Paks Taught to Hate Hindus, Christians at School

7/27/2019 Paks Taught to Hate Hindus, Christians at School

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Tufail Ahmad, Director of MEMRI's South Asia Studies Project

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October 1, 2013 Inquiry & Analysis Series Report No.1020

Textbooks In Pakistani Government Schools

Teaching Hate Against Christians And

Hindus, Jihad And Martyrdom To Young

Students

By: Tufail Ahmad*

IntroductionThis paper examines the role of school textbooks in promoting hate against religiousminorities in Pakistan. On September 22, 2013, more than 80 Christians were killedand hundreds wounded when two Taliban suicide bombers targeted worshippers asthey were leaving after a Sunday mass at the 130-year old All Saints' church inPeshawar, the capital of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.[1]Imran Khan, theleader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party which governs the province,

slammed the attackers but in the same breath asked: "why do terrorist attacks occur

when dialogue is on the table?"

the insinuation being that foreign forces planned theattack to sabotage Pakistan's peace negotiations with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan

(TTP).[2]Jundul Hafsa, a militant outfit which functions as part of the Hakimullah Mehsud-ledTTP, claimed responsibility for the attack. Ahmad Marwat, the group's spokesman, said

the following about Christians: "They are the enemies of Islam; therefore we targetthem... We will continue our attacks on non-Muslims on Pakistani land."[3]There are200,000 Christians in the province and of them 70,000 live in Peshawar.[4]Such hateagainst Christians is the result of decades of teachings in government-run schoolsacross Pakistan.In Pakistan, where Islamist groups are launching regular attacks against non-MuslimPakistanis like Christians and Hindus as well as some sects of Muslims such as Shi'ites

and Ahmadi Muslims, whom they do not consider to be real Muslims, the official andunofficial media, government leaders and religious scholars have legitimized hate

against religious minorities, with the term "minority" itself having come to be seen in apejorative context. As a result of such legitimization of hate through school textbooks,government policies, sermons in mosques and religious congregations, there is growing

persecution of Pakistani Christians, Hindus, Shias and Ahmadi Muslims. In September2012, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) released a paper by thisauthor, cataloguing Islamist and jihadi attacks against these minority groups and

underlining the need to put Pakistan on international genocide watch.[5]
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After the September 22 church attack, senior Pakistani journalist Aamer Ahmed Khancommented on the Pakistani elite's silence in condemning such attacks on minorities in

unequivocal terms, stating: "This silence of our ruling elite is itself the realTalibanism."[6]In Pakistan, the federal government and the provincial governmentheaded by Imran Khan's party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are engaged in talks with the

Taliban. Their ministers are publicly seen as silent in their criticism of jihadi groups and

the TTP. In turn, the Taliban are emboldened. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the PTI-ledgovernment has recently been in the news for initiating policies to restore jihadi

lessons in school textbooks which were removed as part of reforms by the previousgovernment of the secular Awami National Party (ANP). "What kind of sovereignty,freedom, and Islamic values are these when Islamic teachings, jihad, and nationalheroes are removed from textbooks? Jihad is part of our faith. We will not back down(from our decision)," Shah Farman, the information minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,told reporters on August 21, 2013.[7]

Pakistani Journalist Maheen Usmani: "14-Year-Old StudentsOf Pakistan Studies Are Being Taught: 'One Of The ReasonsFor The Downfall Of The Muslims... Was The Lack Of The

Spirit Of jihad'"; "13-Year-Olds Are Instructed: 'In Islam,Jihad Is Very Important'"Throughout Pakistan's history, since its creation in 1947, hate speech against non-Muslims has been a normal phenomenon in Pakistani society. In August-September2013, a Lahore Grammar School received backlash for introducing a supplementarycourse titled "Comparative Religion" which was designed to "educate about Islam,Christianity, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism and Hinduism."[8]A television channel playedits part in inciting popular opinion against the school. According to a report, "Thecourse received considerable backlash, gaining mainstream attention following anepisode of a talk show aired onARY News, Khara Sach, on September 16, 2013. In theepisode, hosted by [television] anchor Mubasher Luqman, the school was falsely

accused of attempting to convert students to other religions..."[9]In an article published by the Dawn newspaper earlier, journalist Maheen Usmanidescribed how religious fundamentalism and state-sponsored obscurantist textbooks

are creating a generation of literate Pakistani youth who identify themselves more withIslam than with Pakistan. In the article, titled "The Ideology of Thought Control inPakistan," she observes:[10]

