US commission recommends further changes in Pak textbooks

ISLAMABAD: In the name of “curriculum development”, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in consultation with a local NGO has recommended further review of the Pakistani textbooks insisting that overemphasis on Islam as being the “only correct” faith must be eliminated from the school textbooks.

In its report “TEACHING INTOLERANCE IN PAKISTAN- Religious bias in Public School textbooks”, the USCIRF report also said that the foremost reoccurring trend in textbooks from all grade levels is an overemphasis on the glorification of war and war heroes.

“In particular, the conquest of Sindh by Muhammad bin Qasim and 17 famous attacks by Sultan Mehmood Ghaznavi are included proudly in every textbook. Highlighting these two events as the beginning of civilization in the sub-continent, while ignoring the evolution of art, architecture, and culture, remains a key problem in textbooks.,” the report said, adding, “In post-independence history, wars with India are emphasized and examples of peace initiatives are largely ignored, resulting in an unbalanced historical discourse focused on intractable conflict. This narrow nationalism only fulfills the task of educating Pakistanis in the most superficial way.”

For this report, issued by the USCIRF recently, Pakistan-based Peace and Education Foundation (PEF) has conducted a study and prepared recommendations.  The report showed that on these NGOs recommendations, already many changes have been made in the public school textbooks particularly in Punjab and KPK.

The USCIRF monitors religious freedom violations globally, and makes policy recommendations to the US president, the secretary of state, and Congress.  According to the report, in the social studies, Pakistan studies, and history curriculums students are taught a version of history that promotes a national Islamic identity of Pakistan and often describes conflicts with India in religious terms. 

The report objected on emphasis of Islamic faith in national curricula and said, “Emphasis on Islamic faith despite Pakistan’s religious diversity, throughout the curriculum, Islam is projected as the paramount feature of Pakistan and the Pakistani identity.” One of the examples quoted in the report said, “The Islamic religion, culture and social system are different from non-Muslims; therefore, it is impossible for them to cooperate with Hindus.” 

The report said that the findings of the latest study substantiated much of the evidence found in the 2011 study and analysis that textbooks typically emphasize the concepts of communalism and Islam. “Conflation of these concepts is an attempt to build a nation-state anchored in religion, which was pursued by the Bhutto, Zia, Nawaz Sharif, and Musharraf governments from 1971–2008.”

The reported recommended: 1. Constitutional guarantees provided to all Pakistanis of religious freedom should be reflected in textbooks’ contents. • Pakistan’s constitutional protections for religious freedom and tolerance, and its international obligations, should be taught to students; • Provincial Educational Ministers and their direct reports should be held responsible for adhering to constitutional guarantees provided to minority rights; • Absolutely no content should be taught to students that celebrates one religion at the expense of another religion; and • As guaranteed by the constitution of Pakistan non-Muslim students should not be required to learn from Islamic texts. 

2. Negative indoctrination must end and impartial content for better critical learning should be adopted. 3. The curriculum should inculcate a sense of constructive patriotism rather than a sense of fear. • More educationally accurate and nuanced approaches are needed towards Western countries and Christianity to avoid gross generalizations that lead students to conspiracy theories. 4. Overemphasis on Islam as being the “only correct” faith must be eliminated from the textbooks. • Peaceful coexistence and religious diversity in Pakistan should be acknowledged so that students learn to respect all faiths; • Proportionate examples of heroes from minority groups should be included in the textbooks; and • National heroes from all groups in the fields of science, literature, medicine, and sports should be included. 5. Historical omissions and misrepresentations of different events must be eliminated to avoid controversial historiography, and diverse viewpoints should be included.

According to the report, in 2010–2011, the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy (ICRD) conducted a review of Pakistan’s primary and secondary education systems to assess the level of prejudice and intolerance against religious minorities, particularly Hindus and Christians, in both the curriculum and attitudes of teachers and classmates.

These research findings, along with ICRD’s analysis and recommendations, were published by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in 2011 under the title: “Connecting the Dots: Education and Religious Discrimination in Pakistan.” On the basis of 2011-12 report a baseline of 25 examples of religious intolerance found in the 2011 textbooks.

According to the report most of these “examples of religious intolerance” had been removed from the current textbooks. A majority (16) have been removed, while three have remained more or less unchanged, and six had beenchanged or expanded in a way that retained the original objectionable material. 

The report added that the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Textbook Boards have been somewhat effective in removing objectionable content, while the Sindh and Baluchistan Textbook Boards have made little to no progress in removing the biases found in “Connecting the Dots”.

It added that the latest study’s review of 78 current textbooks exposed 70 new examples of religious intolerance and biases in 24 books, similar to the kind of materials found in the baseline assessment. Of the 70 new examples, 58 (84%) came from books published by the Baluchistan and Sindh authorities, while the remainder came from Punjab (7) and KPK (5). 

The success of Punjab and KPK provinces can be credited, in part, to the advocacy efforts of PEF at the provincial level from the time when the “Connecting the Dots” report was published in 2011. The PEF’s president met Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar, provided him with a copy of “Connecting the Dots”, and pointed out biased quotes against religious minorities in Punjab textbooks. The PEF also worked extensively with its influential partners in Punjab and KPK to raise awareness of biases against minorities in the education system and the potential danger of violence against religious minorities if the biases are not removed. Similarly, PEF made several visits to KPK and met Elementary & Secondary Education Ministry officials providing them a copy of “Connecting the Dots”, and requested that they remove biased quotes from the textbooks. 

In addition, the report added, the PEF president met the most senior adviser to Imran Khan, Chairman of Tehreek-e-Insaf, and briefed him on the possible violence against minorities if the provincial textbooks continue to include biased and intolerant passages about religious minorities.