How Bias in Text books fuels division in Pakistani society

[Jacob Martin]

Sir, what you call hatred and bigotry may appear to be awareness of a cunning enemy and religious beliefs to others. Formation and revision of a national curriculum must take into account all sorts of viewpoints, given the goals and given the mechanisms available for the local population.

Your cunning enemy has not brainwashed its children through doctored textbooks. But you, very evidently, have been.

 

[Dubious]

If anyone comes up with a solution to point no.2 and implements it; that would be the end of all wars, conflicts, and major acts of violence. If not in the whole world, at least in that particular society.
A solution could be probably be found by studying countries like Denmark and Iceland, and why they are so safe to live in.

Most of the Scandanavia region is relatively safe ....

I dont know about all countries but I am impressed with Norway's way of handling the situation and Sweden was doing a good job till recently ....Finland has also done a great job. Iceland did a good job too then again not many want to migrate there due to the cold...but lovely all the same!

The mention of the Pew Research Poll was not by me, but the article that was quoted in my post. Maybe schools that tech how to spew drivel might as well have taught how to read....

Maybe you should give it a rest...I did say when the report is missing why would I want to read someone reporting something that was removed from the web? Only people who want to pick a fight or have a bashing attitude like you would!

And beyond this, do not play your insidious and venal games with me.

When one has such a mentality...they shouldnt be debating

Have a good day!

 

[VCheng]

Your cunning enemy has not brainwashed its children through doctored textbooks. But you, very evidently, have been.

Let the enemies, real or perceived, train their children as they wish, and let Pakistanis train their children as they wish. After all, it is up to each nation to train its next generations as they want, not as how others want, right?

 

[Ragnarok connection]

Let the enemies, real or perceived, train their children as they wish, and let Pakistanis train their children as they wish. After all, it is up to each nation to train its next generations as they want, not as how others want, right?

Completely agree with this; whatever be the portion of the textbooks, the ones to gain or lose is the country itself as the children will be the future generation of leaders, doctors, scientists, etc of that country.
If one feels that their 'enemy' state is teaching bias through textbooks, shouldn't that person be glad about it, instead of complaining, and citing references proving the bias.

This is the classic lazy retard's strategy. Make mindless comments and then ask for proof. Maybe you didn't notice that over the course of two posts I cited atleast 10 references from published articles showing the hatred and bigotry taught in Pakistani schools. But I know - you will conveniently ignore that, and continue to spew rubbish, and to add insult to injury, call that rubbish as debate.

 

[NIA]

Wow, are you around to police the 101 personal attacks and filthy abuses that I receive on a daily basis on this forum?

Look buddy..we need people like you on here....if you go around like this you may get banned...previously we had a indian...some Khan.We lost him....I don't want you to leave this forum as he did..Stay calm.No one can change them..so stay cool.At begining I also faced personal attacks..Plz.

 

[Psychic]

I think people who simply troll a thread and randomly mention unconnected drivel are the ones who should "get their heads checked".

So expressing one's opinion on the OP classifies as trolling? That's a news for me.
And for your kind facking information, I never mentioned or quoted you in my post so why did you bother to quote my harmless post and reply in the form of cr@p?
I do not need certification of sanity from an Indian who is so obsessed with Pakistan that he makes an id on Pakistani forum and then posts a typical thread on Pakistan's internal affairs(which should be none of his concerns) to feel good. As for me, I have spent quite some time on this forum and have posted my own work in threads opened by me instead of opening threads with intent to bash a specific country.
Anyways, there is no point to engage in a useless debate, on a useless thread, with a useless person(you).
Don't give yourself the inconvenience to quote me further as I won't reply. Ta ta.

(No harm intended)

Myabe we also need to get rid of people who love to boast and troll on threads about countries they have no clue, about issues they have no knowledge on, about idiots who cant tolerate anything different to their bigoted thinking while calling anything remotely different from them as stupid!

