VIEW: Rehabilitation of the Taliban
VIEW: Rehabilitation of the Taliban —Gulmina Bilal Ahmad
Courtesy to "Daily Times"
Young children were kidnapped by the Taliban and then made to serve
as suicide bombers. These young men, and in the latter part of the
battle young women, became cannon fodder for the Taliban’s heinous
designs. They did not have the freedom to choose their path
At
least 13 people dead in the Lahore blast. On the day that marked the
hundredth anniversary of the International Women’s Day, many women lost
their loved ones. If they were lucky, they were injured but condemned
to a life of the disabled and health complications. The Punjabi
Taliban, as they are now known, claimed responsibility. Or did they?
For with responsibility comes freedom. Thus the question to ask is, are
the Pakistani Taliban really free? Who joins the Taliban groups and
network? Or is there an option to join? Is there a place where you sign
up to become a Taliban and a place where you sign out?
It is
difficult to profile a Taliban. The word of course means a student and
has come to mean a student of a religious seminary. However, as the
wave of terror spread, we came to know that the Taliban were also
recruiting at breakneck speed. The recruits hailed from everywhere:
Western-educated young men, who later rose to become spokespersons for
the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP); poorest of the poor young boys,
whose families were given compensation so that their sons could become
suicide bombers. Then there were young men whose families were coerced
into joining the Taliban. In Swat, it is a matter of record that the
Pakistani Taliban went around to all the houses, asking them to
“volunteer” a young man each. Failure to do so would have the household
confronted with adverse consequences. Young children were also
kidnapped by the Taliban and then made to serve as suicide bombers.
These young men, and in the latter part of the battle young women,
became cannon fodder for the Taliban’s heinous designs. They did not
have the freedom to choose their path. In other words, by no stretch of
the imagination can they be called ideological Taliban. They are in one
way victims of terror themselves. The ones who are dead have it easy.
The ones who are alive still have to go through life facing the
consequences of their actions. Such young men and women who have been
arrested by the security agencies need to be debriefed and
rehabilitated so that they become responsible citizens of society.
This
indeed is a controversial, rather a radical idea to propagate. One can
well imagine the reaction of a mother who has lost her child because of
the terror attack perpetuated by these Taliban. If poverty was a major
consideration for joining the Taliban, critics would rightly argue that
this is not reason enough. For then all the world’s poor would become
Taliban or resort to crime by using poverty as an excuse. There is
value in this and one realises that reality is more complex than
looking at the world from an intellectual’s armchair. Having said this,
one cannot but think of the excellent work that is being done by the
military in running a rehabilitation centre for children captured from
the Taliban in Swat. This rehabilitation centre systematically debriefs
these children and introduces to them ideas of a peaceful Islam as well
as modern education. Philosophically and educationally, these children
are been given a chance to redefine their lives, renounce violence and
become responsible citizens. Alternatively, these children might have
been held in lockups, had in-camera trials and been locked up for major
parts of their lives. Rehabilitation is clearly a better option and one
that should be explored more seriously for other detainees.
During
the recent London conference on Afghanistan, Holbrooke advocated
rehabilitation of the Afghani Taliban. Rehabilitation needs to be
differentiated from reconciliation with the Taliban, which in my
opinion, should not be done. Reconciliation is a process of
re-establishing relations. Pakistan was one of the three states to
recognise the Taliban regime in Afghanistan but this mistake should
never be repeated. To re-establish relations with the Taliban would be
to recognise their worldview — a worldview based on militancy,
intolerance and extremism. It also means restoring mutual respect
between different parties. This is another reason why we should never
reconcile with the Taliban as a relationship of respect signifies
acceptance of the other’s values. Respect is also based on trust, which
certainly is not the case in the relationship between the Taliban and
Pakistani citizens. It is due to the Taliban that Pakistan was declared
the suicide capital of the world in 2009, having had more suicide
attacks than Iraq. Thus acceptance of the Taliban’s ideological leaders
and their methods of militancy and self-serving ‘jihad’ can never find
a place in the Pakistani people’s hearts. However, the children who
were kidnapped or coerced through violent threats or poverty to work
for the Taliban are certainly not ideologically linked to the Taliban.
They can be rehabilitated and agencies should look into how that can be
done. According to media reports, immediately after the Swat operation
it was reported by the army itself that “more than 300-400 children”
recruited by the Taliban were captured. These young children ranging
from five to 16 years of age have their lives before them. They were
lured by promises of better tomorrows for themselves and better todays
for their families. These children are not the Taliban. As stated
earlier, they are victims themselves. However, if they are not
rehabilitated, if the Taliban-injected rot in their minds is not
cleared, they will be walking-talking future threats to peace for all
their lives. Thus, it is important to have large scale rehabilitation
efforts targeting such people.
We have to differentiate
between the branch and the root of the problem. The ideological
thinkers and the leaders of the Taliban responsible for creating havoc
in our lives are the roots. The roots need to be pulled out of society.
For they wilfully make the decision to bomb the innocent. They are
responsible for their actions of waging war against the state and the
people of Pakistan. No mercy should be shown to them for they had the
freedom to make the choice. Thus they should be held responsible.
However, for those who did not have the freedom to choose,
rehabilitation must be explored as an option for them.
The writer is an Islamabad-based development consultant. She can be reached at contact@individualland.com
In : Gulmina Bilal Ahmad
Notes