“The Taliban and allied extremist movements, as well as regional states and Western powers, have used violence in a bid to mould the Pashtun lands to their liking. Their attempts have left behind a legacy of misery and mistrust, and contributed to the creation of a resourceful and committed enemy, the Taliban. The West's political goals for the region, meanwhile have remained unfulfilled,” he writes in the book, published by Random House India.
“I have sought to show that the often extraordinary great power intervention in the Pashtun borderlands - and their focus on the Taliban as primarily a militant threat - have only prolonged the crisis. I have tried to show how regional states have fallen short in making the Pashtun homeland a bridge for transnational cooperation.
“And I have sought to demonstrate that regional extremism, mainly manifested in the Taliban and allied movements, is to a large degree a product of all these critical failures. Above all, however, I have tried to show that the main factor behind the rise of Islamic radicals such as the Taliban is the lack of development and stability in the Pashtun homeland,” Siddique says.
The book attempts to explain the rise of Taliban, their contemporary behaviour, strategic vision and potential future.
Siddique says that after the departure of NATO-led forces, Afghans face a stark choice: either they will find a way to resolve their differences or the country is likely to descend once more into civil war.
True stability wont be possible without a comprehensive settlement between Afghanistan and Pakistan, he says.
