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Leave children alone!
Tuesday, 8 November 2005 - 3:20 AM SL Time
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It was only the other day that Iran came under fire over a remark President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had made about Israel. `This stain of disgrace,` he said referring to Israel, `will be wiped off the face of the world. And this is attainable` Although it was meant for the consumption of a home audience, and such rhetoric is not uncommon in the Muslim world, as it was picked up by the western media and beamed across the globe within minutes, Ahmadinejad has incurred the wrath of the world community, in spite of the fact that it was a propaganda blitz being orchestrated by the West to demonise Iran.
There is again much hullabaloo over a controversial children`s cartoon movie produced by the Iranian state television. (The Island of Nov. 07). Based on the making of a suicide bomber, it is said to aim at glorifying terror attacks on Israel and allegedly instigating the Iranian children to follow suit, should the need arise. This film is said to be part of Iran`s propaganda campaign to promote the call for destroying Israel.
Cartoons are a powerful tool with which tender minds could easily be shaped or manipulated for good or bad. Children usually tend to identify themselves with their cartoon heroes and try to live in the world of surrealism. This may explain why films such as Spiderman have taken the world by storm. Wherever it is shown, there is nary a father or a mother who is spared the trouble of being dragged by their kids to the cinema. (We don`t think parents regret the experience, given the superb quality of the film). The same is true of other fictitious characters like Harry Potter. They are a treat to young minds burdened with the not-so-enjoyable book learning. Harry has endeared himself to children so much that a multinational fizz drink company once tried to `abduct` him to promote their product among children. It was met with a howl of protest all over the world.
Recently, in South Africa, Nelson Mandela entered the world of comics. Mandela jokingly said he knew how famous he was only when he was made into a comic character.
Unfortunately, these effective media have become tools in the hands of the sick minded elements bent on abusing children to achieve their sinister ends. They include those engaged in `guerrilla marketing`''their motto is `Catch them young`''who have the audacity to claim that cow`s milk is better than mother`s milk! Or, they so stupidly animate and project the animals that they try to get children to eat, as their friends. The message is that friends are there to be eaten! Little wonder, the children who are exposed to such devilish drivel don`t hesitate to stab, shoot or beat to death their friends later in life at the slightest provocation. Violent clashes reported from schools are a case in point.
Inciting children to violence is by all means a criminal act, which must be condemned unreservedly by the right-minded. But surprisingly the world which looks dismayed by the use of cartoons to glorify terror remains mum on the crime of recruiting child combatants. When the UN prepared its List of Shame naming the organisations which use child combatants, many thought it would be followed up with stern action against the perpetrators. But the UN skirted the anticipated tough measures such as travel bans.
Turning children into a killing machines or a sex slaves to perverts who don the garb of liberators is certainly a far more heinous crime than inciting children to violence through movies. It is those unfortunate children in peril who need immediate help. Why is the world community baulking at the task of rescuing them'
Apart from the cruelty inflicted on children and robbing them of their childhood, what should be of grave concern to any society is that those who incite children to violence or actually use them in combat prepare an entire generation for war and leave little room for crises to be resolved peacefully.
Any strategy to rid the world of terror is seriously flawed, unless it has a separate prong aimed at delivering children from the clutches of extremists and/or terrorists, wherever they operate or whatever religion they profess. The global allies in the on-going crusade against global terror shouldn`t be blinded by their clandestine plans for Iran in addressing the real issue of children falling prey to the twin evil of extremism and terrorism.
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