Thursday, October 8, 2009
Minorities International Conference’ to be held in Pakistan in December 2009
ASSIST News Service (ANS)
http://www.assistnews.net
Sunday, October 4, 2009
‘Minorities International Conference’ to be held in Pakistan in December 2009
By Dan Wooding and Sheraz Khurram Khan
Special to ASSIST News Service
LAHORE, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- The International Minorities Alliance (IMA) is holding a two day “International Minorities Conference” from December 12-13. 2009, in the Pakistani eastern city of Lahore at Loyola Hall, 28 Waris Road, Lahore, ANS has learnt.
Delegates from USA, UK, Germany and Italy are expected attend the conference.
Mr. Nazir Qaisar, chairman of the IMA told ANS that the conference would cover “a range of minority-related issues.”
Themes will include “Pakistani Minorities and International Laws,” “Political situation of Pakistan and Minorities,” “Minorities in Overseas Pakistan,” and “Pakistani Minorities and Women in the clutches of discriminatory laws,” as well as “Pakistani Education and Minorities.”
Professor Anjum James Paul will present a paper on the theme of “Pakistani Education and Minorities.”
Mr. Qaisar said that he regretted that the events of the last 62 years in Pakistan with reference to religious minorities have been “very discouraging.”
He said: “Unfortunately the minorities have not been given full political and civil rights in Pakistan and there are a number of basic issues and fundamental concerns that still need to be addressed. Pakistani minorities have been reduced to the level of second rate citizens.”
Mr. Qaisar alleged that “selective criteria, social biases and prejudiced ideologies” had made the existence of the minority communities “miserable.”
He accentuated the need for a just, democratic, plural and tolerant society.
He said the IMA was going to host a two day conference “to discuss and deliberate the future of minorities in Pakistan.”
“We are expecting a whole galaxy, of political leaders ,social workers, human rights activists, prominent members of minorities and especially Christians leaders from around the world to attend the Lahore conference,” said the noted Christian poet.
ANS has learnt that Salman Taseer, governor of the Pakistani province of Punjab would inaugurate the two day conference, whereas Asma Jehangir, a prominent human rights activist and founding member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, would preside the conference on December 12.
Dr. Peter G. David, a delegate from London, will preside the second session of the conference on December 12 whereas Dr. Farooq Sattar, Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, would be chief guests.
Poets from across Pakistan would read their poems on the evening of December 13.
Editor’s note: Mr. Nazir Qaisar is recipient of Pakistan’s highest literary award “Adamji.” He has also received other awards including “National and Culture Award,” “Presidential Award” and “Masood Khadarposh Award” in recognition of his services for promoting the Punjabi language.
Mr. Qaisar has authored 14 books in Urdu and Punjabi languages. One of his books is part of curriculum in Indian universities of Chandigarh and Guru Nanak Dev Amrastar. Pakistan’s Allama Iqbal of the Open University has recently introduced optional thesis in M.Phil on Mr. Nazir Qaisar.
http://www.assistnews.net
Sunday, October 4, 2009
‘Minorities International Conference’ to be held in Pakistan in December 2009
By Dan Wooding and Sheraz Khurram Khan
Special to ASSIST News Service
LAHORE, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- The International Minorities Alliance (IMA) is holding a two day “International Minorities Conference” from December 12-13. 2009, in the Pakistani eastern city of Lahore at Loyola Hall, 28 Waris Road, Lahore, ANS has learnt.
Delegates from USA, UK, Germany and Italy are expected attend the conference.
Mr. Nazir Qaisar, chairman of the IMA told ANS that the conference would cover “a range of minority-related issues.”
Themes will include “Pakistani Minorities and International Laws,” “Political situation of Pakistan and Minorities,” “Minorities in Overseas Pakistan,” and “Pakistani Minorities and Women in the clutches of discriminatory laws,” as well as “Pakistani Education and Minorities.”
Professor Anjum James Paul will present a paper on the theme of “Pakistani Education and Minorities.”
Mr. Qaisar said that he regretted that the events of the last 62 years in Pakistan with reference to religious minorities have been “very discouraging.”
He said: “Unfortunately the minorities have not been given full political and civil rights in Pakistan and there are a number of basic issues and fundamental concerns that still need to be addressed. Pakistani minorities have been reduced to the level of second rate citizens.”
Mr. Qaisar alleged that “selective criteria, social biases and prejudiced ideologies” had made the existence of the minority communities “miserable.”
He accentuated the need for a just, democratic, plural and tolerant society.
He said the IMA was going to host a two day conference “to discuss and deliberate the future of minorities in Pakistan.”
