The recent spate of explosions in different cities of Pakistan — Peshawar, Kohat and Lahore —induced me to try and unravel the mental make-up of the young men who carry out missions that invariably cost them their lives.
All through the history of mankind there have been more or less similar dare-devils who thought little of killing themselves while killing their enemies. A few examples come readily to mind.
The Turks had the jannissaries, who, as the word means, were ever ready to lay down their lives for causes dear to their rulers. Jihadis at war against Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s kingdom had ghazis to lead them on fronts where hand-to-hand combats were frequent. Ranjit Singh pitched his nihangs against them.
The Japanese had their Kamikaze pilots who rammed their aircraft loaded with explosives into American battleships and sank them. The LTTE Tigers had men and women who carried out deadly attacks single-handed and, having accomplished them, swallowed capsules of cyanide to end their lives rather than be taken captive.
We know more about boys and girls employed by outfits like the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Tayyeba largely due to the detailed confession made by Ajmal Kasab, sole survivor of the attack on Mumbai last November.
He has spoken in detail of his childhood, schooling and what induced him to become a religious gangster. Three points are clear: one, that all members of these Islamic terrorist groups come from impoverished backgrounds. Two, they have little education besides cramming a few verses of the Quran. And three, they had little hope of making a decent living or a good marriage.
http://newageislam.com/terror-in-the-name-of-god/islam,terrorism-and-jihad/d/2031
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3:33 AM
Moderate Islamist here
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