Lacking A Good Place
"I said I won't go, then he took off the vest and tried to convince me that they [police] will die and I will remain alive.
"If I go back they will do the same to me, they will make me wear the suicide vest. I won't go back there. God didn't make me to be a suicide bomber."
Spozhmai, ten-year-old Afghani girl from Khan Nishin, Helmand Province
In
this Monday, Jan. 6, 2014 photo, an Afghan girl named Spozhmai is held
in a border police station in the Khan Neshin district in the
southeastern part of Helmand province, Afghanistan. The 10-year-old told
police that her brother, who she said is a Taliban commander, wrapped
her in an explosives-packed vest but that she refused to blow herself up
at a checkpoint in Helmand province. The Taliban denied the alleged
plot. (AP Photo/Abdul Khaleq) "Using a child as a suicide bomber is un-Islamic and goes against Afghan culture and beliefs."That assertion appears to have been disproved from time to time and this time it was a ten-year-old girl whose brother whom she described as a Taliban commander who attempted to school a child to carry a suicide vest and take centre stage in plans for a suicide bombing. Brother Zahir instructed his little sister to approach a checkpoint and persuade the deputy commander to give her a ride to a neighbouring province.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai
At which point she was instructed to take steps to detonate the explosives charges in the suicide vest embracing her small body, with enough military personnel in the close area to make the effort worthwhile. This, to be done for the greater glory of Islam. And to aid her brother establish a position of pride and prestigious presence among the Taliban; a man so committed to the cause he was prepared to sacrifice his sister. Not to worry, she was assured, Allah would protect her.
Once she had the opportunity to mull over the proposition overnight, before embarking on her glorious mission, she had developed a thoughtful response to the absurdity of the promise that she would emerge unscathed from an explosion that would kill those surrounding her, even while she wore the explosives on her body. She decided this wasn't the future she had envisioned for herself.
Her brother disappeared with the vest, and police took Spozhmai into protective custody. Spozhmai's father, Abdul Ghafar, informed authorities that it was beyond his protective powers to keep his daughter safe "even for a night", should they attempt a return to their village where the plot was alleged to have taken place. Which speaks volumes about the infiltrated Taliban presence.
Mr. Ghafar wishes to take his daughter to eastern Ghazni province to live with another daughter in presumed safety. Spozhmai has appealed to President Karzi to find her a new home where she can be "in a good place". It's difficult to imagine that anywhere in Afghanistan might represent a good place for a young child to be brought up in safety and security.
And it's difficult to foresee that there will be anytime soon an opportunity for the embattled country ever to present as a safe and secure place.
Presenting itself as a place where children like Spozhmai can anticipate a decent and just future.
Labels: Afghanistan, Child Abuse, Conflict, Islamism, Poverty
posted by Pieface @ Saturday, January 11, 2014
<< Home