“We are expecting a whole galaxy, of political leaders ,social workers, human rights activists, prominent members of minorities and especially Christians leaders from around the world to attend the Lahore conference,” said the noted Christian poet.
ANS has learnt that Salman Taseer, governor of the Pakistani province of Punjab would inaugurate the two day conference, whereas Asma Jehangir, a prominent human rights activist and founding member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, would preside the conference on December 12.
Dr. Peter G. David, a delegate from London, will preside the second session of the conference on December 12 whereas Dr. Farooq Sattar, Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, would be chief guests.
Poets from across Pakistan would read their poems on the evening of December 13.
Editor’s note: Mr. Nazir Qaisar is recipient of Pakistan’s highest literary award “Adamji.” He has also received other awards including “National and Culture Award,” “Presidential Award” and “Masood Khadarposh Award” in recognition of his services for promoting the Punjabi language.
Mr. Qaisar has authored 14 books in Urdu and Punjabi languages. One of his books is part of curriculum in Indian universities of Chandigarh and Guru Nanak Dev Amrastar. Pakistan’s Allama Iqbal of the Open University has recently introduced optional thesis in M.Phil on Mr. Nazir Qaisar.
Pakistan Punjab Chief Minister approves quota for minorities for all government jobs in the province
ASSIST News Service (ANS)
http://www.assistnews.net
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Pakistan Punjab Chief Minister approves quota for minorities for all government jobs in the province
By Dan Wooding and Sheraz Khurram Khan
Special to ASSIST News Service
LAHORE, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- Mian Shahbaz Sharif, the Chief Minister of the Pakistani province of Punjab, has approved a five percent employment quota for Pakistani minorities for all government jobs in the province, ANS has learnt from sources privy to this information.
Mr. Sharif approved the job quota for minorities due to the efforts of Mr. Kamran Michael, the Provincial Minister for Minorities and Human rights, said our sources.
It is believed that initially the Punjab government was considering allocating a two or three percent job quota to minorities but agreed to stipulate the five percent quota after minority members in the provincial assembly voiced their dissent to the proposal.
The approval of the five percent job quota for Punjabi non-Muslims (mainly Christians) comes months after the Federal government approved such a job quota for Christians in all jobs following the efforts of Pakistan Federal Minister for Minorities, Mr. Shahbaz Bhatti.
The Pakistan cabinet on Thursday (May 21, 2009) approved a five percent job quota in federal government services for Pakistani minorities (non Muslims).
“Pakistan is a federation. After the announcement of a fixed quota for minorities by Federal government it was mandatory for provincial governments to follow suit,” said Professor Anjum James Paul, a human rights activist and a lecturer in political science in Pakistan.
He maintained that “one would only think there was absence of consensus or a clash between federal government and provincial governments” on the issue if “the latter did not implement a job quota for minorities.”
Mr. Anjum said allocation of the quota was a constitutional requirement because the constitution of Pakistan ensures rights and protection of minorities.
ANS understands that Pakistani minorities often face problems in getting jobs commensurate with their qualifications. Christians also face difficulties in getting promotion to a level appropriate to their qualifications and experience, or in getting a job at all.
Anjum believed that the announcement of the five percent quota by the Punjab government would help mitigate the “sense of deprivation” among Pakistani Christians, the lowest of the low in Islamic republic of Pakistan.
Hailing this good news for the Christian minority of Pakistan, Anjum said it would “help heal the wounds they suffered during recent incidents of violence against them,” alluding to the recent killings of Christians in Gojra in August after violence broke out following accusations that Christians had committed blasphemy.
Mr. Anjum demanded that the government of Punjab “should ensure retrospective implementation of the quota in those departments where recruitment was made after the announcement of fixed quota by the federal government.”
He feared that the benefits of the approved job quota would not trickle down to the Christians if they were not employed on the basis of this quota in recently filled vacancies.
Asked to elaborate, Mr. Anjum said that the Punjab government might announce new vacancies after several years. He also demanded that instead of sending Christian beneficiaries of the quota to far-flung places they should be appointed on jobs close to their residences.
“This will avoid them painfully long commuting,” he said.
http://www.assistnews.net
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Pakistan Punjab Chief Minister approves quota for minorities for all government jobs in the province
By Dan Wooding and Sheraz Khurram Khan
Special to ASSIST News Service
LAHORE, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- Mian Shahbaz Sharif, the Chief Minister of the Pakistani province of Punjab, has approved a five percent employment quota for Pakistani minorities for all government jobs in the province, ANS has learnt from sources privy to this information.
Mr. Sharif approved the job quota for minorities due to the efforts of Mr. Kamran Michael, the Provincial Minister for Minorities and Human rights, said our sources.
