Author: Khalid Hasan
Publication: The Friday Times,
Lahore
Date: December 19-26, 2003
... A commendable study of the textbooks
taught in our schools, a hangover of the "Islamisation" effort has been
done by Dr AH Nayyar of the Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad. His findings
should make everyone sit up.
He begins by pointing out that Muslim
"majorityism" has always existed in Pakistan and is thus reflected in the
educational process. However, the effort to mould the minds of the young
through textbooks began in the early 1980s thanks to Gen Zia-ul-Haq and
his reactionary thinking. The curricula were redesigned and textbooks rewritten
to create "a monolithic image of Pakistan as an Islamic state and Pakistani
citizens as Muslim only", in the process excluding non-Muslim students
from the national identity. They were thus turned into second-rate citizens
and a question mark put on their patriotism. No non-Muslim has since reached
higher rank in any of the services. The basic Mawdudite principle enshrined
in this philosophy of education is that nothing should be taught that is
outside the context of "revealed knowledge", which is another way of "Islamising"
every subject.
Dr Nayyar found that the basic themes
of the current curricula are that Pakistan is for Muslims alone; that Islamiyat
is to be taught to all, regardless of their religion; that the "ideology
of Pakistan" is to be internalised as faith and hatred created against
Hindus and India; and finally, students are urged to take the path of jihad
and shahadat or martyrdom. So you can now stop wondering where all the
jihadis are coming from. One of the guidelines for class IV and V students
calls for creating in them the feeling that they belong to a Muslim nation
and they have to become life-sacrificing warriors (janbaz mujahideen).
"The curriculum thus shows itself to be grossly insensitive to the existence
and needs of non-Muslims among the students", Dr Nayyar observes.
When she took office Zubaida Jalal
initiated a process of consultations aimed at educational reform, culminating
in a revision of curricula. However, writes Dr Nayyar, though that exercise
was spread over two years, going by the most recent curriculum documents
and textbooks, "things have remained absolutely unchanged". Textbooks are
written, he says, among others by teachers who also set examination papers.
Ill-educated and badly-trained for the most part, they sow seeds of disaster
in the entire educational system. Curriculum documents given to those assigned
with its development specify objectives as well as the contents of the
textbooks to be written by the provincial textbook boards. The ministry
of education has a curriculum wing which is supposed to scrutinise the
finished product but hardly does any such thing. In practice, textbook
writers "play safe" and reproduce what has gone before. In fact, they tend
to be "more loyal than the king". There is also reason to believe that
a textbook mafia has monopolised the entire system.
I do not know what is taught in
Indian schools, but Dr Nayyar's findings as to what is being taught in
ours are horrifying. The existence of Pakistan is defined only in relation
to Hindus, who are painted as evil. Before Zia-ul-Haq, school textbooks
did not contain such material. Early history books, for instance, had chapters
devoted to the pre-Islamic civilisations and ruling dynasties of India.
Though there was bias when approaching contemporary history, the creation
of Pakistan was explained in a rational manner and not a result of "Hindu
machinations". Some books also mentioned that the most prominent Islamic
leaders were opposed to Pakistan. All that has now been edited out. Pakistan's
enemies and detractors and those who called the Quaid a "kafir" have been
painted as heroes.
Curriculum documents studied by
Dr Nayyar lay down that the child should understand Hindu-Muslim differences
and the need for Pakistan. India's evil designs should be brought home
as it has launched three wars against Pakistan. The textbooks consequently
stress that the Hindu has always been the enemy of Islam and the Hindu
religion teaches bad things and has no respect for women. Hindus, these
books say, worship idols in temples which are narrow and dark places where
only one worshipper can go at a time, while Muslims say their prayers together
in open mosques. The children are also told about Hindu the child marriage
and the custom of suttee. They are taught that a higher-caste Hindu can
kill a lower-caste one without fear of punishment. They are also told that
Muslim children in India wear shalwar kameez while Hindu children wear
the dhoti or the loincloth. The Hindus are said to have done better because
they were opportunists who cooperated with the British, unlike the proud
Muslims. The break up of Pakistan in 1971 is entirely laid at the doorstep
of Hindu India, not attributed to the refusal of the army junta to transfer
power.
The depressing thing is that the
poisonous crop that Zia-ul-Haq sowed is flourishing fifteen years after
his death. This will lead Pakistan to disaster. If there is one truth in
the world today it is this: the exterminating Islamic warrior is unacceptable.
Radicalism in the name of religion is a phenomenon with which the entire
world is at war. It is time Gen Musharraf really got down to reforming
the system; and the only place to start is with education. All textbooks
now being taught in our schools should be burnt and objective scholars
with a well-rounded worldview assigned to rewrite and recast the entire
educational curriculum in both schools and colleges.