Well said

 

[xperia]

Off topic but the most interesting statement that i have read in our text books many times is that" chay sitambar ki raat k andhairay main achanak bharat nay pakistan per hamla ker dia laikin pakk fauj nay dushman ko mun tor jawab dia"
When i grew up i came to know k pak fauj nay to 1 sep say he dushman ko ungal dee hoe thee

 

[dray]

@Akheilos That link is very much opening:

Here is what 70% of student population in Pakistan study | AA@Counter Terrorism, Imperialism, Extremism and Bigotry

Btw, the Dawn link is also opening, you should check your net connection:

‘Pakistan schools teach Hindu hatred’ - Pakistan - DAWN.COM

If you don't like these links, then check this link:

Pakistani textbooks and the lies they teach

Or maybe you can check these discussions about Pakistani education system in Pakistani channels, start with the first one:

Also check the quotes below.

World Bank Data

Patent applications filed by Pakistanis in 2013: 151

India 10,669

Scientific and technical journal articles published in 2011 – Pakistan 1,268

India – 22,481

High technology exports: $0.349 billion

India - $16.693 billion

Books published in 2012 : 3,811

India (2013): 90,000



According to Baela Raza Jamil, General Zia's 1979 education policy stated that "[the] highest priority would be given to the revision of the curricula with a view to reorganizing the entire content around Islamic thought and giving education an ideological orientation so that Islamic ideology permeates the thinking of the younger generation and helps them with the necessary conviction and ability to refashion society according to Islamic tenets".

"Curriculum Reforms in Pakistan – A Glass Half Full or Half Empty?"

Writing for the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, A H Nayyar and Ahmed Salim state that since the 1970s Pakistani school textbooks have systematically inculcated hatred towards India and Hindus through historical revisionism. There is no mention of Islamic invasion and conversion of Hindus. Many texts give an impression that ancient Indian heritage was not destroyed by Afghans and Turks but Muslim heritage was destroyed by Indians, which contradicts the theory of mainstream historians.

The subtle Subversion: A report on Curricula and Textbooks in Pakistan

In a 1995 paper published in the International Journal of Middle East Studies, historian Ayesha Jalal stated that "Pakistan's history textbooks amongst the best available sources for assessing the nexus between power and bigotry in creative imaginings of a national past." She points out authors whose "expansive pan-Islamic imaginings" detect the beginnings of Pakistan in the birth of Islam on the Arabian peninsula. A Text Book of Pakistan Studies claims that Pakistan "came to be established for the first time when the Arabs under Mohammad bin Qasim occupied Sindh and Multan'; by the thirteenth century 'Pakistan had spread to include the whole of Northern India and Bengal' and then under the Khiljis, Pakistan moved further south-ward to include a greater part of Central India and the Deccan'. [...] The spirit of Pakistan asserted itself', and under Aurangzeb the 'Pakistan spirit gathered in strength'; his death 'weakened the Pakistan spirit'." Jalal points out that even an acclaimed scholar like Jameel Jalibi questions the validity of a national history that seeks to "claim Pakistan's pre-Islamic past" in an attempt to compete with India's historic antiquity. K. Ali's two volume history designed for BA students traces the pre-history of the 'Indo-Pakistan' subcontinent to the Paleolithic Age and consistently refers to the post-1947 frontiers of Pakistan while discussing the Dravidians and the Aryans.

"Conjuring Pakistan: History as Official Imagining" (PDF). International Journal of Middle East Studies

Indophobia, together with Anti-Hinduism and racist ideologies, such as the Martial Race theory, were the driving factors behind the re-writing of school textbooks in Pakistan (in both "secular" schools and Islamic madrassahs) in order to promote a biased and revisionist historiography of the Indian subcontinent that promulgated Indophobic and anti-Hindu prejudices. These narratives are combined with Islamist propaganda in the extensive revising of Pakistan's history. By propagating concepts such as jihad, the inferiority of non-Muslims, India’s perceived ingrained enmity with Pakistan, etc., the textbook board publications used by all government schools promote an obscurantist mindset.