It is believed that initially the Punjab government was considering allocating a two or three percent job quota to minorities but agreed to stipulate the five percent quota after minority members in the provincial assembly voiced their dissent to the proposal.
The approval of the five percent job quota for Punjabi non-Muslims (mainly Christians) comes months after the Federal government approved such a job quota for Christians in all jobs following the efforts of Pakistan Federal Minister for Minorities, Mr. Shahbaz Bhatti.
The Pakistan cabinet on Thursday (May 21, 2009) approved a five percent job quota in federal government services for Pakistani minorities (non Muslims).
“Pakistan is a federation. After the announcement of a fixed quota for minorities by Federal government it was mandatory for provincial governments to follow suit,” said Professor Anjum James Paul, a human rights activist and a lecturer in political science in Pakistan.
He maintained that “one would only think there was absence of consensus or a clash between federal government and provincial governments” on the issue if “the latter did not implement a job quota for minorities.”
Mr. Anjum said allocation of the quota was a constitutional requirement because the constitution of Pakistan ensures rights and protection of minorities.
ANS understands that Pakistani minorities often face problems in getting jobs commensurate with their qualifications. Christians also face difficulties in getting promotion to a level appropriate to their qualifications and experience, or in getting a job at all.
Anjum believed that the announcement of the five percent quota by the Punjab government would help mitigate the “sense of deprivation” among Pakistani Christians, the lowest of the low in Islamic republic of Pakistan.
Hailing this good news for the Christian minority of Pakistan, Anjum said it would “help heal the wounds they suffered during recent incidents of violence against them,” alluding to the recent killings of Christians in Gojra in August after violence broke out following accusations that Christians had committed blasphemy.
Mr. Anjum demanded that the government of Punjab “should ensure retrospective implementation of the quota in those departments where recruitment was made after the announcement of fixed quota by the federal government.”
He feared that the benefits of the approved job quota would not trickle down to the Christians if they were not employed on the basis of this quota in recently filled vacancies.
Asked to elaborate, Mr. Anjum said that the Punjab government might announce new vacancies after several years. He also demanded that instead of sending Christian beneficiaries of the quota to far-flung places they should be appointed on jobs close to their residences.
“This will avoid them painfully long commuting,” he said.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
"National education policy 2009 – a critique" Column by Mr. Naveed Ejaz in which he has expressed the concerns of PMTA
The Daily News
http://www.thenews.com.pk
Thursday, September 24, 2009
National education policy 2009 – a critique
By: Naveed Ejaz
The announcement of the National Education Policy, 2009, was supposed to be the starting point for a nationwide debate on much needed systemic educational reforms. Yet apart from the odd cursory analysis or two, it seems as if educationalists, academics, politicians and the media are largely uninterested in the contents of the document. The silence of this group is puzzling and criminal in itself, but the larger and more important question is how good the proposed NEP really is. And what better way to judge the national educators and policymakers that authored the document than by marking them out of ten.
Marks are assigned to the following critical areas as follows: correctly identifying the problems (two marks), proposing meaningful solutions (two marks), proper implementation strategies and assigning responsibilities (two marks) and independent feedback mechanisms for reporting on progress and quality of reforms (two marks). One mark is for general neatness, grammar and organisation of the report and one mark I reserve for myself — to give as I please — as the privilege of being the examiner.
The NEP puts the right foot forward by recognising the two major weaknesses in the current system 1) low access and quality of education and 2) dearth and misappropriation of funds. It then clearly identifies the class barriers that a tripartite (public, A/O level, madrasa) system creates and expresses the desire to move away from the status quo by reviving confidence in public-sector education. It accepts that it is the failure of the state to provide quality public education for all that has resulted in the mushrooming of private institutions and madrasas, which by-and-large are free from any sorts of checks and balances. It accepts that the national curriculum is in dire need of reform and understands the need for greater provincial autonomy when it comes to administration. It also understands that lack of proper training and pay-scales correlates directly to a reduction in the quality of education. One point where the report is notably silent is on the inclusion of minorities with respect to curriculum subjects. However, all in all, a comprehensive analysis and an excellent start, two marks out of two.
The most visible and perhaps the only solution worth celebrating provided in the report is decision to increase educational spending to 7 percent of the GDP by the year 2015. However, the fact that the same government reduced the educational funding allocation from 2.4 percent to 2.1 percent (actual amount spent was 1.7 percent) last year creates serious doubts over it’s commitment to prioritise educational spending. The noncommittal attitude of the current government with regards to its statements and policies also lend weight to the argument that the projected figures are merely for political posturing and are unrealistic at the very least.
