Hatred of India springs from school texts in Pakistan

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | July 30, 2003 | Juliette Terzief

[Qaz_W]

Pakistan's madrassa (religious school) system, where ultra-conservative Muslim clerics dole out an excruciatingly narrow world view, has achieved global notoriety for producing thousands of young men dedicated to holy war. But the public school curriculum weaves in many similar concepts -- including insensitivity to other religions, militancy and the glorification of war.

"Honestly speaking, there should be less fear of madrassa curricula, which is comparatively limited in scope, and more fear of the books being used in public schools," said Ahmed Salim, director of Urdu publications at Islamabad's Sustainable Policy Development Institute (SPDI).

"While President (Pervez) Musharraf has spoken passionately about the goal of a modern, tolerant, progressive Pakistan, the curriculum used is serving exactly the opposite purpose and will reflect upon his policies badly," Salim said

Public school textbooks are replete with examples.

A Muslim chauvinist view dominates the curriculum, and knowledge of Islam and the Koran is compulsory, even for non-Muslim students.

[Qaz_W]

The report quoted and prepared by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute of Pakistan, titled,"The subtle Subversion: A report on Curricula and Textbooks in Pakistan." is available at this URL http://www.sdpi.org/what%27s_new/reporton/State%20of%20Curr&Textbooks(final-BB).pdf

It makes interesting reading.

Tough being a non Muslim in Pakistan given what the newspaper article says, namely, that "A Muslim chauvinist view dominates the curriculum, and knowledge of Islam and the Koran is compulsory, even for non-Muslim students."

It gets even better. The curriculum actively promotes Islam to non Muslims.

Here is what the report (not mentioned in the newspaper article)says :

"The educational material attempts to teach Islamiat to all the students irrespective of their faith through the compulsory subjects of Social/Pakistan Studies, Urdu and English. Although non-Muslims are not required to take the fourth compulsory subject of Islamiat,there is an extraordinary incentive for them in the form of 25% additional marks for learning and taking examinations in Islamiat."

The Madrassah education problem of acting as an incubator of Jihadism is only the tip of the iceberg. The real problem is the regular education system.

[Cacophonous]

Well, that's it. Obviously we need regime change in Pakistan.

[BenLurkin]

Ping