Abuse of History in Pakistan

8/14/2019 Abuse of History in Pakistan

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By "Yvette C. Rosser"

Ph.D. Candidate Department of Curriculum and Instruction (ABD)M.A. Department of Asian StudiesB.A. (with honors) Department of Oriental and African Languages andLiteratureThe University of Texas at Austin

In mid-June I traveled from India to Pakistan during the height of the Kargil crisis. Imade the trip on the Delhi-Lahore "diplomacy" bus. The rhetorical and ideologicaldistance at the Wagha boarder crossing between India and Pakistan was liketraveling a million miles and one hundred and eighty degrees in less than fiftymeters. It was certainly an interesting time to be crossing that boarder. While inPakistan, I felt as if I was experiencing history in the making, and the use oftwisted history for nationalist justification.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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I delivered a paper in Islamabad, in July arranged by the Islamabad Forum forSocial Sciences. This paper discussed how Pakistani textbooks practice history byerasure and embellishment and how these distorted historical "facts" are used tocorroborate contemporary political perspectives and justify current militaryadventurism. I cited examples from Pakistani Studies textbooks and comparedthese to the headlines which appeared in Pakistani newspapers during the Kargilcrisis. My lecture was discussed in a newspaper article published in "The News," adaily in Islamabad, (quote): "Yvette drew examples from state-sponsored textbooksused in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan to illustrate the appropriation of history toreinforce national philosophy or ideology wherein historical interpretations arepredetermined, unassailable, and concretized." History by erasure can have itslong-term negative repercussions. In Pakistani textbooks, which narrate the 65 Warwith India, Operation Gibraltar is never mentioned. Operation Gibraltar and therecent events in Kargil are products of the same processes. The mistakes made inKargil are a legacy of the lack of information that citizens have about the realhistory of their country. During the "war-like-situation" in Kargil, a headline in a

Pakistani newspaper read, "Kargil: Revenge for 71." This point of view can only bepropagated by someone who is unaware of the real facts that led the Bengalis tosecede from the western part of the country, by someone who blames the breakupof Pakistan on Indra Gandhi and "Hindu influences" in East Pakistan rather than on24 years of Panjabi-perpetuated internal colonization.

While I was out of the USA last year, I also spent six months in Bangladesh where Imade several presentations. The first was in May 1999, entitled "Hegemony andHistoriography: The Politics of Pedagogy." I also delivered a paper in Dhaka in lateJuly when I returned to Bangladesh after a trip to Pakistan. That paper was called,"The Pakistani Historian and the Bangladesh War of Liberation." This talk received

wide coverage in the Bangladesh media. Here is a message sent from Dr. Ratan LalChakravorty, a history professor at Dhaka University. This message describes someof the news reports about that talk:

"1. The news coverage about you appears in a Daily Newspaper which is very muchpopular at the present moment. Its name is the Janakanta (Voice of the People)which I am a life subscriber. On 8 August, your photographs appeared with news infour columns of half a page. The paper appreciated you to such an extent that wehad seldom received. The main topic covers your findings about the historiographyand historical studies of Bangladesh and it suggests to follow your methodology tounderstand the things going at present.

"2. The second also appeared in the Janakanta (Voice of the People) on 11 August,1999, where an analytical and critical assessment of your work and objectives weredone in a very sophisticated way using metaphor. The writer appreciated you verymuch for speaking the truth and the reality."

Here are some observations about current events in Pakistan as they relate to the


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use of history in justifying current governmental and military actions and also aboutthe psychological health of the nation:

Pakistani nationalism is characterized by ironies and contractions.Its ideologyand national mythos have not been substantiated by its historical realities.Inthe last fifty-two years the vision or ideal of Pakistan, as a secure homeland wherethe Muslims in the subcontinent could find justice and live in peace, has not beenrealized by the citizens. There is a shared experience of disappointment anddissatisfaction among the populace that has not abated since the restoration ofdemocracy in 1988, and in fact the feelings of betrayal and a collective mentaldepression have increased dramatically in the last decade. This intellectual fatalismand depression about the state of affairs is not something new, as can be seen inan excerpt from the book, Breaking the Curfew,A Political Journey ThroughPakistan published ten years ago by a British journalist, Emma Duncan, where shewrote, and I quote," many Pakistanis I talked to seemed disappointed. It was not

just the disappointment that they were not as rich as they should be or that theirchildren were finding it difficult to get jobs; it was a wider sense of betrayal, of

having been cheated on a grant scale. The Army blamed the politicians, thepoliticians the Army; the businessmen blamed the civil servants, the civil servantsthe politicians; everybody blamed the landlords and the foreigners, and the left andthe religious fundamentalists blamed everybody except the masses.

