"Why the Taliban Appeal to Pakistani Youth," by David Montero (in Peshawar) - the Christian Science Monitor, 16 June 2006
PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN – Imran Gul would like to see a better future for the tribal youth of his corner of Pakistan, but most days he only sees military helicopters returning from Waziristan, ferrying wounded and dead. Casualties in the conflicts along the Afghan border serve as a reminder that the tribal system, once strong and proud, is now falling apart.
History and war have slowly eaten away its edifice, and Mr. Gul worries that what the tribal system can no longer provide young people - peace, income, a sense of purpose, a social network - a new and rising force can: the Taliban.
"Due to poverty, young people have no activities," says Gul, program director of the Sustainable Participation Development Program, a nongovernmental organization in Banu, just outside North Waziristan. "They do not want to join the Taliban. But their sympathies are with the Taliban to bring peace to our area."
The field for such sympathies is wide and growing, many say. The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) have always been the least advanced lands in Pakistan. Illiteracy and joblessness are rampant. There are no universities in FATA, and political parties are absent due to colonial-era tribal laws, robbing youth of an outlet for talent and expression.
The tribal system itself is partly to blame. Many elders have traditionally resisted modern education, roads, and electricity, fearing their power would be threatened the more FATA opened up. But the government is also at fault, observers say, by failing to integrate FATA into Pakistan. Voting rights were extended to the full tribal populace only in 2000.
"Young people ... oppose the current tribal system because they know that this is not ... harnessing their potential," says Naveed Ahmad Shinwari, chief executive of the Community Appraisal & Motivation Program, which works on development in the tribal zone. "If you ask any young man, he's frustrated because the government of Pakistan is clearly not doing much to create employment for young people."
These problems were exacerbated when the Pakistani military entered the tribal areas for the first time in 2003. Their operations, which many tribes believe is the dirty work of Washington, have further weakened the system while sowing sympathies for extremism. In such situations, analysts say, people look to the standard-bearers of Islam for guidance and solace....
Comments