[Reader-list] Pakistan's child militants (Times Now)

[rashneek kher]

A culture of weapons and reliance on schools that teach little but religion
has fostered a growing wave of child militants preparing them for a
murderous future in Pakistan. Problem is particularly severe in Pakistan's
troubled tribal areas bordering Afghanistan and that it could become
self-perpetuating.

Young boys - some clearly under age 10 - wear black headbands bearing
Islamic slogans and tote rifles that are nearly as big as they are appear in
the video.
It was not clear when the video was made or where.

Child-protection experts said that poverty, a culture of weapons and
reliance on schools that teach little but religion has fostered a growing
wave of child militancy.

It was said to be particularly acute in Pakistan's troubled tribal areas
bordering Afghanistan but the problem is growing in other areas, such as
southern Sindh province. Such groups have asserted growing control over
Pakistan's impoverished northwest in recent years, challenging the authority
of the state.

Qazi Azmat, chairman of SPARC (Society for the Protection of the Rights of
the Child) said an estimated 2,00,000 children under age 18 are serving in
conflicts around the world. UNICEF statistics say two million children have
been killed, six million maimed and more than a million orphaned by
conflicts over the past decade.

"In fact the violence that we see today and the unraveling of our social
fabric is to a great extent a manifestation of our apathy and neglect and
carelessness towards our children." he said.

Doctor Attiya Inayatullah, a SPARC board member said any use or exploitation
of a child is unacceptable. "We need to have a strong movement which says
'No' to child militancy," she said.

Mariam Bibi, from Kohat, a town on the edge of the tribal belt in Northwest
Frontier Province told AP Television the state bore some responsibility for
the recent spread of militancy.

"Unless they are so brainwashed or so disappointed that the government is
not doing enough, how many mothers will agree to send their children for
Jihad, to their deaths?" she said.

One recent militant video showed a 16-year-old youth apparently beheading a
soldier in lawless South Waziristan.

Two 15-year-olds, jailed in the northwestern town of Bannu claimed they were
trained to be suicide bombers, according to a professor at Islamabad's
Quaid-e-Azam University.

Reports persist in Pakistan of children kidnapped or pressured into becoming

fighters, some lured by the promises of pay or drugs, while others are
indoctrinated at an early age into believing they are becoming holy warriors
for their faith. Even more are said to be forced into support roles or use
as human shields.

Part of the problem is the drastic shortage of quality education, several
experts said. The gap is being filled by religious schools known as
madrassas that often focus only on Islamic teachings with no modern subjects
and TV-watching banned as a sin.

Funded by charities or rich donors, some madrassas have been accused of
promoting extremism. Many students live there because their parents can't
afford to raise them.

The result is that the children are raised with constant indoctrination and
no role models other than militants and gangsters, says Pakistan's child
protection society.

Accused of apathy on the issue, virtually all of Pakistan's political
parties are making education a prime plank of their campaign platforms for
next month's parliamentary elections.

-- 
Rashneek Kher
http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.com