More than anywhere I have been - much more than India - its people worry aboutthe state of their country. They wonder what went wrong; they fear for the future.They condemn it; they pray for it. They are involved in the nations public life aspassionately as in their small private dilemmas. . . ".

In the ten years since this observation was written, the passion that the people in

Pakistan have for their country has not abated, but the shared feelings of betrayaland disappointment have increased exponentially. A friend of mine who is aprofessor, the principal at a womans college in Lahore, confided that she and mostof her colleagues felt not only disillusioned, but abjectly hopeless about thecondition and future prospects of their beloved country. She said that she had lostall hope. She did not see that the nation could survive given the current situationand there was no alternative in sight. Here is a dynamic woman, a sincerepracticing Muslim, a patriotic Pakistani whose father was an officer in the EducationCore. She serves on the boards of directors of numerous institutions and works withthe government to develop and implement various educational projects. She givesgenerously of her time and devotes herself professionally and personally to herstudents, her colleagues and the educational organizations of Pakistan. Yet, though

she is totally committed to her country, and by nature a jolly and friendly personnot prone to any type of self pity or despondency, she is overwhelmed by feelingsof loss, failure, and depression when she thinks of her beloved nation.

I was intrigued and disturbed by this expression of depression, which, regardless ofEmma Duncans observations did not seem as profoundly obvious when I was inPakistan two years ago. Since my dear sister working in Lahore informed me thatmany of her friends and colleagues also felt the same, I decided to ask the


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professors and scholars with whom I had scheduled interviews if they shared thisfeeling of depression and sorrow regarding their nation. I was astounded to findsimilar feeling of disempowerment coupled with a dissatisfaction which offered nosolutions. Many of the social activists and progressives with whom I spokeexpressed this same helplessness while at the same time they counteract theirfeelings of loss by publishing journals, holding seminars and discussion groupsmany work with NGOs to develop educational opportunities for girls in rural areasor contribute their time to other altruistic and progressive endeavors. They remainactivetheir work belies the futility which they expressed to me. They continueworking, pouring their efforts and souls into positive activity aimed at improving thesocial and intellectual climate of their country, and they survive by dwelling on thefact that ultimately, they feel powerless to effect any positive change.

It distressed me that these very people who could help Pakistan the most andwhose voices should be heard and heeded are the very same people who, becauseof their political perspectives and social critiques, are often harassed by theauthorities, denied jobs and otherwise discriminated against by the

establishment. The current democratically elected government continues to makeit difficult for intellectuals with alternative viewpoints to do research and even totravel abroad, not to mention what has happened lately to prominent journalists.Several professors at Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad informed me that arecent decree by the government mandated that professors must now obtain anNOC (No Objection Certificate) when planning to travel abroad even for a familyvacation. One well known and respected Physics professor, Dr. Parvez Hoodbhoy isa vocal critic about Pakistani affairs and writes magazines articles and essays aboutissues such as corruption, the unequal availability of educational opportunities andlately about the folly and danger of the nuclear option. Recently, Dr. Hoodbhoy wasdenied an NOC when he was invited to lecture in the Physics Department at MIT

(Massachusetts Institute of Technology). He was able to leave the country onlythrough the intervention of the Vice-chancellor of his university, Dr. Tariq Siddique,who also taught at the Civil Service Academy and served as the education ministerunder Zulfikar Bhutto. Dr. Tariq Siddique is well-known for supporting his staff andhelping his former students. However, his intervention on behalf of Dr. Hoodbhoy, Iwas informed, risked provoking official ire. However, this type of potential threat isnot something new to Tariq Siddique, since he had been dismissed from Bhuttoscabinet for too zealously advocating teacher empowerment and merit-basedpromotion.

Many scholars at the university level expressed resentment that research wasdiscouraged and intellectuals were often seen as a threat by the

establishment. They complained that mediocrity was encouraged and originalresearch impeded. Surrounded by a completely corrupt system, which they feltpowerless to change, yet endowed with self respect and moral conscientiousness,many of these caring and intellectually brilliant individuals lamented about theirhopelessness and depression regarding the condition of their nation.

As I was disturbed by this shared expression of depression, I interviewed apsychiatrist and asked him his opinion about this phenomenon. He first pointed out


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that the depression was a tangible reality and could be quantified by the hugeincrease in the number of suicides in Pakistan in the last few years. He said thatthere are 20 to 30 suicides per day in Pakistan which occur primarily among theyoung between the ages of fifteen and thirty, mostly upper-class urbanized femalesand newly educated rural or newly urbanized lower middle class males. Dr. InayatMagsi, from the Civil Hospital in Karachi, explained that most of these suicides arethe result of the loss of hope for the future. But he also pointed out that thedramatic rise in clinical depression which he has observed even among citizens withample economic opportunities can be partly attributed to the fact that even thoughdemocracy has been practiced now for over ten years, there has been a decline inthe development of civil society, a death of collective vision, of enthusiasm tochange the system from within, a certain resignation.

