Children and death

One does not usually associate the very young with death, but this pattern seems to have become the norm in our country, where teenagers take their own life in multiple suicide attacks, and also that of dozens others killed by them. Police in Rawalpindi say they have averted just such a tragedy for arresting 14-year-old Shahrukh, who they say had planned to carry out an attack at a sensitive location. Further details of his mission are unknown, but it is believed the teenager was trained South Waziristan, quite remarkable over only a seven-day period.

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 25^th,  2011.