PAKISTAN, April 17, 2016 (Pakistan Christian Post by Saadia Haq): If like me you were born and raised in Pakistan, probably you have attended a local school where we as children learnt at an early age the “conspiracy of the non-believers against Muslims.” You may say whatever in its defense, but our reality is troubling. Just think of a 7, or 8, or for that matter an 11-year-old kid being taught glorifying accounts of how conquerors like Muhammad bin Qasim and Mahmood Ghaznavi occupied the subcontinent to free the Muslims under threat from enslavement.
Most sociology books refer to Christians as “violent crusaders” and Hindus as “gangsters” and we are in no doubt that here in Pakistan, our textbooks preach falsehoods, hatred and bigotry. The construction of most non-Muslims is evil and bad. Just think for a moment that you are back in a public school where children of different faith are learning Pakistani history in particular “Ideology of Pakistan”. And your teacher reading the passage out loudly, “Who am I? I am a Muslim. I am a Pakistani. I love my country and I love my people.”
Within the country, the debate to revamp educational curricula is going on for more than two decades with slow progress. Last year, for the first time in our history, school books for middle and high school students made amendments to their curriculum by describing the positive role religious minorities including Christians, Hindus and Sikhs have had in nation building since 1947. Despite being a small change, it is hailed as a victory by most local human rights defenders and minority campaigners. The new history textbook contains a separate section of chapter VIII titled as “Population, Society and Culture of Pakistan.”