During the time of Martial Law, the iron rule of General Zia-ul-Haq, the intellectualsand socially conscious scholars, along with large segments of the common people,had something to fight against, a mission and a purpose to rid their country ofauthoritarian rule. Dr. Inayat Magsi pointed out that this struggle against the

military government and the hope for democracy united the people with a visionwhich kept them enthusiastic about the future potential of their country. Oncedemocracy was restored, the level of corruption certainly did not decrease, thepractice of fomenting regionalism which was practiced by General Zia increased,promises of a better future rapidly died as the political parties fought a propagandawar for their ascendancy instead working for the good of the country. The oftendisenfranchised polity was once again dismayed and depressed by the inability oftheir officials to focus on the needs and priorities of Pakistan. Dr. Inayat Magsiadded that now that there is no military government to rebel against, they can onlyblame themselves for the lack of leadership and since they are powerless to createother alternatives, they are disheartened. . depressed.

Pakistan is a land that is torn by ethnic differences and is seemingly unable toachieve unity within its diversity.It was founded on the principle that Islam, as thegreat leveler of class and caste, was a sufficient force to tie the Sindhis, thePathans, and the Balouchi tribes, and also the Bengalis together with the dominantPanjabis to form a cohesive and stable national identity which would supersederegional loyalties and ethnicities. Through the years, this mission to create a strongcentrally controlled government has been pursued by various methods includingrealignment of political associations between its minority groups, usually basedmore on gains for provincial party bosses than nation cohesion, and by the use ofmilitary coercion, which as in the case of the Bengali majority, resulted in the splitup of the original country.

Even today the central government operates under the assumption that Pakistan isa unitary entity, though the rhetorical idea of "One Unit" was only abandonedimmediately before the Bangladesh war of liberation. The Pakistani military andbureaucracy are still grappling with the problems that the contradictionsinherent in the Ideology of Pakistan continue to create within the variedcultural landscape of the nation.


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The powers at the center, usually more intent at retaining the profitable reins onthe government, are inevitably unable to make equitable policies which can reversethe decentralized loyalties nor reconcile these tendencies with the imperatives of ahighly centralized state apparatus. As Feroz Ahmed in his book Ethnicity and Politicsin Pakistan, published by Oxford University Press in 1999, wrote, "The state and itsideologues have steadfastly refused to recognize the fact that these regions are notmerely chunks of territory with different names but areas which were historicallyinhabited by peoples who had different languages and cultures, and even states oftheir own. This official and intellectual denial has, no doubt, contributed to theprogressive deterioration of inter-group relations, weakened societies cohesiveness,and undermined the states capacity to forge security and sustain development."(end quote)

Denial and erasure are the primary tools of historiography as it is officially practicedin Pakistan. There is no room in the official historical narrative for questions oralternative points of view which is Nazariya Pakistan, the Ideology ofPakistandevoted to a mono-perspectival religious orientation. There is no other

correct way to view the historical record. It is, after all, since the time of GeneralZia-ul Haq, a capital crime to talk against the "Ideology of Pakistan."

According to A.H. Nayyar from Quaid-e-Azam University, "What is important in theexercise is the faithful transmission, without any criticism or re-evaluation, of theparticular view of the past which is implicit in the coming to fruition of the PakistanIdeology." Rahat Saeed of the Irtiqa Institute of Social Sciences in Karachi explainsthat school level history teachers are often aware that what they are teaching intheir Pakistani Studies classes is at best contradictory and often quite incorrect.They usually do not attempt to explain the "real" history regarding such events asthe civil war in 1971, because to do so might jeopardize their jobs, and, as Rahat

explains, the teachers are afraid "to corrupt their students with the truth."

In contemporary Pakistani textbooks the historical narrative is based on the TwoNation Theory.The story of the nation begins with the advent of Islam whenMohammed-bin-Qazm arrived in Sindh followed by Mahmud of Ghazni stormingthrough the Khyber Pass, 16 times, bringing the Light of Islam to the infidels whoconverted en mass to escape the evil domination of the cruel Brahmins. Reviewinga selection of textbooks published since 1972 in Pakistan will verify the assumptionthat there is little or no discussion of the ancient cultures that haveflowered in the land that is now Pakistan, such as Taxila and Mohenjo-Daro, though this lack seems to have been partly addressed in the very recenteditions of several history textbooks published for Oxford-Cambridge elite schools.