"Let us consider a ubiquitous slogan about the 'ideology' of Pakistan. A staple of ourschool textbooks, it echoed in massive public rallies as well as debates onsecularism.'Pakistan ka matlab kiya? La illaha il lallah'(What is the meaning of

Pakistan? There is no God but Allah) has become the rallying cry of the campaign toIslamize Pakistani society. Ironically, it is a slogan that was coined long after thecreation of Pakistan, but it is now being falsely ascribed to the leaders of the Pakistan

movement... History textbooks written soon after Partition

a time when the grief ofshattered families who experienced communal killings was at its peak show a moreliberal mindset. The history of the subcontinent was taken to start with the ancient

Indus valley civilizations rather than with the conquest of India by the first Musliminvader, Mohammad bin Qasim, in 712..."The seeds of the distortion of history and the preponderance of religious dogma which

were sown decades ago are bearing fruit today. Examples from the curriculumdesigned by the Federal Ministry of Education abound. The Social Studies textbook forClass 7 says: 'European nations have been working during the past three centuries
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through conspiracies on naked aggression to subjugate the countries of the Muslimworld.' 14-year-old students of Pakistan Studies are being taught: 'one of the reasons

for the downfall of the Muslims in the sub-continent was the lack of the spirit of jihad.'13-year-olds are instructed: 'In Islam, jihad is very important... The person who offershis life never dies... All the prayers nurture one's passion of jihad.'

"The cause for the intolerance experienced by Ahmadis [i.e. Ahmadi Muslims, declared

non-Muslims under Pakistani law], Hindus, and Christians lies in public education,structured as it has been to defend Pakistan against some phantom enemy. Non-

Muslims are forced to read the same textbooks which contain derogatory remarksagainst Hindus, such as them being eternal enemies of Muslims. Our myopiceducational system discourages questioning and causes ethnic and religious minoritiesto be viewed with suspicion..."In addition to official school textbooks, there are thousands of unregulated madrassas(Islamic seminaries), whose curriculum is not discussed here, that teach their own

Islamist and jihadi lessons, leading to hate campaigns against religious minorities inPakistan. And many of these madrassas not only engender extremism among Pakistaniyouth but have also emerged as training grounds for terrorists. As late as August 2013,

the United States imposed sanctions on the Ganj Madrassa in Peshawar for training

and recruiting militants belonging to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a group blamed for the2008 Mumbai terror attacks.[11]The head of the madrassa, Fazeelat-ul-Shaykh Abu

Mohammed Ameen Al-Peshawari aka Shaykh Aminullah, has been a UN-designatedterrorist since 2009, for his support for Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Study By Pakistani NGO: Textbooks Teaching Jihad AndMartyrdom To Primary School Children Include DesiredLearning Outcomes Such As: "Must Be Aware Of TheBlessings Of Jihad, And Must Create Yearning For Jihad InHis Heart"; "Recognize The Importance Of Jihad In EverySphere Of Life"

A landmark study of Pakistani school textbooks, "The Subtle Subversion

The State ofCurricula and Textbooks in Pakistan" edited by A. H. Nayyar and Ahmad Salim and

published by the Islamabad-based Sustainable Development Policy Institute, reveals aworrying picture. Their study examines in detail how school textbooks nurtureIslamism and promote hate and jihad among students of primary schools and

disturbingly even non-Muslim Pakistanis have to go through this daily school ordealfrom early childhood. A sample of highlights from the study is given below:[12]i) The 2002 National Early Childhood Education Curriculum requires as an objective:

"To nurture in children a sense of Islamic identity and pride in being Pakistani. There isno mention that this is to be done among Muslim students alone."ii) For Class IV and V students, the Urdu curriculum requires: "A feeling be createdamong students that they are the members of a Muslim nation. Therefore, in

accordance with the Islamic tradition, they have to be truthful, honest, patriotic andlife-sacrificing mujahids (janbaz mujahid)", "To educate and train the futuregenerations of Pakistan as a true practicing Muslim"; "To develop a sense of pride inbeing Muslim and Pakistani"; "Knows that national culture is not the local culture orlocal customs, but that it means the culture the principles of which are laid down byIslam."iii) A lesson on "Our Country" in the Class II Urdu book states: "Our country isPakistan. We live in our country. Pakistan is an Islamic country. Here Muslims live.Muslims believe in the unity of Allah. They do good deeds..." A Class 6 book teaches:
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"Who am I? I am a Muslim. I am a Pakistani. I love my country and I love my people;""You know that you are a Muslim and your religion is Islam."

