According to a myth attached to the Hashashin (a 12th century sect that was so notorious for politically motivated murders that the word “assassin” is derived from its name), boys in their adolescence, drugged with hashish, were exposed to paradisiacal gardens where there were feasts and girls. Later, they were thrown into a dungeon and told that if they wished to return to that paradise, they would have to follow orders to kill other people and be prepared to sacrifice themselves in the process. This mode of training bears some resemblance to the method being employed at the madrassa in the Sohrab Goth area of Karachi where children and teenagers were kept in chains and subjected to brutal torture.
During their painful ‘rehabilitation’ at these madrassas, the students are also told about the path to ‘salvation’; a chance to escape the miseries of this world and enter paradise, where they can indulge in all pleasures that they desire including virgins and feasts. But for this to happen, they would have to ‘appease’ God and follow the orders they would be given. The students’ gullible young minds readily accept this notion and that is how terrorists are produced, particularly suicide bombers, ready to give up their lives to kill other people.
Besides, in order to make humans callous enough to take other’ lives, it is necessary to fill them with hate and rage. That explains the ill-treatment of students at the seminaries.
Only after suffering cruelty can most people become ruthless to others. The idea is to show them the ugly side of the world so that they can learn to hate. It is all psychology.
Many unregulated seminaries are training centres run by the Taliban or other militant outfits. One of the children recovered from the madrassa in Sohrab Goth told the media about how the Taliban visited the seminary to see if the next stock of humans, brainwashed into becoming killer zombies, is ready to do their bidding or not.
The parents, who leave their offspring at these seminaries, do not have the slightest idea as to what goes on there.
They believe that they are doing their children a world of good by helping them become better human beings through the teachings of Islam. However, it is not Islam that is taught there.
Our law enforcers have raided one madrassa in Karachi and recovered more than 50 children and teenagers. But what about the hundreds of others, where similar activities are under way, operating across the city?
It is not as if the law enforcement agencies are not aware of their presence. They have the entire list of unregulated seminaries in the city at their disposal. But for some reason, they have hesitated to take action against them.
The law enforcement agencies need to launch a major crackdown against these madrassas so that children can be prevented from turning into the barbaric mullahs, who run these places.