In most textbooks, any mention of Hinduism is inevitably accompanied byderogatory critiques, and none of the greatness of Indic civilization is considerednot even the success ofChandragupta Maurya, who defeated, or at leastfrightened the invading army ofAlexander the Great at the banks of the BeasRiver where it flows through the land that is now called Pakistan. These events aredeemed meaningless since they are not about Muslim heroes.There is anelision in time between the moment Islam first arrived in Sindh and Muhammad AliJinnah.


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This shortsighted approach to historiography was not always the case.

Up until 1972, the history textbooks included much more elaborate sections on thehistory of the subcontinent, while adopting the colonial frame of periodizationthebooks described the Hindu Period, The Muslim Period and the British Period. Historytextbooks, such as Indo Pak History, Part 1 published in 1951, included chapterswith titles such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata Era, Aryans Religion andEducational Literature, the Caste System, Jainism and Buddhism, Invasions ofIranians and Greeks, Chandra Gupta Maurya, Maharaja Ashok, Maharaja Kaniska,The Gupta Family, Maharaja Harish, New Era of Hinduism, The Era of Rajputs. Thissame basic table of contents, which also included the history of Islam, wasprevalent in textbooks until post 1971. A textbook published in 1964, for use at amilitary academy in Abbottabad included similar chapters, and even had a chapterentitled, Mahatma Gandhi, Man of Peace. This same edition of this textbookswas republished without any changes until 1971. It can therefore be seen thatPakistani textbooks were not always estranged from their associations with South

Asian history and culture. but beginning with the Bhutto years and acceleratingunder the Islamized tutelage of General Zia-ul Haq, not only has the history ofthe subcontinent been discarded, but it has been vilified and mocked andtransformed into the evil other, a measure of what Pakistan is not. ZulfikarAli Bhuttos influence on the textbooks was profoundhe was furious at India,whom he blamed for the break-up of the country. Though ironically, his mother wasa Hindu, a natch-girl (dancer) who had converted to Islam in order to marry hiswealthy father, Bhutto vehemently launched an anti-Indian campaign withvituperative anti-Hindu rhetoric. This legacy of his orchestrated hatred is still thebasis of Pakistani historical narratives where Gandhi is now usually referred to as a"conniving bania."

Much of the historical discourse and social analysis in Pakistan is based onnegative methodologies which seek to justify Pakistans failures andshortcomings by pointing out similar problems that also exist in neighboring India.Instead of focusing their academic lens on the Pakistani situation, and be the viewpositive or negative, analyzing what is seen within their nation, scholars repeatedlyuse the tact of dismissing problems in Pakistan by discussions of parallel problemsin India.

Within this paradigm, Pakistani scholarship is defined by placing the countrysproblems in a less negative light in comparison to Indias problems. This could becalled the theory of self justification, but more aptly results in self negation. A vivid

example of this methodology can be found in the book by Akbar S. Ahmed, J innah,Pakistan and Islamic Identity: the Search for Saladin. It is one of a great number ofbooks published in Pakistan during 1997. Many of these books published in honor ofPakistans fiftieth anniversary, such as Feroz Ahmeds Ethnicity and Politics inPakistan, and others such as the work by the linguist, Dr. Tariq Rehman, representan effort to look objectively at topics such as Pakistani nation-building, society,cultural myths, domestic and foreign policy. Prior to this golden jubilee moment ofself analysis, most books that graced the OUP or Vanguard shelves were basically


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biased and very much situated in the straight jacket of the two nation theory. Thisis not to criticize their nationalist orientation, all nations write nationalist histories,but an observation that historical discourse in Pakistan is dominated by negativeimages of India and Hinduism. In general, the majority of books in the field of thesocial sciences written in Pakistan have lacked theoretical basis and are short onangst and verve, though perhaps books by ex-pats, such as Mustfa Pasha areusually more circumspect. As Dr. Rahat in Karachi joked, "In Pakistan, socialscientists are more social than scientific!" However, since 1997, there havebeen several books written about the Bangladesh experience, such as the recentbook by Ahmad Saleem, Blood Beaten Track, which does not lay the blamesquarely in Indira Gandhis lap, for conspiring to "Sink the Two Nation theory inthe Bay of Bengal".

In Akbar S. Ahmeds book, Search for Saladin, if judged by its cover, the fairly postmodern title gives the impression that perhaps the book would be theoreticallybased and hopefully less biased than the standard fare offered up as statesponsored Pakistani scholarship. In this regard the book was a disappointment.

