Technical education deters tribal youth from militancy

By M. Ibrahim
2010-02-06

Youths from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) work on their projects at a Peshawar technical training centre. Tribal youth remain a target of militants who seek to turn them into suicide bombers. Experts say teaching them job skills can keep them out of the hands of militants. [M. Ibrahim]

KHYBER AGENCY - Farhanullah, 18, from the Bajaur tribal region, was upbeat when he received his certificate after completing a four-month training course in plumbing from a Peshawar technical training centre.

“Now that we have acquired skilled training, it will help me to start a productive life after abandoning my education halfway”, he said.

The Taliban had destroyed his school and intimidated him and his friends into abandoning their education, Farhanullah said. With nothing else to do, some of his friends joined militant organisations because they saw no other option.

Muhammad Nasir, secretary of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas Development Authority (FDA), said, “When the insurgency broke out, these youth proved to be most vulnerable to the tide of the times by serving as cannon fodder in the ongoing conflict. Much damage already seems to have been done, and turning the tide looks ... difficult.”

He said that, previously, drives through the tribal areas “would reveal hordes of tribal youth squatting idly by the roadsides and staring vacantly at the passing vehicles”.

It is generally accepted by authorities that the spread of militancy in the FATA can be attributed to the lack of education and job skills among the tribal youth.

To give Tribal youth job skills and a sense of hope, the FATA Rural Development Project has organized training for unemployed youth of the Khyber, Mohmand and Bajaur tribal regions.

At least 432 tribal youth between the ages of 18 and 22 have completed four-month training courses in television and radio, computer, mobile phone, air conditioner and refrigerator repair; plumbing; electrician's duties; welding and tailoring. The project, in collaboration with FDA, has trained nearly 2,000 young tribesmen in various fields during the past couple of years.

Nisar Wazir, a tribal political activist from South Waziristan, said that: “A good number of tribal youth were either volunteered by their parents for suicide attacks or were kidnapped by the Taliban ... for such purposes”.

“The programme envisions enabling the tribal youth to become responsible members of mainstream Pakistani society. This programme is both institution-based as well as through field internships. The latter was designed to give the youth 'on-the-job' training in order to expose them to experience as well as to let the potential employers assess their skill and performance”, said Nasir.

That tribal youth were targeted by militants for recruitment is not in doubt.

Officers in charge of the military operation in North Waziristan have reported demolishing houses called “artificial heavens”, which Taliban trainers built to lure tribal youth under 18 into training for suicide bombings. Recruiters would dangle promises of “confirmed places” in heaven after they become “martyrs”.

Ahmad Afridi, 19, who completed a television and radio repair course, expressed optimism that such training courses would discourage tribal youth from joining militant organisations. Another participant, Javed Mohmand, said that with the completion of such healthy activity, “their (the youths') future is now secure”.

A tribal elder from Mohmand Agency, Malak Sher Akbar, said the barbaric acts of the Taliban have exposed their real intentions to the outside world. “Their support among tribal youth is dwindling with every passing month, and employment opportunities offered by government and nongovernmental agencies could cause further dents into their enrolment of suicide bombers and volunteer fighters”, he added.

Rural Development Project Director Massod Bangash told Central Asia Online that the number of applicants is growing monthly, as most of the trained candidates are now leading successful lives and are role models for others in the tribal areas.

“The basic objective, beside provision of skill training, is to deter our youth from falling into the wrong hands”, he said. “The response to such activities is enormous, and we believe that tribal youth would no more be inclined toward militancy if more such economically productive programmes were initiated”. Bangash said future programmes could include computer courses and lessons in air conditioning and refrigeration. But more needs to be done, said Mehnaz Iftekhar, a gender development specialist at a government institution. In order to curb militancy and deter tribal youth from joining the Taliban, it is imperative to develop a range of programmes for young people.

“[They would] achieve a number of objectives like poverty elimination, income generation, engagement of tribal youth in constructive and productive activities and above all curbing of militancy”, she argued.

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