Curriculum of hatred, Dawn, 2009-05-20

According to the historian Professor Mubarak Ali, textbook "reform" in Pakistan began with the introduction of Pakistan Studies and Islamic studies by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1971 into the national curriculum as a compulsory subject. Former military dictator Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, under a general drive towards Islamization, started the process of historical revisionism in earnest and exploited this initiative. 'The Pakistani establishment taught their children right from the beginning that this state was built on the basis of religion – that's why they don't have tolerance for other religions and want to wipe-out all of them.'

The threat of Pakistan's revisionist texts The Guardian, 2009-05-18

According to Pakistani physicist, Pervez Hoodbhoy, the Islamist revisionism of Pakistan's schools began in 1976 when an act of parliament required all government and private schools (except those teaching the British O-levels from Grade 9) to follow a curriculum that includes learning outcomes for the federally approved Grade 5 social studies class such as: 'Acknowledge and identify forces that may be working against Pakistan,' 'Make speeches on Jihad,' 'Collect pictures of policemen, soldiers, and national guards,' and 'India's evil designs against Pakistan.'

Pakistan: Do school texts fuel bias?, Christian Science Monitor, 2009-01-21

Likewise, Yvette Rosser criticizes Pakistani textbooks for propagating jingoist and irredentist beliefs about Pakistan's history and culture, and being negationist in its depiction of political Islam and the treatment of minorities in Pakistan, such as Hindus and Christians. Irredentism is manifested through claims of "eternal Pakistan" (despite the country being created from British India only in 1947), narrow and sectarian interpretation of Islam, downplaying the tolerant aspects of the religion and focusing on Islamic Fundamentalist interpretations (such as all banking being un-Islamic), and making accusations of dual loyalty on minority Hindus and Christians in Pakistan.

Rosser, Yvette (June 2005). "Cognitive Dissonance in Pakistan Studies Textbooks: Educational Practices of an Islamic State.". Journal of Islamic State Practices in International Law 1 (2): 4–15.

What input is given by the side that argues that lies teaching hatred and bigotry should be taught to students?

According to Pakistani professor Tariq Rahman, Pakistani textbooks cannot mention Hindus without calling them cunning, scheming, deceptive or something equally insulting. The textbooks ignore the pre-Islamic history of Pakistan except to put the Hindu predecessors in negative light.

Cohen, Stephen. The idea of Pakistan

Another Pakistani historian Khursheed Kamal Aziz similarly has criticized Pakistani history textbooks. He stated that textbooks were full of historical errors and suggested that mandatory study amounted to teaching "prescribed myths". After examining 66 textbooks used at various levels of study Aziz argued that the textbooks supported military rule in Pakistan, promoted hatred for Hindus, glorified wars and distorted the pre 1947 history of Pakistan.

Haqqani, Hussain. "Pakistan:between mosque and the military". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

A study by Iftikhar Ahmad of Long Island University in 2004 drew five conclusions from content analysis of the social studies textbooks in Pakistan:

1. First, the selection of material and their thematic sequence in the textbooks present Islam not simply as a belief system but a political ideology and a grand unifying worldview that must be accepted by all citizens.
2. Second, to sanctify Islamic ideology as an article of faith, the textbooks distort historical facts about the nation's cultural and political heritage.
3. Third, the textbooks offer a biased treatment of non-Muslim citizens in Pakistan.
4. Fourth, the main objective of the social studies textbooks on Pakistan studies, civics, and global studies, is to indoctrinate children for a romanticized Islamic state as conceptualized by Islamic theocrats.
5. Fifth, although the vocabulary in the textbooks underscores Islamic virtues, such as piety, obedience, and submission, little is mentioned about critical thinking, civic participation, or democratic values of freedom of speech, equality, and respect for cultural diversity.

