innovation which is nearly unprecedented. It has encompassed the daily, weekly, monthly and yearly, all the incidents. Their day and date is preserved. It has kept the nation fully aware of the felonies of the foe. The articles and comments which are published in the magazine are those issues which have kept the ‘Morchal’ warm and the enemy under a crushing blow. I pray that all the efforts and endeavors of the workers of this magazine are rewarded by Allah Almighty.
Question: What is message on behalf of the Cultural Commission for the Mujahid writers, Afghan Muslim Nation and the oppressed sects of the Muslim Umma?
Answer: My message is that the circumstances are quite favorable for the writers in the field of cultural Jihad and service. We anticipate them to render even more co-operation in this regard and perform their religious obligation. The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) has said,
(جاهدوا المشركين بأموالكم وأنفسكم وألسنتكم)
(You should fight the polytheists with your belongings, selves and tongues.)
We are grateful to all those writers who are supporting us in this connection. Undoubtedly, our colleagues have kept the field of Cultural Jihad in very uncompromising circumstances. Still, if they find some defect in the works of the Cultural Commission, we are hopeful that they will point them out from time to time. It they have suggestions in their minds, they will hesitate share them with us and it has become very easy now. We ask the Muslim Nation of Afghanistan in particular and the all the Muslims of the world in general, to assist Mujahidin in any possible way as they are obliged to participate in these Jihadi services. Islam is our common religion and it is duty of every Muslim to protect and defend it. If the Muslims are untied, the enemies of Islam and Muslims will never have the courage to make aggression against Islam and the Muslims; as Allah Almighty says in His Holy Revelation:
(انْفِرُوا خِفَافًا وَثِقَالًا وَجَاهِدُوا بِأَمْوَالِكُمْ وَأَنْفُسِكُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ ذَلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ).
Translation: Go ye forth, (whether equipped) lightly or heavily, and strive and struggle, with your goods and your persons, in the Cause of Allah. That is best for you, if ye (but) knew.
With best regards.