02-23-2007, 11:03 PM
http://thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=44026
Distorting history
The reservations expressed in the National Assembly by several members of the MMA against the inclusion of content related to South Asia's pre-Islamic history, particularly chapters related to Hinduism and Buddhism, is outrageous to say the least. The view taken by the MMA MPs that this is being done as part of some conspiracy to 'secularise' the country is untenable and itself conspiratorial. Of course, the implication by labelling all this as part of a so-called secular agenda is to equate it -- as the religious right does without fear of being corrected -- with 'la deeni'. This wilfully distorts the meaning of secular in the Pakistani context by equating it with godliness which it is not. In the peculiar Pakistani situation those who advocate secular views are not to be termed atheists or anti-religionists. In fact what they do propose or wish to see is a government/state that respects the rights of its citizens without regard to their religious beliefs and which treats them all equally before the law.
The problem with the religious right, particularly the views held by the MMA members of parliament, is not so much that what they believe in is retrogressive and deserves to be in the Dark Ages but rather that they insist on foisting their obscurantist and prejudiced worldview on everyone else. One must commend the government MPs who tried to reason with the MMA MPs on this issue by rightly trying to tell them that students need to be told of all the history of the region that they live in and that this should include pre-Islamic history as well. The speaker of the National Assembly is reported to have tried to reason with the MMA MPs too but inexplicably caved into their pressure and referred the matter to a parliamentary committee -- which means that the MMA will have an another opportunity to stoke it.
As for the government, one unequivocally applauds this move to expand the content of history that is taught to students in the country. Regrettably, for quite some time -- and taken to an extreme during General Zia's extremely debilitating years in power -- <span style='color:red'>the history that has been taught to students in the mainstream system of education has been one-sided, warped, biased and extremely selective. It glosses over the very rich period of the Indus civilisation and how it affected and shaped the region that Pakistanis live in today, makes little or no mention of the flowering of Buddhism in parts of what are today northern Pakistan and ignores the fact that Hindu kings also ruled over the region. After all, these civilisations are very much a part of our history, whether the MMA likes it or not. It is not Hindu history, as the MMA would have it, but Pakistani, and, in fact, world history. If Hinduism and Buddhism, or, for that matter, any other culture or religion, are a part of this history, then they, too, must be covered. </span>Moreover, one cannot understand why the MMA thinks that learning about the ancient history of Pakistan will take away from the history of Islam.
Students of history should be told all these facts and should not be fed selective knowledge. That is one reason why the mainstream system of education has more often than not produced graduates who do not know much about the history of their own region. Not only that, they tend not to be well-rounded individuals and have low tolerance levels for those who come from a religion or faith different from theirs. Besides, the way that history is taught normally -- and Pakistan Studies as well -- is that students are fed propaganda to hate India and Hindus in general and end up having a feeling of superiority that is based less on fact and more on the disinformation that is fed to them. <b>Of course, there is much that is wrong with India but there is much that is good and teaching only one side is not to teach history but spread disinformation and hate.</b> Besides, there is much wrong with Pakistani society as well so it's not a particularly good policy to teach students a history which tells them that their society and culture is the best in the world -- certainly better than that of the 'non-believers'. The government will hopefully disregard the hue and cry raised by the MMA and carry on with this meaningful curriculum reform. If done in a proper manner, then maybe our future generations will accord our ancient cultural heritage and sites like Moenjodaro and Harappa the respect that they deserve.
Distorting history
The reservations expressed in the National Assembly by several members of the MMA against the inclusion of content related to South Asia's pre-Islamic history, particularly chapters related to Hinduism and Buddhism, is outrageous to say the least. The view taken by the MMA MPs that this is being done as part of some conspiracy to 'secularise' the country is untenable and itself conspiratorial. Of course, the implication by labelling all this as part of a so-called secular agenda is to equate it -- as the religious right does without fear of being corrected -- with 'la deeni'. This wilfully distorts the meaning of secular in the Pakistani context by equating it with godliness which it is not. In the peculiar Pakistani situation those who advocate secular views are not to be termed atheists or anti-religionists. In fact what they do propose or wish to see is a government/state that respects the rights of its citizens without regard to their religious beliefs and which treats them all equally before the law.
The problem with the religious right, particularly the views held by the MMA members of parliament, is not so much that what they believe in is retrogressive and deserves to be in the Dark Ages but rather that they insist on foisting their obscurantist and prejudiced worldview on everyone else. One must commend the government MPs who tried to reason with the MMA MPs on this issue by rightly trying to tell them that students need to be told of all the history of the region that they live in and that this should include pre-Islamic history as well. The speaker of the National Assembly is reported to have tried to reason with the MMA MPs too but inexplicably caved into their pressure and referred the matter to a parliamentary committee -- which means that the MMA will have an another opportunity to stoke it.
As for the government, one unequivocally applauds this move to expand the content of history that is taught to students in the country. Regrettably, for quite some time -- and taken to an extreme during General Zia's extremely debilitating years in power -- <span style='color:red'>the history that has been taught to students in the mainstream system of education has been one-sided, warped, biased and extremely selective. It glosses over the very rich period of the Indus civilisation and how it affected and shaped the region that Pakistanis live in today, makes little or no mention of the flowering of Buddhism in parts of what are today northern Pakistan and ignores the fact that Hindu kings also ruled over the region. After all, these civilisations are very much a part of our history, whether the MMA likes it or not. It is not Hindu history, as the MMA would have it, but Pakistani, and, in fact, world history. If Hinduism and Buddhism, or, for that matter, any other culture or religion, are a part of this history, then they, too, must be covered. </span>Moreover, one cannot understand why the MMA thinks that learning about the ancient history of Pakistan will take away from the history of Islam.
Students of history should be told all these facts and should not be fed selective knowledge. That is one reason why the mainstream system of education has more often than not produced graduates who do not know much about the history of their own region. Not only that, they tend not to be well-rounded individuals and have low tolerance levels for those who come from a religion or faith different from theirs. Besides, the way that history is taught normally -- and Pakistan Studies as well -- is that students are fed propaganda to hate India and Hindus in general and end up having a feeling of superiority that is based less on fact and more on the disinformation that is fed to them. <b>Of course, there is much that is wrong with India but there is much that is good and teaching only one side is not to teach history but spread disinformation and hate.</b> Besides, there is much wrong with Pakistani society as well so it's not a particularly good policy to teach students a history which tells them that their society and culture is the best in the world -- certainly better than that of the 'non-believers'. The government will hopefully disregard the hue and cry raised by the MMA and carry on with this meaningful curriculum reform. If done in a proper manner, then maybe our future generations will accord our ancient cultural heritage and sites like Moenjodaro and Harappa the respect that they deserve.