Dawn: IT is time to fight and take back at least some space that we have, over the last 30 odd years, ceded to self-proclaimed religious authorities, those who act as bigots and those who use religion or interpretations of religion to oppress others. If this means taking some risks, so be it. After the Peshawar tragedy, we do not have many options left. Either we stand up and be counted or we remain on our knees — and still die. For most people, I hope, the former is the path they choose.
The best way of destroying something for a child is by imposing it: the stricter or stronger the imposition the more the level of destruction. When Islamiat was imposed, as a compulsory subject, the reaction that came from students was exactly that. I did not see a single contemporary who took Islamiat/Pakistan Studies seriously, who spent time trying to ‘understand’ the subject, and who did not resort to rote-learning to ‘get through’ examinations.
Ever since, I have not come across a single student who has shown interest in either subject or who has argued that they learnt about Islam through Islamiat or got the motivation to be better Muslims because of the subject at school. For almost every other subject, which students took voluntarily, I have interacted with many students whose lives were shaped by it. Was this the objective of making Islamiat compulsory?
Is school or college the best place to teach religion? Do children become moral or better human beings by having it as a compulsory subject? I would argue to the contrary. By imposing something, and in an unthinking way, we can only close minds of children to that activity or subject.
Our school allowed us to wear half-sleeved shirts in high school. But one of our Islamiat teachers, instead of talking to school authorities about it, would cane us every time he came to our class and found students in half-sleeves. As one can imagine, he was not a popular teacher and his canings did nothing to create interest in the subject he was teaching.
Do children become better human beings by studying religion as a compulsory subject?
Children learn by emulating adults. If people at home act morally, subscribe to and practise a particular religious belief, and explain the reasoning behind actions well, children are very likely to follow suit. Schools have never been the place for this.
Categories: Answers to Anti-Islam, Anti Islam act by Muslims, Asia, Behaviour, Double Standard, Pakistan