The Children of Taliban

The Frontline/World aired on April 14, 2009 a documentary Children of Taliban. In the Documentary, Filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy attempts to explore the impact of the Taliban terror on the children of Pakistan. The documentary takes the audience beyond the political and strategic noises of Taliban’s impact on regional and global security. Without taking sides Sharmeen brings before the world the myriad faces of Taliban terror among the young hearts of Pakistan.

[Photo Courtesy: Sharmeen Obaid Films]

At a refugee camp in northern Pakistan, Sharmeen interviews two teenaged boys, whose local madrassa was destroyed during bombardment by Pakistani and U.S. forces. One of the boys had lost his cousin in the attack and managed to bury only his legs because that’s what could be located. The two boys who happened to be best friends have reacted very differently to the tragedy; after the attacks one wants to join the army and the other wants to be a part of the Taliban.
As Sharmeen talks to two female students of a school in Swat destroyed by the Taliban, the proximate threat appears as a reality; her interactions are interrupted by Taliban mortar firing in preparation of attacking an army convoy.
The threat is gradually approaching the urban centers of Pakistan as well. Sharmeen interviews a 14-year old in Karachi, who explains what the Sharia has taught him about women: “The government should forbid women and girls from wandering about outside. Just like government banned plastic bags…no one uses them anymore…we should do the same with women.”
One of the Taliban radio broadcasts in the documentary asserts, “Sharia is our right and we will exercise our right whatever happens. We will make ourselves suicide bombers!”
The Pakistani Army has resorted to intense bombing in several areas like Bajur to cleanse the region of such aggressive Taliban fighters.
But in the midst of Taliban’s religious and Pakistan Army’s strategic war, the future of Pakistan, the children of Pakistan are facing the gravest challenge. Qari Abdullah, a tribal Taliban leader states that he recruits children as young as 5, 6 and 7 in his ranks! No matter which sides wins this war, for the children of Pakistan a lifetime has already been lost.