Anant Mishra and Prof. Dr. Christian Kaunert
As the Taliban celebrated three years of its reign in power, many scholars still ponder on how the group rose to take the seat at Kabul; some still jittered from the memories of evacuation on the dawn of 15 August 2021. The group undoubtedly had favourable factors behind their successful takeover, but the significance of Qatar cannot simply be ignored or limited to the state’s role as an honest mediator.
Right from the days of the insurgency, the state stood firmly behind the Taliban, accompanying the group (some scholars even consider it to have laid the foundation for Hibatullah Akhundzada’s rise within the Rahbari Shura) to the corridors of Kabul, a relationship which appears to have strengthened today. It was not a meagre coincidence that Al Jazeera (Qatar-owned/financially supported) was the first news agency to relay live coverage of Taliban fighters entering the Presidential Palace on August 15. It is also not a coincidence that Mullah Baradar the Acting Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, watched his motivated mujahids enter the palace on Al Jazeera, from the comforts of a luxurious hotel in Doha.
No comments:
Post a Comment