Ahmed is a well known Pakistani scholar, and though a civil servant and thereforeperhaps prone to rubbery research results stretching to accommodate the reigningregime, he is a fellow at Selwyn College, Cambridge and would probably get a widerreading audience in the West. Unfortunately, in this book he has fallen once againinto the prevailing discourse ofPakistani historians who define their nation in thenegative, in terms of what it is not. "We are not Hindus. We are not Indians.We will not be ruled by the Hindus. We do not practice the evil castesystem. We do not mistreat our minorities. We do not attack ourneighbors."Through the decades Pakistani writers have used this discourse ofnegation consistently describing their nation in contrast to Hindu Indias other.There have been far too few examples of reflexivity, inward looking analysis.

In this book by Ahmed, much of the discussion centers on communalism in India.He refers to books by Veena Das, Asghar Ali Engineer, Sarvepalli Gopal, KumariJayawardena, T.N. Madan, Ashish Nandy, Khushwant Singh, etc. He uses theseIndian authors work to prove his points about the sufferings of minorities in India,couched in the usual anti-Indian/Pakistani-centric rhetoric. He never pauses toquestion why there are so many open and frank books about the plight of minoritiesin India and there are very few such books about the problems faced by minoritiesin Pakistan. He doesnt mention the bishop who blew his brains out on the city hallsteps to protest continuing officially sanctioned harassment of the Christiancommunity in Pakistan and the death sentence metted out to an adolescent fromthe Christian community for his alleged blasphemy. Akbar S. Ahmed fails to

mention that Hindus and other minorities are delegated to second class citizensthrough their prejudicial voting system and blasphemy laws. Or that women arealso second class citizens living under the burden of Hudood laws. He can not seethe problems in his own nation, for he is too busy looking for problems in India.Once again, Pakistan is not looking at Pakistan for its own meaning, it islooking to India to justify its own failings.Akbar dwells extensively on rapeduring the Bombay riots of 1993, citing the suffering in several pages, but hedismisses rape by Pakistani soldiers in Bangladesh with less than one


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sentence. These types of examples are to be found throughout the book. It must besaid that some of the most exciting and theoretically based and insightfulscholarship in Pakistan is coming from the small group of feminist intellectualsassociated with such centers as Simorgh, ASR, and Sahe in Lahore.

Discourses about Islam and its relationship to the Ideology of Pakistan make up themajority of Pakistan Studies textbooks, which dwell at length on how Islam willcreate a fair and just nation, "In the eyes of a Muslim all human beings are equaland there is no distinction based on race or colour. . . The rich or poor [are] allequal before law. A virtuous and pious man has precedence over others beforeAllah."

The Pakistan Studies textbook goes on to say, "Namaz prevents a Muslim fromindulging in immoral and indecent acts." And regarding issues of justice, the 1999edition of this Pakistan Studies textbook written by Rabbani and Sayyid which is inwide usage in Pakistan writes,

"On official level (sic) all the officers and officials must perform their duties justly,i.e., they should be honest, impartial and devoted. They should keep in viewbetterment of common people and should not act in a manner which may infringethe rights of others or may cause inconvenience to others." How does this discoursetally with the tales that the students have heard about corruption and the hasslestheir parents have endured simply to pay a bill or collect a refund? How do theyrectify their cognitive dissonance when they hear about elected officials andwealthy landholders and industrialists buying off a court case lodgedagainst them, or simply not charged for known crimes, with statements fromtheir textbooks such as, "Every one should be equal before law and the law shouldbe applied without any distinction or discrimination. [. . . ] Islam does not approve

that certain individuals may be considered above law. The textbook goes on tostate that "The Holy Prophet (PBUH) says thata nation which deviates fromjustice invites its doom and destruction" (emphasis mine).

With such a huge disparity between the ideal and the real, no wonder there is agreat deal of fatalism and depression among the educated citizens and the schoolgoing youths concerning the state of the nation in Pakistan. Further compoundingthe students distress and distancing them from either their religion or their nation-state, or both, are the contradictions found in this same Pakistani Studies book.On page 63 is the statement that "the enforcement of Islamic principles . . .does not approve dictatorship or the rule of man over man."Compared withthe reality unfolding a few paragraphs later when the student is told that,

"General Muhammad Ayub Khan captured power and abrogated the constitutionof 1956 [. . . .] dissolved the assemblies and ran the affairs of the country underMartial Law without any constitution". Since nearly half of this textbook is dedicatedto chapters with such titles as Islamization Under Zia, Hindrances toIslamization, and Complete Islamization is Our Goal, the other themes and eventsin the history and culture of Pakistan are judged vis-a-vis their relationship andsupport of complete Islamization. Within this rhetoric are found dire warnings that


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Islam should be applied severely so that it can guard against degenerate Westerninfluences, yet a few pages later the text encourages the students to embraceWestern technological innovations in order to modernize the country. One partof the book complains that Muslims in British India lost out on economicopportunities because conservative religious forces rejected westerneducationyet a few pages later the authors are telling the students to use Islamto fend off Western influences and lauding the efforts of conservative clerics whoare the last hope of protecting the country by the implementation of the Shari-aLaw. This seems to be schizophrenic reasoning.

