Author: Riaz Khan
Publication: The Associated Press
Date: October 18, 2001
Akora Khattak, Pakistan (AP) - Raising
their right hands in the air under posters of Osama bin Laden, 1,100 students
graduated Thursday from an Islamic religious school in Pakistan and swore
oaths to join a holy war against the United States in Afghanistan.
The ceremony at Pakistan's most
militant Islamic school, or madrassa, marked a milestone in the lives of
the young scholars, who range in age from their late teens to mid- 20s.
"I have completed my education and
now I'm going to Afghanistan," said Abdul Manan, 25, his head draped in
the new white turban bestowed on graduates. "We are ready to sacrifice
our lives for a noble cause."
Drawing boys from mostly impoverished
families, Islamic schools offer a curriculum heavy on the Quran, the Muslim
holy book. The more hardline, such as the Haqqani school here, are recruiting
grounds for militant groups seeking passionate young fighters.
Haqqani, in the Northwest Frontier
Province bordering Afghanistan, claims among its alumni at least 17 regional
leaders of the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
Young Islamic scholars are known
as "Taliban" -- a word that simply means "students" in local languages
-- although the Islamic regime next door took the name as well.
Being a Taliban scholar doesn't
mean a young man necessarily supports the regime in Afghanistan -- nor
does swearing an oath mean all Thursday's students will necessarily take
up Kalashnikovs.
But clearly, the 12-day-old air
campaign against Afghanistan -- meant to force the Islamic regime to hand
over terror suspect bin Laden -- has increased the zeal of many of the
young students here.
Thursday's graduation played out
under huge pictures of bin Laden, with a Kalashnikov placed below his image.
Proud families draped some young sons with garlands after the ceremony.
Maulana Samiul Haq, leader of the
Pakistan's pro-Taliban Jamiat Ulema Islam group, handed out certificates
of graduation.
The ceremony had some young men
weeping with fervor as Haq prayed that God would punish the oppressors
-- clearly, the United States.
More tears came as Haq evoked the
struggle of Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Taliban's supreme leader in Afghanistan.
"On one side is (President) Bush,
with all his military might -- and on the other is a poor man, Mullah Omar,
who is on the side of God," Haq said.
"We are facing the worst kind of
crisis because of the American attack on Afghanistan," Haq said.
Asking young men to raise their
right hands, the cleric swore them to join the fight. "It is the duty of
all students to participate in holy war," he said.