iv) The National Early Childhood Education Curriculum requires the teaching of thefollowing "life skills" to both Muslim and non-Muslim children: "Use greetings such asAssalam-o-Alaikum [words of Islamic greeting]"; " Know when to say Bismillah [I begin

in the name of Allah]"; "Recite the first Kalimah [words declaring belief in Islam] and

understand its meaning"; "Name the five daily prayers"; "Learn about Ramadan andEidain [Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha]".

v) The 1995 primary education curriculum requires both Muslim and non-Muslimchildren to "be proud of the Islamic way of life, and try to acquire and adopt Islamicteachings"; "try to adopt principles of Islamic way of living"; "participate in Salat baJamat [collective prayers] in mosques, to develop a sense of respect for Muezzin andImam"; "read the Koran, and respect it"; "listen to the events from Islamic history andderive pleasure from them"; "try to adopt principles of Islamic way of living"; "respect

for Islamic beliefs and practices"; "study religious books in order to understand Koranicteachings"; "respect Islamic or national customs and urge others to do the same";"love Islamic traditions", etc.

vi) Class 5 textbooks teach the following: "Events from the life of the Holy Prophet, His

family and Islamic leaders"; "Stories of Imams and the Prophet's companions(sacrifice: from the life of Hazrat Usman [third caliph of Islam])"; "Stories about the

Pakistan movement, eminent personalities of Pakistan, and martyrs of Pakistan";"Simple stories to urge for jihad"; "Unity of the Islamic world", etc.

vii) The following objectives of teaching Urdu are laid down for both Muslim and non-Muslim children: "To create love for religion and respect for personalities [of Islam andPakistan]"; "must have belief in the unity of God, and know that Allah is the creator ofthe universe"; "Must regard Islamic ways as the best of all; "Must have reverence forall the messengers of God, the Prophet Mohammad..., his family members, hiscompanions, the imams and the leaders, and must try to know their teachings andadopt their ways"; "Must maintain affinity (love) with the Islamic world"; "Must respectthe leaders, books, places of worship of other religions"; "Must be aware of the

blessings of Jihad, and must create yearning for Jihad in his heart."viii) The authors, A. H. Nayyar and Ahmad Salim, observe: "The... disturbing part ofthis is to make the non-Muslim students read the Koran, not in Islamiat [IslamicStudies] which they are not required to learn, but in the compulsory subject of Urdu.

Urdu textbooks from Class I to III, which are compulsory for students of all faiths,contain lessons on learning to read the Koran. Progressing from Class I where Arabicalphabets are introduced in a lesson titled Iqra, to the lesson entitled 'E'rab' on

punctuations in a Class II Urdu book, to the lessons in a Class III Urdu book entitled'Koran Parhna' (reading the Koran), which has seven lessons (out of a total of 51) onlearning to read the Koran. The non-Muslim students must learn these lessons and

prepare them for examinations also."ix) The textbooks teach: "Hindu has always been an enemy of Islam"; "The religion of

the Hindus did not teach them good things

Hindus did not respect women"; "Hindusworship in temples which are very narrow and dark places, where they worship idols.Only one person can enter the temple at a time"; "In our mosques, on the other hand,all Muslims can say their prayers together."x) The following chapters, learning outcomes and educational activities related to jihadand shahadat (martyrdom) are part of the Pakistani school curriculum both beforemilitary ruler General Zia-ul-Haq ushered Pakistan on a bold jihadi path and continuingafter him: "Recognize the importance of jihad in every sphere of life"; "Must be aware


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of the blessings of jihad, and must create yearning for jihad in his heart"; "Concept:Jihad; Affective objective: Aspiration for Jihad"; "Love and aspiration for Jihad,

Tableegh (Proselytization), Jihad, Shahadat"; "To make speeches on Jihad andShahadat"; "To make speeches on Jihad"; "Evaluation: To judge their spirits whilemaking speeches on Jihad, Muslim History and Culture"; "Concepts: Jihad, Amar bil

Maroof and Nahi Anil Munkar [promoting virtue and rejecting vice]"; "Importance of

Jihad"; "Concepts of Ideology of Pakistan, Muslim Ummah and Jihad"; "Folk tales(mythical, moral, Islamic, travel and adventure, jihad)."


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Documents

Paks Taught to Hate Hindus, Christians at School