Non-Muslim cultural influences are often blamed for regional allegiances, such as inthis discussion in Dr. Mohammed Sarwars Pakistani Studies book, which statesthat, "At present a particular segment, in the guise of modernization andprogressive activity, has taken the unholy task of damaging our cultural heritage.Certain elements aim at the promotion of cultures with the intention to enhanceregionalism and provincialism and thereby damage national integration."

Once again progressive forces and regional cultural affinities are deemedanti-Pakistani and thereby inherently anti-Islam. This is the same stance thatis used in describing the emergence of Bangladesh. This textbook goes on to statethat "It is in the interest of national solidarity that such aspects of cultureshould be promoted as reflect affinity among the people of the provinces."This type of discourse seems to deny the impetus and urges of the culturalexpressions of the Sindhis, the Pathans and the Balouchis, instead of valuing themas part of the whole, these regional cultural tendencies are seen as a threat to thenation, and Islam is employed to ameliorate these dangerous cultural differences.

At the same time this textbook claims that Islam sees no differences and promotes

unity while it also discriminates between Muslims and nonbelievers. For example,on page 120 the author states, "The Islamic state, of course, discriminates betweenMuslim citizens and religious minorities and preserves their separate entity. Islamdoes not conceal the realities in the guise of artificialities or hypocrisy. Byrecognizing their distinct entity, Islamic state affords better protection to itsreligious minorities. Despite the fact that the role of certain religious minorities,especially the Hindus in East Pakistan, had not been praiseworthy, Pakistan ensuredfull protection to their rights under the Constitution. Rather the Hindu Communityenjoyed privileged position in East Pakistan by virtue of is effective control over theeconomy and the media. It is to be noted that the Hindu representatives in the 1stConstituent Assembly of Pakistan employed delaying tactics in Constitution-making."

That this claim is spurious as can be seen in the recent book by Allen McGrath,published by OUP, The Destruction of Democracy in Pakistan , in which the author,a lawyer, analyzes the efforts at constitution making in the first decade afterindependence before Iskandar Mizra dissolved the National Assembly. In theMcGrath book the productive role D.N. Dutt played in constitution making ismentioned. Yet, in Pakistan Studies textbooks, the anti-Hindu point of view and thevilification of the Hindu community of East Pakistan are the standard orientation. In


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this particular version of Pakistani history, which is the official version, GeneralZia-ul-Haq is portrayed as someone who, "took concrete steps in thedirection of Islamization." He is often seen as pious and perhaps stitching capsalongside Aurangzeb. Though Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is generally criticized in thetextbooks, General Zia usually escapes most criticism though he was the mostcruel and autocratic of the military rulers who usurped the political process inPakistan. Each time that martial law was declared in Pakistan, and the constitutionaborted, the textbook by Dr. Sarwar describes it as an inevitable action stimulatedby the rise of un-Islamic forces. For example, "The political leadership did not comeup to the expectations and lacked commitment to Islamic objectives. Moreover, thecivil service had not undergone socialization process commensurate with Islamicteachings. Bureaucratic elite had Western orientation with secular approach to allnational issues. [. . . ] the result was political instability and chaos paving the wayfor the intervention of military and the imposition of Martial Law. "

In the next paragraph, however, Ayub Khan is accused of imposing un-Islamic laws,especially family laws, and the author claims that it was Ayubs secular outlook

which ultimately brought about his decline.

General Zia, on the other hand, is described on page 138, "During the periodunder Zias regime, social life developed a leaning towards simplicity. Due respectand reverence to religious people was accorded. The government patronized thereligious institutions and liberally donated funds. "

This textbook, and many like it, claim that there is a "network of conspiracies andintrigues" which are threatening the "Muslim world in the guise of elimination ofmilitancy and fundamentalism." In this treatment Pakistan takes credit for the fallof the Soviet Union and lays claim to have created a situation in the modern world

where Islamic revolutions can flourish and the vacuum left by the fall of the USSRwill "be filled by the world of Islam." This textbook continues by saying that "TheWestern world has full perception of this phenomena, [which] accounts for thedevelopment of reactionary trends in that civilization." Concluding this sectionunder the title Global Changes, the author seems to be getting ready for SamuelHuntingtons Clash of Civilizations when he writes, "The Muslim world has fullcapabilities to face the Western challenges provided Muslims are equipped with self-awareness and channelize their collective efforts for the well being of the MuslimUmmah. All evidences substantiate Muslim optimism indicating that the nextcentury will glorify Islamic revolution with Pakistan performing a pivotal role." (page146)

