The Ministry of Culture (MoC) does not obligate the content of publications to be coordinated with the Ministry’s Arts Council but recommends that the text of any book be coordinated with the relevant bodies before publication, says the MoC.
Halva.tj had earlier informed of new rules for publishing books. The Deputy Minister of Culture, Davlat Safarzoda, allegedly announced them at a workshop that took place in Dushanbe on September 15.
The workshop reportedly gathered senior representatives of publishing houses and the press of the Ministry of Culture.
According to Halva.tj’s report, henceforth all publishing houses and printing houses, irrespective of their forms of property, must coordinate the publication of books with the Arts Council of the Ministry of Culture.
However, the Deputy Minister of Culture, Davlat Safarzoda, noted in a written response to Asia-Plus’s written request that there is “no any specific directive obligating the publishing houses to get Arts Council’s approval for book publication.”
“Publishing houses, represented by the editor, can independently decide on coordinating their works with the relevant authorities in order to obtain an opinion,” Safarzoda noted in his letter.
He further noted that publishing houses must print textbooks, scientific, political and religious literature only after receiving recommendations from the relevant authorities.
“Each work received by the publishing house must be submitted to the relevant authorities: literary works must be submitted to the Writers’ Union, scientific works must be submitted to the National Academy of Sciences and the National Encyclopedia of the Tajik Language,” Safarzoda said, adding that the religious text must be submitted to the Committee on Religious Affairs and medical publications must be submitted to the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of the Population.
At the same time, he noted that the Ministry of Culture does not have the list of prohibited books and it deals with the issue of publishing books on the basis of the current legislation of the Republic of Tajikistan.
