Source: LUBP
I found it encouraging to see Pakistan’s famous singer, Shehzad Roy, talking publicly against the hate content in the country’s text books. The uproar against Mr Roy from the Islamist and the right wing lobbies, including political parties, is nothing unexpected. What is more remarkable is that a person like Mr Roy is willing to stick his neck out to address one of the major problems in Pakistan – the curriculum prescribed by the government(s) to be taught in the country’s educational institutions. We need many more like him.
I have maintained for a long while that if Pakistan has to survive it is imperative that it confronts and fights the culture of hate prevalent in the country. Now, often this culture of hate starts touching a child’s life in the child’s household as an increasing number of people continue to subscribe to country’s culture of polarization and extremism. However, to me, the single biggest service to extremism is still provided by our textbooks, which afford a child his first encounter with what he truly regards as knowledge.
As religion is the foundation of the Pakistani state’s political ideology; it is also a key area of Pakistani education in which students are taught the interpretation of Islam. Hence, there is clear connection between the violence -especially that inspired in the name of religion- in Pakistan and Pakistan’s education curriculum. Even though, to most of my fellow countrymen Pakistan derives its legitimacy from religion, religion does not have to form an overwhelming part of the country’s curricular content. If at all, Pakistan was supposed to be a country where Muslims would be free to practice their religion and not a melting pot of religious indoctrination. Misplaced ideology has engendered this country’s quest to be the leading Islamic power and the protector of the faith around the globe. It is now disturbingly apparent that Pakistan has become the hotbed of Muslim militancy and a disproportionately large number of the world’s terrorists, acting in the name of Islam, have been born or indoctrinated and trained in Pakistan.
However this ideology and the resulting curricula were significantly boosted by military dictator Gen Ziaul Haq, who many hold responsible for sowing seeds of discord in Pakistani society on religious and ethnic lines by stuffing school curricula with material that promoted hatred now manifested in the shape of extremism, intolerance, militancy, sectarianism, dogmatism and fanaticism. During Zia`s regime hate material was incorporated into curriculum to inculcate the spirit of Jihad among the Pakistani as well as Afghan students to prepare them for Jihad against the Russian forces. Most of those curricula continue to linger.
This statement is absolutely true! Kudos to Mr. Roy for speaking up, we need more people like him who can point out the mistakes & problems caused by them in the Pakistani education system. I remember we had to give our children a correct interpretation of whatever was taught to them in school. Our children saw their parents treat Christians, Hindus & muslims of other sects with the equal respect, kindness & justice. That is the way all parents should be training their children but not everyone is lucky to have the Ahmadiyya the true Islam training standards.