Pakistan Studies textbooks are full of inherent contradictions. One page the bookbrags about the modern banking system, and another page complains that interestis un-Islamic. There is also a certain amount of self-loathing written into thePakistan Studies textbooks, and the politicians are depicted as inept and corruptand the industrialists are described as pursuing "personal benefit even at the costof national interest." Bouncing between the poles of conspiracy theory and threatfrom within, the textbooks portray Pakistan as a victim of Western ideologicalhegemony, and threatened by the perpetual Machiavellian intentions of Indias


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military and espionage machine, together with the internal failure of its politiciansto effectively govern the country coupled with the fact that the economy is in thehands of a totally corrupt class of elite business interests who have only enrichedthemselves at the cost of the development of the nation. All of these failures andconspiracies could, according to the rhetoric in the textbooks, be countered by theapplication of more strictly Islamic practices. In fact, while I was in Pakistanrecently, I spoke to several well placed individuals who told me that they wouldwelcome a Taliban type government in Pakistan so that the country could finallyachieve its birth right as a truly Islamic nation. Though this is certainly not amajority opinion, there is a large segment of society who thinks along this line.Perhaps the choice of this alternative Taliban vision for Pakistan is also a result ofthose feelings of helplessness discussed previously, perhaps between theconspiracies and corruption, they see no alternative.

When the textbooks and the clerics cry conspiracy and the majority of thenewspapers, particularly the Urdu press, misinform or disinform thepeople, the tendency for the Pakistanis to feel betrayed and persecuted is not

surprising. During the 71 War, the newspapers in Pakistan told nothing of theviolence of the military crack down nor did they keep the people informed of thedeteriorating strategic situation. The role of the Mukti Bahini was practicallyunknown in Pakistan, and when defeat finally came, it came as a devastating andunexpected shock that could only be explained by Indira Gandhis lies andtreachery. It is no wonder that during and in the aftermath of the Kargil crisis,newspapers often ran stories which called the occupation of the heights aboveKargil as Pakistans revenge for 1971. There has historically been a lack ofinformation available to the citizens of Pakistan both in the 65 War and during theBangladesh War of Independence. Yet that split-up of the nation, and the creationof Bangladesh is a potent symbol in Pakistan as evidenced by one headline that ran

last summer in "The News", which said, "Nawaz Shariffs Policies are TurningSindh into Another Bangladesh."

During the recent war-like situation at the Line of Control in Kashmir, thegovernment claimed again and again that the mujahideen were not physicallysupported by Pakistan, that they were indigenous Kashmiri freedom fighters.However, the presence of satellite television, the internet, and newspapers whichare now more connected to international media sources, prevented the usualpropaganda machine of the government from keeping all the facts from the people.Perhaps there is at least one positive outcome of the tragic Kargil crisis wherehundreds of young men lost their lives, in the aftermath of the crisis there was adramatic outpouring of newspaper and magazine articles which attempted to

analyze the brinkmanship from various angles. This new found critical reflexivity isa positive development and though some of the essays in Pakistani newspaperscalled for the military to take over the government in the wake of Nawaz Shariffssell out to the imperialist Clinton, most of the discussions were more circumspectand many authors looked at the Kargil debacle through a lens of history, trying tounderstand the cause of Pakistans repeated failures arising from militaryintervention. Many of the observations made during and after the Kargil situation,such as the complete inadequacy of Pakistani international diplomacy, are


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interestingly also cited in Pakistan Studies textbooks regarding Indias perceivedmanipulation of world opinion during the 71 war and Pakistans inability to counterit.

Pakistani textbooks are particularly prone to a historical narrative manipulated byomission. According to Avril Powell, professor of history at the University of London,"The recasting of Pakistani history [has been] used to endow the nation with ahistoric destiny."

