Hi
Most PDF members here from Pakistan know how it really was to grow up in Pakistan and studying all those school texts where Islam was the only religion which qualified as a religion and none other religion was even mentioned.If the other religion was mentioned ,you definitely read negative things about that religion.They were infidels,traitors or you have been kept completely ignorant about the realities and good things other religions have.I remember all my teachers not just the islamiat teacher talked bad about other religions specially the hindus openly in a class room.That,s the beautiful tolerant culture which prevails in our schools.My mindset only got changed when i went abroad .Now even after becoming adults most Pakistanis take them as second class citizens,traitors or in worst case scenario as inferior human beings.From the very start they were been told islam is the only religion which qualifies as "deen" and most of the time they were deliberately kept ignorant about the other religions and religious minorities in Pakistan or whenever they got a chance they tried to portray them as evil and harmful.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.Missing from these textbooks are any references to the rights of religious minorities and their positive contributions to Pakistan’s development. These textbooks sadly reflect the alarming state today of religious freedom in Pakistan. A country’s education system, including its textbooks, should promote religious tolerance, not close the door to cooperation and coexistence.
Unfortunately that,s the mindset most Pakistanis have towards other religions .We complain too much about religious extremism in our country but at the same we plant the seeds of extremism through our school texts.A youngster who in his school years read about other religions or at least was not poisoned by religious hate mongering is difficult to brainwash than the one who just saw and read islam as one and only religion and others as yahudi and nusrani.
Below are just my few thoughts that i think should be put in action to groom a new generation of tolerant Pakistanis.
- The textbooks should reflect that religious freedom is a constitutional protection provided to all Pakistanis;
- The curriculum should inculcate a sense of constructive patriotism, rather than a sense of fear;
- Peaceful coexistence and religious diversity in Pakistan should be acknowledged so that students learn to respect all faiths; and
- Historical omissions and misrepresentations of different events should be eliminated, and diverse viewpoints should be included. @Zibago @haviZsultan