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

[yasir ~]

Dear Rashneek,

If you are quoting a report at length, a request to please also quote the
writer or website/url for authenticity or to get more info may be helpful to
us.

for issues of the child SPARC is okay

http://www.sparcpk.org/

best

y





On Dec 13, 2007 11:37 PM, rashneek kher <rashneek at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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
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