Ahmad, Iftikhar. Current Issues in Comparative Education "Islam, Democracy and Citizenship Education: An Examination of the Social Studies Curriculum in Pakistan"

In the above-mentioned study by Nayyar & Salim of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute concluded that there is an increasing trend where children are taught Pakistan Studies as a replacement for the teaching of history and geography as full fledged disciplines. Previously, children were taught the very early pre-Islamic history of South Asia and its contribution to rich cultural diversity of modern-day Pakistan. This long historical perspective of Pakistan is absent these Pakistan Studies textbooks. Instead, children are now taught that the history of Pakistan starts from the day the first Muslim set foot in India. The study reported that the textbooks also had a lot of gender-biased stereotypes and other perspectives that "encourage prejudice, bigotry and discrimination towards fellow Pakistanis and other nations, especially against religious minorities, as well as the omission of concepts ... that could encourage critical self awareness among students”.

The subtle Subversion: A report on Curricula and Textbooks in Pakistan

Rubina Saigol, a US educated expert, said "I have been arguing for the longest time that, in fact, our state system is the biggest Madrassah, we keep blaming madrassahs for everything and, of course, they are doing a lot of things I would disagree with. But the state ideologies of hate and a violent, negative nationalism are getting out there where madrassahs cannot hope to reach."

Watson, Paul (18 August 2005). "In Pakistan's Public Schools, Jihad Still Part of Lesson Plan"

According to Raza Rumi: “Pakistani textbooks have preached falsehoods, hatred and bigotry. They have constructed most non-Muslims, especially Hindus, as evil and primordial enemies, glorified military dictatorships and omitted references to our great betrayal of the Bengali brothers and sisters who were the founders and owners of the Pakistan movement. It is time to correct these wrongs.”

Rumi, Raza (14 April 2011). "Our textbooks and the lies they teach". The Express Tribune



I think people who simply troll a thread and randomly mention unconnected drivel are the ones who should "get their heads checked".



You DO know that American Indians are not from India, right?

Don't deny the facts, you can however say that whatever you guys teach your children is according to the very creation and existence of your country, that's fine.

 

[Dubious]

Btw, the Dawn link is also opening, you should check your net connection

I am not talking about the Dawn link...

I was asking THIS report

Original Report at CRSS Pakistan

At least on my side it says NOT FOUND

 

[dray]

I am not talking about the Dawn link...

It's opening in this link: Here is what 70% of student population in Pakistan study | AA@Counter Terrorism, Imperialism, Extremism and Bigotry

Btw, do check the videos.

 

[Dubious]

Which one you are talking about?

Btw, do check the videos.

I quoted it 2x....The guy just quoted me out of context

2ndly, I dont watch talk shows....the most illiterate people are usually chosen to entertain others...Continue getting entertained!

And even on this forum REPEATEDLY we have seen our politicians / policy makers and what not all with either fake degree or a different agenda...I dont have the time to give such monkeys to dance....

I have opened repeated threads on the education SYSTEM from NUMEROUS sources not 1 -2 articles of people writing crap!

 

[dray]

2ndly, I dont watch talk shows....the most illiterate people are usually chosen to entertain others...Continue getting entertained!

Right, don't face the uncomfortable facts, that's convenient.

 

[indianBong]

I have opened repeated threads on the education SYSTEM from NUMEROUS sources not 1 -2 articles of people writing crap!

Would you care to give link of your thread please......

 

[Dubious]

don't face the uncomfortable facts,

For that to happen they have to be proven facts not a repeat of some article....

Would you care to give link of your thread please......

If I had participated in 1 it would have been easier to trace it....

BTW, why are indians crowding all over this place? Do you guys want to take your primary/ secondary or tertiary education in Pakistan?

 

[Sky lord]

Let the enemies, real or perceived, train their children as they wish, and let Pakistanis train their children as they wish. After all, it is up to each nation to train its next generations as they want, not as how others want, right?

So long as it doesn't harm others. when others are seen as "less than" it becomes an issue.