Rangers Reclamation Center: hard lessons of Swat help children in Karachi

Rangers Reclamation Center in Landhi, Karachi. (AN photo)

A sketch of a mother and her child by a youth from the Sindh Rangers Reclamation Center. It reads; “If you find time, look at the faces of your parents, you will know how much they have broken while making your future. Mother, a sacred and invaluable relation.” (AN photo)

KARACHI: It was March 2012. Two children, who frequently suffered the wrath of their ill-tempered father, ran away from home. The elder one was only 12, yet he wanted to protect his younger brother from physical and psychological abuse – not only at home but also at school.
Together the two began a new life on the streets of Karachi. Their father, who worked as a mason, did not try to find where his children had gone.
In the face of parental negligence, the children began to lose their innocence in the unforgiving city. They became drug addicts and started stealing money to survive. Within a few years, they turned into petty criminals who stole cellphones and committed similar offenses. In late 2016, the elder brother, Shahnawaz, was arrested by Pakistan Rangers and lost touch with his sibling.
It did not turn out to be such a bad experience. After careful deliberation, officials of the paramilitary force decided to place him in their newly launched rehabilitation program.
“The Rangers Reclamation Center was established in the same year,” Major Ahmed told Arab News. “The facility was the brainchild of Lt Gen Bilal Akbar, former director general of Pakistan Rangers in Sindh, and it was inaugurated in November 2016.”
Ahmed, who previously worked with a deradicalization center in Swat, supervises the new facility in Karachi. Akbar was inspired by the rehabilitation center in the country’s northwestern valley, which was famously overrun by the Taliban.
Much like Swat, the country’s commercial capital, Karachi, has also experienced much violence in recent decades. As some policy reports indicate, the security situation in Pakistan’s port city has remained even more precarious since it was not only damaged by extremist elements but suffered severe ethno-political violence and street crimes.
Encouraged by the success of the deradicalization center in Swat, Rangers officials became interested in setting up a similar facility in Karachi. After several studies and feasibility reports, the reclamation center was given practical shape and 20 young men were selected to participate in the rehabilitation program.
Shahnawaz was one of them. According to Dr. Muhammad Idrees, clinical psychologist at the Rangers Reclamation Center, the youth underwent a six-month reform process. The authorities gave him good accommodation, encouraged him to play sports, helped him to improve his interpersonal skills and made him reflect on his past mistakes. What made his experience even more significant was the psychotherapy that he had for cognitive restructuring and behavioral modification.
He also received vocational training to earn his livelihood and was subtly made to think about the purpose of his life.
Even after successfully completing the rehabilitation program, Shahnawaz faced another daunting challenge. According to Inspector Muhammad Aftab, an official who works at the center, it took a lot of effort to convince his father to take him back. Shahnawaz, who received mechanical training, now works at a garage.
“His younger brother was not so fortunate and remains at large. Seemingly, he continues to be among those street children who sleep on greenbelts or sidewalks and are usually involved in petty crimes,” Dr. Idrees said.
But the center has not only served young people involved in crime.
Muhammad Shafiq belongs to a poverty-stricken Rohingya family that migrated to Pakistan and settled in Karachi in the late-1960s. His father sent him to a local seminary and found him an employment opportunity at a small garment factory. There were moments when Shafiq accused his parents of neglecting him. But then he found a patient listener in someone called Rehmatullah, who started treating him like a friend.
“He showed me videos of oppressed Myanmar people who were mistreated by Buddhist extremists,” Shafiq told Arab News. “The videos showed how the Burmese Army was setting Muslim women and children on fire. After gauging my reaction, he told me that jihad was not optional but mandatory for Muslims.”
The message resonated with him. In 2013, Rehmatullah, an Al-Qaeda recruiter, bought a bus ticket for Shafiq and gave him 2,500 Pakistani rupees ($24). He was sent to Bannu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where he was picked up by a man who took him to a training camp in Miranshah. It was there, in North Waziristan, that he had military training along with 10 other young people.
“We were also trained to make explosives,” he said. “We used to test our bombs in the mountainous terrain.”
After finishing his training, Shafiq returned to Karachi where he briefed his recruiter about his experience. Fortunately, he was arrested before he could take part in any militant activity after law enforcement agencies broke his network.
Much like Shahnawaz, Shafiq was selected for the rehabilitation program where he was subjected to a similar reform process. After he was released from captivity, his family welcomed him back with open arms.
According to Munawar Burki, a criminologist who has done extensive research on jail inmates, it is important to remember that many of these children undergo exceptionally difficult lives and cannot see a bright future.
“In any case, you cannot eliminate terrorism until you kill the ideology behind it,” he said. “At the moment the Rangers are undertaking this project on a very small scale. A similar initiative must also be launched by the police.”
Officials working at the Reclamation Center agree that their job has become more demanding. Even after successful completion of the rehabilitation process, they keep a close watch on participants.
However, experts believe that such initiatives can be extremely beneficial.
“If the rehabilitation program is properly conducted, it can help the authorities deal with hardened criminals and terrorists without firing a single shot,” Burki said. “Military operations can bring about a degree of harmony in the country, but sustainable peace is only possible if we manage to institutionalize such initiatives.”