Salvaging the innocence of childhood from armed conflict

All of us have at some point of time been witness to much publicized conflict zone photograph and video footage of an under-aged boy or girl posing for the camera even as the child struggles to manage the sophisticated weapon in possession. While such exclusive shot might fetch quite a few bucks to photographers, it also exposes a harrowing reality — that of children being conscripted frequently for participation in armed conflict by both state and non-state actors. Glorified at times by respective interest groups, child combatants are a blot on our civilized society. Approximately 300,000 kids, many of them as young as nine and representing some of the most ravaged and poverty stricken areas on earth are soldiering on behalf of constitutionally elected regimes, rebel armies, armed militias and terrorist organizations in full public glare. As many as 18 governments worldwide are accused of consciously using child soldiers in spite of the existence of several international statutes that encourage nation states to come down heavily on the use of minors in battlefields. More importantly, the nauseating figure of 2 million casualty and 6 million injuries including permanent disability recorded in the past decade did not deter the bold and ruthless recruiters in any way. Distressingly, four out of 10 recruitees turn out to be female children thus illustrating a gloomy picture that points toward a major humanitarian crisis staring at us. But then the use of child soldiers is far more than a humanitarian concern, warned former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. He believed — and rightly so — that the impact of such un-sagaciousness will last far beyond the time of actual fighting as the scope of the problem vastly exceeds the number of children directly involved.
This crisis emerging from raging conflicts in various corner of the globe, as it attracted more and more young bloods onto the battlefield, has grown into a deep-rooted social malaise. Involvement of child soldiers in at least 30 on-going conflicts is well documented. Adding to the woe, yet to mature children are being used extensively in terror activities as human society continues to falter in demarcating the periphery of childhood appropriately. Furthermore, the recruitees drawn from marginalized and oppressed sections are easily lured into terrorism as they feel the continuous psychological pinch of growing up in what author Daniel Bergner aptly termed “roving orphanages of blood and flame”in his unforgettable narrative “Soldiers of Light.”The inherent credulity of children is easily exploited for indoctrination in regions characterized by institutionalized violence that include indiscriminate artillery firing and strafing undertaken by the armed forces of the state. It might not be out of context to emphasize that the concept of self-radicalization floated in the aftermath of Boston bombing is nothing but erroneous. Whatever the purported claim, there must be an ideologue — intelligence operatives in most cases — ready to carry out the process of indoctrination which in itself is a very complicated procedure involving tough psychological and physical training. This effort encompasses the agenda of imbuing an object with a distorted worldview for successful completion of radicalization.
Propaganda is the pillar of such brainwash and video clippings of mass carnage plays an important role in inuring the trainees to violence and destruction. Gruesome images of mutilated bodies of innocent men, women and children help create a sense of righteousness in targeting outsiders or ethnic rivals. Often historical evidence of past rebellion is put to good use for inspiring would-be rebels to carry out the onerous task of supposedly liberating their folks or preserving the identity — both religious and cultural. The gullibility of a child comes handy in situations like this where they can be used as cannon fodder. Lacking proper education and emotional maturity, these expendable pawns are thrust into suicide missions repeatedly. The phenomenon of using under-aged children to carry out terrorism related activities might have raised a few eyebrows but then sanity has never been a forte of those who love to glorify the killing of innocents for all the wrong reasons. However, the strategic advantage of using minors as executors of terror acts far outweigh the strength of morality and ethics. Invisible regulators of terror asset throughout the world would never let go of the opportunity to exploit the associated long-term security and social implications especially when such macabre strategy diminishes a nation’s moral strength significantly.
It is nothing but a shame for humanity that hundreds and thousands of kids from eight to 18 are fighting in three quarters of the world’s armed conflicts going on across the globe. Brainwashed thoroughly and separated from their families and homes for years together, most of them have little or no recollection of their past roots. The community of nations therefore must come out with a realistic solution instead of throwing money at the problem. Welfare agencies should adopt a holistic approach to put an end to one of the worst form of servitude.
While creating a rupture with military life is the most essential part of such program; stressing on adequate psycho-social, physical and economic reintegration will help alleviate the post demobilization trauma effectively. It is only when the international political leadership act in unison with religious clerics; the holy mission to arrest the alarming trend of mobilization of minor combatants and resurrecting the innocence of childhood can be accomplished successfully.
Hopefully, the day is not far off when God’s own children will head back to the classroom instead of getting embroiled in the murky affairs of war and terrorism.