Taliban co-founder and veteran military commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has been included in Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2021.
Baradar’s profile has been penned by veteran journalist Ahmed Rashid, who refers to him as a “deeply pious figure” and a charismatic military commander.
He is also, as his profile accurately reads, one of the moderate faces of the group.
“A quiet, secretive man who rarely gives public statements or interviews, Baradar nonetheless represents a more moderate current within the Taliban, the one that will be thrust into the limelight to win Western support and desperately needed financial aid.
“The question is whether the man who coaxed the Americans out of Afghanistan can sway his own movement,” reads his profile.
Some others to make the list are Afghan women’s rights activist Mahbouba Seraj, US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, former US President Donald Trump and newly elected Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi
