Child soldiers

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 30^th, 2013.