Children in Conflict: Taliban Militancy and Its Impact on Child Education in Swat

Abstract

The education has significance for the development of any society. Regardless of any gender discrimination, it is the basic right of every individual and is given by the Islam and implemented by the state. The valley of Swat has witnessed the deterioration of the rights by the Taliban militants and they strongly influenced and had impacts on the society of Swat. Taliban have roots in history and they gradually control the region of Swat to exercise the power and authority over the people of Swat. Initially, the society of Swat welcomed the Taliban as Taliban announced that they would implement sharia but with the passage of time Taliban revealed their true face and started brutal activities. Their ideology was contradictory of Islam, state and society; and modern education was un-Islamic and girls’ education was banned gradually. The right of education was challenged by the Taliban regime; students had to suffer a lot. Educational infrastructure was destroyed, teachers and parents were threatened by the Taliban; as militants were demanding toc comply with their rules, regulations and conditions. The purpose of this study research, to explore the views of people about Taliban, their policies, reaction of people, and government’s approach during the conflict, to accomplish the purpose semi-structured interviews were conducted. To understand and to explain the conflict conceptual framework is applied. The research explored that how Taliban militants impacted the education of female in Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa KPK, Pakistan.