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Pakistani textbooks paving the way for broken future with India
A study of Pakistani textbooks conducted by Pakistan-based NGO Peace and Education Foundation (PEF) and backed by US Commission on International Religious Freedom found these textbooks carrying content that can virtually negate the possibility of Pakistanis to have a peaceful future with India.
School textbooks are more often textbooks of life for lessons learnt here sometimes stay with us for a lifetime as we can effortlessly recall some of them. If textbooks have such potentially long lasting impact on the memories of young impressionable minds, then according to a study of Pakistani school textbooks by a US government commission these textbooks have the potential to virtually negate the possibility of new generation Pakistanis to envision a peaceful future with their Hindu-majority neighbour – India.
The report “Teaching intolerance in Pakistan: Religious bias in public school textbooks”, released this week and sponsored by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), observed that the textbooks were full of errors about representation of minority faiths and cultures.
The textbooks, carry a dismal portrayal of religious minorities as “untrustworthy and inferior”, the USCIRF said. The study was conducted on ground by Pakistan-based NGO Peace and Education Foundation (PEF)According to the study, a class X Urdu textbook states: “Because the Muslim religion, culture and social system are different from non-Muslims, it is impossible to cooperate with Hindus.”
The report said that the textbooks have an audience of close to 41 million readers across the country and yet they are laced with content that has the potential to close the doors to a peaceful future with India, or worse, it actually provides a rationale to treat Pakistani Hindus as outsiders.
“In contrast, it ignores how Hindus and Muslims have cooperated and coexisted peacefully for centuries in the subcontinent.”
USCIRF chairman Robert P George said: “Pakistan’s public school textbooks contain deeply troubling content that portrays non-Muslim citizens as outsiders, unpatriotic, and inferior; are filled with errors; and present widely-disputed historical ‘facts’ as settled history.
The report stated that social studies, Pakistan studies, and history curriculums taught students that most conflicts with India had religious overtures. It added, “The conflation of national and religious identities creates a narrative of conflict and historic grievance between Pakistani Muslims and Indian Hindus.”
The study made several recommendations, including the acknowledgement of peaceful coexistence and religious diversity in Pakistan so that students learn to respect all faiths.
Click here to read the full article including citations from Pakistani textbooks.