Many still wonder whether Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada exists. Some say no, others say yes. At times, bizarre and laughable rumors circulate, too absurd to mention. For instance, some suggest that Hamid Karzai is Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada. This perception stems from Karzai’s past Taliban-friendly policies and stances, which led people to draw such conclusions. Yet, some public perceptions about Mullah Hibatullah are worth contemplating. When people claim that a senior ISI officer named Mullah Hibatullah issues extremist decrees, they are emphasizing the deep ties between the Taliban and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), particularly during the group’s two decades of war against Western forces led by the U.S. and the former Afghan government. This connection is so evident that even ordinary citizens have no doubts about it. Therefore, it’s hardly surprising when people believe that Mullah Hibatullah is an ISI agent. Even if the Taliban leader were to appear in public and go to great lengths to prove his independence, people would still not be convinced that he is free of Pakistan’s influence.
Despite over three years of Taliban efforts to portray themselves as independent of Pakistan, the Afghan public remains unconvinced that the group has stopped taking orders from Rawalpindi. More than two decades of overt dependence on Pakistan’s ISI is not something that can be erased through a few short-term political maneuvers or public displays. This dependency has become an entrenched belief among the people of Afghanistan. Each time tensions arise between the Taliban and Islamabad, the public reacts with a predictable and performed response: “It’s a staged drama; there’s no real issue between them, and this is all a ploy to deceive us.” In such an atmosphere, even if the Taliban were to sever all ties with Pakistan which is highly unlikely genuinely it would take a long time for people to believe that their relationship has fundamentally changed. People are slow to accept new ideas, but once they do, they hold on to them tenaciously. This is one of the inherent and unchanging characteristics of the people of Afghanistan. Don’t the Taliban understand this deeply ingrained trait of the public, given their persistent and seemingly futile efforts to change public perception? In my view, they understand it all too well. One of the Taliban’s political successes in Afghanistan has been their skillful exploitation of this steadfast characteristic of the people. However, the issue of Mullah Hibatullah’s seclusion is unrelated to this. It would be overly simplistic to claim that the Taliban leader remains hidden from public view because he believes that appearing in public would not resolve the perception of his group’s dependency on Pakistan. The matter is far more serious and profound than that.
There is no doubt that a person named Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada exists; however, his lack of public appearances has turned his existence into a source of ambiguity and questions for some people. This power of ambiguity and questioning is so profound that it has the potential to build prestige and credibility for Mullah Hibatullah. Ambiguity and questions arise when you lack the necessary information to confirm the existence of something or to discern truth from falsehood. When doubt and uncertainty exist regarding a matter, questions emerge. Questions signify that you are unsure and stuck in a dilemma between truth and falsehood, or affirmation and denial. This is when the politics of ambiguity steps in with full force, undermining your confidence. Once confidence is eroded, malevolence reproduces itself as an untouchable, uncontrollable force that seems impossible to defeat. This is the false prestige that Mullah Hibatullah enjoys.
Figures like Sirajuddin Haqqani and other Taliban leaders, by making public appearances, have forfeited such a mystique and, as a result, are comparatively more vulnerable than Mullah Hibatullah.
Another significant factor is the extraordinary role that sanctity plays in shaping the personas of individuals, a reality that must not be overlooked. Ignoring or downplaying this notion can lead to major errors in understanding human behavior and character. Phenomena become sacred only when they are mysterious and unattainable. Once something is stripped of its sanctity, it loses the credibility it once held. The more terrifying, invisible, and inaccessible individuals are, the more they appear to possess an exaggerated sense of false grandeur compared to visible and easily reachable ones. If Mullah Hibatullah were to appear in public, he would be just another bearded cleric like other Taliban leaders, devoid of any real grandeur or majesty. At that point, the enigmatic and mysterious Mullah Hibatullah, who constantly stirred questions and undermined confidence, would cease to exist. He would simply be revealed. Whoever Mullah Hibatullah may be, he clearly understands the psyche of the people of Afghanistan. He knows that in this country, people do not fear visible and readily accessible figures as much. The Taliban leader has grasped that fostering fear in society is a critical element of constructing a false persona for political leaders.
You can read the Persian version of this analysis here:
