Children of destiny: What Swat owes to its orphans
Khpal Kor Foundation director urges provision of education to ensure they don’t get caught in the spiral of militancy
MINGORA:
Although militancy has been largely uprooted from Swat valley and the government’s writ has been restored, there remain setbacks that are yet to be addressed in the scope of Pakistan’s counter-terrorism strategy.
It is imperative to implement a de-radicalisation project in order to eliminate breeding grounds of militancy for future generations. The recent mayhem in Swat caused over 5,000 deaths and orphaned over 25,000 children.
While the valley has seen little tangible work towards rehabilitation, thousands of these children are forced to lead miserable lives and are vulnerable to the spiral of radicalisation that initially tore their families apart.
“These children have suffered for the cause of the country and are now being denied basic human rights such as access to education,” Khpal Kor Foundation Director Haji Muhammad Ali told The Express Tribune. The NGO provides shelter and education to 310 children.
“From 2005 to October 2014, 12,955 people have died in militant attacks in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa alone,” he said. Quoting data collected by the Institute of Conflict Management (ICM), Ali said that a total of 54,458 people have been killed in Pakistan in terror activities from 2005 to October 2014. “The number of families destroyed and children orphaned in the whole country is incalculable and alarming,” he said.
Ali stressed on the need for policy making in this regard. He urged the government to conduct surveys and collect official data about affectees of militancy and formulate a support programme for them. “This is the only way to bring them out of the nightmare and make them active participants of the society,” he maintained. “The government must support orphanages working towards the cause,” Ali said.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 7th, 2014.
Although militancy has been largely uprooted from Swat valley and the government’s writ has been restored, there remain setbacks that are yet to be addressed in the scope of Pakistan’s counter-terrorism strategy.
It is imperative to implement a de-radicalisation project in order to eliminate breeding grounds of militancy for future generations. The recent mayhem in Swat caused over 5,000 deaths and orphaned over 25,000 children.
While the valley has seen little tangible work towards rehabilitation, thousands of these children are forced to lead miserable lives and are vulnerable to the spiral of radicalisation that initially tore their families apart.
“These children have suffered for the cause of the country and are now being denied basic human rights such as access to education,” Khpal Kor Foundation Director Haji Muhammad Ali told The Express Tribune. The NGO provides shelter and education to 310 children.
“From 2005 to October 2014, 12,955 people have died in militant attacks in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa alone,” he said. Quoting data collected by the Institute of Conflict Management (ICM), Ali said that a total of 54,458 people have been killed in Pakistan in terror activities from 2005 to October 2014. “The number of families destroyed and children orphaned in the whole country is incalculable and alarming,” he said.
Ali stressed on the need for policy making in this regard. He urged the government to conduct surveys and collect official data about affectees of militancy and formulate a support programme for them. “This is the only way to bring them out of the nightmare and make them active participants of the society,” he maintained. “The government must support orphanages working towards the cause,” Ali said.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 7th, 2014.