Taliban murder people and recruit children in the name of madrassa students
KABUL - The High Peace Council chief, Prof. Burhanuddin Rabbani, on Tuesday said the Taliban brought devastations to the country by recruiting children in their ranks, a move that tarnished the image of religious schools and scholars. Addressing the second general assembly of Afghanistan's youth council, Rabbani said the Taliban, the so-called students of religious knowledge, earned a bad name to religious schools and scholars by recruiting under-age boys in their ranks.
"The Taliban, who murder people and recruit children in the name of madrassa students, are definitely not following the path of madrassa. This is a plot to defame religious schools, students and Ulema," he alleged, calling the course a dangerous threat to Islam.
Graduates of religious seminaries from Herat, Bukhara, Baghdad, Egypt and other parts of Islamic world have been spreading the message of knowledge and brotherhood, Rabbani said.
He said religious schools had produced great personalities like Imam Abu Yousuf, Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal, Maulana Abdul Rahman, Abu-Raihan Alberoni, Abu Ali Sina and Imam Abu Hanifa.
Calling the youth a valuable asset for the society, Rabbani urged students to seek higher education.
Afghanistan has been passing through a challenging period and the youth were required to find breakthroughs keeping in the mind the past experiences, he said.
"Youths are future builders of the state, they have huge national, religious and historical responsibilities toward their people and land," he added.
Qyamuddin Kashaf, head of Afghanistan's Ulema Council, suggested President Hamid Karzai to provide students who had not qualified the Kankor examination with education opportunities.
Billions of dollars in aid to Afghanistan had so far no positive impact on the youth due to a lack of transparency, he said, adding corruption must be uprooted.
Kashaf also said foreign countries had failed to bring security and development to Afghanistan. Foreigners have failed to build sustainable infrastructures which can create employment opportunities for Afghans, Kashaf said.