June 28, 2016
A new study of Pakistani school textbooks backed by a US
government commission has concluded their contents will make it virtually
impossible for a new generation of Pakistanis to envision a peaceful future
with Hindu-majority 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), noted that the textbooks are
riddled with errors about minority faiths and cultures.
The textbooks, which reach more than 41 million children,
negatively portray religious minorities as “untrustworthy and inferior”, the
USCIRF said. The study was conducted by Pakistan-based NGO Peace and Education
Foundation (PEF).
According to the study, a tenth grade 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: “This kind of education closes all doors for a
new generation of Pakistani Muslims to see a peaceful future with Hindus of
India, and worse yet, it 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.
He added this reflects the “alarming state today of religious
freedom in Pakistan”.
The report said the social studies, Pakistan studies, and
history curriculums teach students “a version of history that promotes a
national Islamic identity of Pakistan and often describes conflicts with India
in religious terms”. It added, “The conflation of national and religious
identities creates a narrative of conflict and historic grievance between
Pakistani Muslims and Indian Hindus.”
The report cited a social studies textbook of Sindh province
that states: “Even a half century after the creation of Pakistan, (Hindu
racist) organisations are still working to eliminate Muslims. As a result,
violence has occurred between Hindus and other groups living in Pakistan, which
resulted in the destruction of Babri mosque and Hindu-Muslim riots in Gujarat…”
The report further said: “In post-independence history, wars
with India are emphasised and examples of peace initiatives are largely
ignored, resulting in an unbalanced historical discourse focused on intractable
conflict.”
The new study found some intolerant passages identified in
another study in 2011 were removed from textbooks, while many new examples of
bias were added, including passages that portray Pakistani Hindus as Indians.
The study made several recommendations, including the
acknowledgement of peaceful coexistence and religious diversity in Pakistan so
that students learn to respect all faiths.
The USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan US government panel
that monitors the right to freedom of religion abroad and makes policy
recommendations to the President, secretary of state and Congress.
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