A security alert has been declared in the twin cities. We hope this will prevent any act of terrorism. But the real problems run much deeper. Boys like Sharukh, equipped with suicide jackets and pistols, are as much victims as those they intend to kill. They need to be rescued from the extremists who lure them into their trap often by projecting an elaborate description of life after death once they become ‘martyrs’. For young men who have few opportunities in life, this is obviously tempting. In trying to combat the problem, it doesn’t help that we have no idea how many boys continue to be recruited.
The purpose of the police, as they interrogate young Shahrukh, should be to determine where training camps exist in tribal agencies. The real purpose of security forces must be to detect these and rescue any minors kept there. An effort in this regard has already been made in Swat. It needs to be extended to cover the entire conflict zone. This is the only way we will be able to remove the means the terrorist use to kill and also to rescue those caught up in a ruthless war that has claimed far too many victims. Other suicide bombers have also been held before. It is far from certain if this has had any lasting impact in defeating militancy. We must hope this time round greater effort is made to reach those who send children out to kill and use them as tools in the dangerous game they are engaged in.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 25th, 2011.
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Your editorial has rightly mentioned the importance of treating these potential suicide bombers as victims and making efforts to rehabilitate them and make them useful law abiding citizens. Recently the UN Secretary General's Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict showed her concern on the use of children as suicide bombers in Pakistan and highlighted the need for the recovery, rehabilitation and reintegration of such children. I am not sure why Pakistan's representative at the UN was quite furious about the issue of child soldiers in Pakistan knowing the fact that children have been arrested red-handed by the security forces and there is enough evidance to prove that children are being used as suicide bombers. The government of Pakistan should take steps for the recovery of children from the banned outfits and should treat them as victims and focus on their rehabilitation instead of sending them to prisons under Anti Terror laws for long years.
The education system must be changed. Education must be made compulsory for all children upto the age of 16.