Naseebullah Khan
The current wave of violence throughout the world reflects that educated class has been turning into violent and extremist activisties. Whether it has been in Pakistan, Kashmir, Palestine, Syria, or in the west, major attacks have particularly sucide bombings are being done by the literate folk. This has also resulted in a debate where some label these attackers as terrorists while the others call them freedom fighters. We have ample examples in the recent history. Burhan wani was a well educated young boy of Kashmir who fough vehemently against the Indian forces in Kashmir and was than killed. In Pakistan, the head of BLF Dr. Allah Nazar is a Docter by profession. While a recent suicide attack in Karachi University by an M.phil student Sheri Baloch whose husband was a Dentist and whose family was well educated turned to violence. Al Quaida chief Aiman al Zawahri was a p.hd while the head of the ISIS Abubakar Albaghadadi also held a Phd. Moreover, Al-Zulfiqar was a Pakistani left-wing insurgent organization led by Murtaza Bhutto and Shahnawaz Bhutto__ the sons of.late prime minister of Pakistan Zulfaqar Ali Bhuto were well educated who turned to violence.
Political scientists believe that Ideological, psychological, political, educational syllabi, strategic factors including economic and deprivation have been main factors of converting educated people into violence. Alan Krueger of Princeton University analyzed that terrorists comparatively belonged to educated wealthier families. He also observed that political oppression has been another cause of turning of educated youth to terrorism. Youth radicalism in Pakistan, aggression over the female hijab in Afghanistan, Opposing other sects, anti Shia, anti Sunni, anti Ahmadi, and anti Muslims sentiments have been the main causes educated youth violence in many Muslim and non Mulim countries.
The vigilante killing of Mashal Khan, the lynchings of Srilankan citizen in Sialkot, the killing of Ahmadis, forced coversions in Sind, in Nigeria by Boko Haram and anti Muslim activities by the Hindutva led by the RSS, Abhinav Bharat a Hindu qrganization founded by a retired Indian Army Major Ramesh Upadhyay based in Madhya Pradesh, the Bajrang Dal a Hindu nationalist militant organisation that is the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad in India and Bangabhumi is a separatist movement to create a Bengali Hindu country for Bangladeshi Hindus in South Western Bangladesh are just some glimpses of evidence. Many political parties throughout the world have armed wings headed by the educated lots such as the RSS of BJP, the MQM, the Jumiath i Islami, the JUI and the nationalists parties in Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc. have their armed wings. In Pakistan, according to Huma Yusuf, urban Islamist institutions like Al-Huda, Hizb-ut-Tahrir and Tanzeem-e-Islami have contributed to youth’s spill over into violent-extremism. In recent past, Jumiat i Islami and Harkat i Islami in Afghanistan had their armed wings of educated youth. Factors such as deprivation in Balochistan, curbing freedom in Kashmir, ideological factor in the case of Muslims against the west and American and in the case of West and America against Muslims, the Hindus dislike against Muslims, the separatist tendencies and deprivations such as in Khalistan movement, the Turkistan movement and the Irish Republican Army; psychological factor such as in Afghanistan and Pakistan where Drones killed innocents and in Kashmir where Indian atrocities have made Kashmir a Hell, Western and US hypocrisy in the cases of Palestine and the emergence of Al Aqsa brigade, in Iraq the Badr Organization previously known as the Badr Brigades or Badr Corps is an Iraqi Shia Islamist political party , atrocities in Syria and Afghanistan, the Red shirts a white supremacist group in 19th century in the USA, have been major reasons of turning educated people into violence.
Not with standing to these, the curriculums of different seminaries and educational institutions have been providing fuel to the already pathetic situation. The dearth of alternative narratives alongside a perverted historical curriculum by glorifying militant jihad and violent tendencies alongside the non regulation of seminaries through a proper mechanism cannot be set aside in turning educated people into extremism. The world is burning into violence for self interests whereas humanity is suffering. The dangerous aspect is the turning of educated youth into violence. The more inequalities, deprivation, ecnomic and political injustices, and ideological bigotry persist the educated folk will have been indulging into violence.
Seeing the current response of world leaders and religious clergies, i am personally passamist about any improvement in stopping educated youth from becoming violent.