Textbooks in Pakistan are the domain of distorted politics which have victimized theSocial Studies curriculum. History by erasure can have its long-term negativerepercussions. An example of this is the manner in which the Indo-Pak War of 1965is discussed in Pakistani textbooks. In standard narrations of the 65 Warmanufactured for students and the general public, there is no mention of OperationGibraltar, even thirty years after the event. In fact, many university level historyprofessors whom I interviewed had never heard ofOperation Gibraltar and therepercussions of that ill-planned military adventurism,which resulted in Indias

attack on Lahore. In Pakistani textbooks the story is told that the Indian army,unprovoked and inexplicably attacked Lahore and that one Pakistani jawan equalsten Indian soldiers, who, upon seeing the fierce Pakistanis, drop their banduks andrun away. Many people in Pakistan still think like this, and several mentioned thisassumed cowardice of the Indian army in recent discussions regarding the war-likesituation in Kargil. The nation is elated by the valiant victories on the battlefield, asreported in the newspapers, then shocked and dismayed when their country ishumiliated at the negotiating table. Because they were not fully informed aboutthe adventurism and brinkmanship of their military, they can only feel betrayedthat somehow the Pakistani political leaders "grabbed defeat from the jaws ofmilitary victory."

It is interesting to note in this context an episode from the book by Akbar S. Ahmedin which he tells of a personal conversation with General Niazi, who according toAhmed, claimed that he was planning to "cross into India and march up the Gangesand capture Delhi and thus link up with Pakistan." Niazi told Ahmed that "This willbe the corridor that will link East with West Pakistan. It was a corridor that theQuaid-e-Azam demanded and I will obtain it by force of arms." This absurdreasoning can still be seen among those who were battling the Indian army inKargil. In a recent newspaper article published in The News, a commander of thePakistani based mujahideen told the reporter that their plan was first to take"Kargil, then Srinagar, then march victorious into Delhi."

Operation Gibraltar, the recent debacle in Kargil, and especially the tragic lessonsthat could have been learned from the emergence of Bangladesh are products ofthe same myopic processes. As mentioned earlier, the mistakes made in Kargil area legacy of the lack of information that citizens have about the real history of theircountry. How similar the public knowledge and their naive response, how similarthe disinformation pumped out by the government, and how sad the loss of life, thecontinued hostilities, the inability or unwillingness to negotiate diplomatically. Hegeland Toynbee among others, have warned that nations do not learn from their


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history. There is, however, significant merit to the argument that access toinformation about past mistakes and successes and their consequences can guidedecision makers and citizens as they chart a course into the next millenniumbetween diplomacy and disaster.

If you like, I can send more messages about my adventures in South Asia. I was inBangladesh supported by a fellowship from the American Institute of BangladeshStudies and I was in Pakistan funded by the American Institute of Pakistan Studies.I will be returning to Pakistan in November and December and plan to travel ininterior Sindh to meet with scholar and intellectuals there, and interview themconcerning their perspectives about the writing of history in Pakistan. Is anyone onthis list can be of some assistance to me while I am there, I would be mostgrateful.

The recent series of translations submitted to this list-serve by Dr. Gul Aghaconcerning the history of the invasion of Sindh by the Arabs is in direct contrast tohow these events are treated in the Pakistan Studies syllabus which devotes

considerable space to Muhammad-bin-Qasim who is hailed for bringing Islam to thesubcontinent. In Social Studies For Class VI, published by the Sindh TextbooksBoard, Jamshoro, April 1997 the story of the Arabs arrival in Sindh isnarrated as the first moment of Pakistan with the glorious ascendancy ofIslam. This textbook tells the young sixth class school children of Sindh that, "TheMuslims knew that the people of South Asia were infidels and they kept thousandsof idols in their temples." The Sindhi king, Raja Dahir, is described as cruel anddespotic. "The non-Brahmans who were tired of the cruelties of Raja Dahir, joinedhands with Muhammad-bin-Qasim because of his good treatment." According tothis historical orientation, The conquest of Sindh opened a new chapter in thehistory of South Asia. "Muslims had ever lasting effects on their existence in the

region. .

For the first time the people of Sindh were introduced to Islam, its political systemand way of the government. The people here had seen only the atrocities of theHindus. . . . The people of Sindh were so much impressed by the benevolence ofMuslims that they regarded Muhammad-bin-Qasim as their savior. . . . Muhammad-bin-Qasim stayed in Sindh for over three years. On his departure from Sindh, thelocalpeople were overwhelmed with grief."

When I visited Hyderabad, Sindh in 1997, I discussed the contents of this textbookwith local Sindhis, who assured me that they told their children analternative version of this story. They informed me that any good Sindhi knows

that"in several cities in ancient Sindh, Muhammad-bin-Qasim beheaded every male over the age of eighteen andthat he sent tens of thousands of Sindhi women to theharems of the Abbassid Dynasty."They also explained that impact ofthese textbooks was minimal because, though the back of the book indicated that20,000 copies were supposedly printed annually, that, because of corruption,"fewer than 10,000 were ever printed and distributed."


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I apologize for the length of this message and hope it is of interest.

Thank you for your kind attention and for any suggestions you may offer.

All the best,

Yvette C. Rosser

Documents

Abuse of History in Pakistan