Author: Mushtaq Yusufzai and Carol Grisanti
Publication: NBC News
Date: March 28, 2007
"We were told to fight against Israel,
America and non-Muslims," said Muhammed Bakhtiar, 17, explaining why
he wanted to become a suicide bomber. "We are so unhappy with our lives
here. We have nothing," he said.
Last month, Bakhtiar and his school friend,
Miraj Ahmad, also 17, left their home, families, and boarding school in Buner,
a district of the Malakand Division of the Northwest Frontier Province. Their
destination was the Muridke madrassa right outside of Lahore, Pakistan's second-largest
city. The madrassa or religious school is run by the Jama'at-ud-Da'awah, the
charity linked to the outlawed terrorist organization, Lashkar e Taiba. And
Lashkar e Taiba has links to al-Qaida.
The grounds of this madrassa looks much like
the campus of any exclusive boys boarding school - except for the bearded
armed guards sporting Kalashnikovs checking all those who come and go. There
is a cricket field, swimming pool, all sorts of sport activities, and horses
too. In addition to religious instruction, the school offers computer sciences,
engineering and pre-med classes for students ranging in age from six to 17.
It also offers jihad.
"We read about jihad in books and wanted
to join," said Ahmad. "We wanted to go to the Muridke madrassa so
we would have a better life in the hereafter."
Recruited at local high school
Ahmad said that he and his friend Bakhtiar
were recruited at their high school in Buner. The recruiter offered to take
the boys to Muridke for two weeks of training and then to Peshawar where they
would be introduced to people and make contacts.
"We were told it is our choice to become
a freedom fighter or a suicide bomber," explained Ahmad, who had a neat
beard and wore a white Muslim prayer cap. "But we should never fight
against Pakistan."
Every morning the students were taught Islamic
studies; afternoons were reserved for sports. Jihadi training was given in
the evenings; two classes a night.
"The jihadi man who brought us to Muridke
told us we would become great by fighting jihad," said the clean-shaven
Bakhtiar. "We knew we could never become great if we stayed in Buner.
I wanted to become great."
About 600,000 people live in Buner, a green
valley surrounded by high mountains. The area is underdeveloped and the climate
is harsh. The Yusufzai tribe, the largest of all the Pashtun tribes, makes
up most of the population. Pashtuns are the ethnic group comprising 15 percent
of Pakistan's population - mostly in the Northwest Frontier Province, along
the Pakistan-Afghan border - and in Pakistan's southwest Balouchistan Province.
They have an ancient culture, speak their own language and abide by their
own tribal codes of honor and hospitality called Pashtunwali. They have gotten
a bad name of late since the Taliban are also Pashtuns. The Buner tribesmen
who cannot eke out a living from farming often try to leave and work in Malaysia
or the Gulf States.
Some, like Bakhtiar and Ahmad, just try and
leave. Buner seemed like a perfect place to sign up kids for jihad.
Parents outraged
When the parents of Bakhtiar and Ahmad learned
the boys had missed a week at their Buner boarding school, they panicked.
They contacted relatives and friends. There were no clues. Finally a nephew
remembered the boys talking one night about the Muridke madrassa. He went
there and somehow managed to get past the armed guards and identified his
cousin, Bakhtiar. He called home to Buner and told the family to come.
The parents of both boys said that they believed
the Hera boarding school in Buner had brainwashed their sons.
The principal, Abdur Rahman, denied this,
saying he went to the local police and demanded they go after the man who
recruited the boys at his school.
"We don't support this; suicide attacks
are murder; this is against Islam," said Rahman. "Those boys went
to Muridke by themselves, they should have been here taking their exams, and
I no longer want them back in my school," he said.
The tribal elders intervened and now Bakhtiar
and Ahmad are back in school in Buner.
"My brother and my uncle found me in
Lahore," said Bakhtiar. "The people at Muridke let us leave and
said we could come back after we finished our exams at home," he said.
But we asked them, "Do you want to go
back and learn jihad?"
"I don't know" said Bakhtiar."Maybe,
maybe." Ahmad agreed. "There is nothing for us here. Nothing."
