Published: March 29,
2013
It is no secret that children have been recruited as soldiers to
fight battles they are too young to comprehend but to hear that teenagers in a
district outside Peshawar feel that they have no choice but to take up arms
against the Taliban is depressing news. It is another dark reminder of the
complete failure of the former government to restore law and order or give hope
to this restive region. It is known that the Taliban and their ilk employ
child soldiers, usually teenagers but, as has been the wont of goons
recruiting children to fight their dirty battles in Africa for example,
children as young as 10 have been recruited in Pakistan to prepare to become
suicide bombers. In Adezai, however, the
militia, which was formed by the government two years ago to clear the area of
militants, and was dissolved in May last year because it did not have
government support, still exists — but now consists largely of secondary school
graduates who dream of returning to their studies but are unable to because
they are caught between a rock and a hard place.
These children cannot pursue higher studies since the Taliban
have blown up their colleges nor can they bear the thought of leaving their
homes and families “at the mercy of these extremists”, as one volunteer militia
fighter told this newspaper recently. So, they stay and fight in the hope that
they will prevail and be able to return to their studies. It is shameful that
these young men have been abandoned by the state to fend for themselves, down
to using their own weapons. The people of Adezai need the protection of law
enforcement agencies immediately.
According to an Amnesty International report in 2010, 250,000
children were believed to be fighting in conflicts across the world. Although
there have been efforts by the military to set up rehabilitation camps for
militants and children recruited by the Taliban, what is crucial is that
schools are built in vulnerable areas, thereby making it harder for the Taliban
to lure children into their nefarious plans.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 30th, 2013.
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