While the previous section clearly identified the pitfalls of a tripartite educational system, the policies put forward do very little to rectify the situation. Partnerships between private and public institutions are proposed while madrasa reforms are hinted at. Details of any sort regarding how and when these objectives will be achieved are absent.
Additionally, the policy sets itself a few notable milestones—i.e., provision of free primary education by 2015, provision of free education up to metric by 2025, increase in adult literacy rates to 86 percent by 2015, increase in higher education enrolment from 4.7 percent to 10 percent in 2015 and 15 percent in 2020. What is most worrying about all these milestones is that they seemed to have been plucked out of thin air, with no data provided to show any projections that might have been carried out. In the absence of any such projections, these numbers seem to be more of a wish-list than the result of any careful planning and deliberation.
This wish-list attitude has been notably present in all previous educational policy documents that successive military and civilian governments have come up with. It’s also notable that all such policies spread themselves too thin over what they hope to achieve rather than certain key areas to focus on. The NEP is no different in this regard, and for that reason, the recommendations and milestones it proposes seem highly unrealistic and just for political gain. Hence, for the reasons of not providing any visionary leadership, failing to ground projections on reality and strong allegations of doublespeak, I am compelled to give the solutions section a poor 0.5 out of 2.
After the particularly disappointing solutions section, the implementation plan needs to be clear, concise and to the point. It does exactly that when it proudly states “The NEP thus outlines what is to be done. The NEP does not deal with who will do what, how will something be done and when is something done.” 0 marks out of 2.
To report on the nonexistent implementation framework, the NEP proposes the setting up of a national forum—i.e., the inter-provincial education ministers (IPEM). Under this framework, the IPEM will serve as both the judge and the executioner in that it is both responsible for creating an implementation roadmap as well as gathering data to see how well the implementation is being carried out. Those familiar with public policy and development work will know that policymaking and research bodies are kept separate and independent from each other so that their conclusions can be considered to be unbiased. On a brighter note this section talks of implementing both 1) greater provincial autonomy and 2) greater interaction between policy monitoring bodies such as the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the National Vocation and Technical Education Commission (NAVTEC), though again details regarding how these goals will be achieved are notably absent. Therefore for getting the very basics of policy monitoring wrong, this section gets graded 0.5 out of 2.
On the general neatness, grammar and organisation front, this report gets a 0.5 out of 1. Half-a-mark has been docked for it being very repetitive between sections and in places referring to itself as NEP 2008.
It’s clearly apparent that NEP 2009 is not the solution to the myriad of problems plaguing our educational system. The situation is extremely grim, given that work on the NEP was started as way back as 2005 and that it serves as an educational policy document for the next 10 years of our nation. Furthermore there is the highly contentious fourth chapter of Islamic education. Including such a section into the national policy document is clearly a political move. In doing so it risks further alienating the religious minorities which are already under significant pressures following recent attacks and events. The chairman of the Pakistan Minorities Teachers Association (PMTA) has already condemned the policy, calling it discriminatory towards non-Muslims. Educationalists also hold the opinion that this education policy, like all others before it, violates the article guaranteeing religious freedom in the Constitution when it makes Islamiyat a compulsory subject from grade 1 to 12.
It is clear from the scorecard that the NEP is merely an elaborate exercise in political posturing and offers very little in terms of meaningful reform. And while the responsibility for this lack of vision and determination falls largely on the shoulders of the current government, the silent members must also be taken to task; educators and policymakers for their inability to create a national debate on the subject, political parties for being uninterested in taking ownership in the educational arena, the media for showing more interest in the conspiracies of ex-generals than in education, so-called secular parties for not protesting over the Islamic education chapter and all of us for our general disinterest in the genuine problems that face our nation and the possible solutions that might help put us on the long road back.
As those that are keeping count will notice, I haven’t allocated my final mark yet. That’s because it hardly matters. At the current score of 3/9, even my deciding editorial vote is not enough to help NEP 2009 reach the minimum 50-percent massing mark.
The writer is a doctoral student at Imperial College, London. Email:ejaz.naveed@googlemail.com
http://www.thenews.com.pk
Thursday, September 24, 2009
National education policy 2009 – a critique
By: Naveed Ejaz
The announcement of the National Education Policy, 2009, was supposed to be the starting point for a nationwide debate on much needed systemic educational reforms. Yet apart from the odd cursory analysis or two, it seems as if educationalists, academics, politicians and the media are largely uninterested in the contents of the document. The silence of this group is puzzling and criminal in itself, but the larger and more important question is how good the proposed NEP really is. And what better way to judge the national educators and policymakers that authored the document than by marking them out of ten.
Marks are assigned to the following critical areas as follows: correctly identifying the problems (two marks), proposing meaningful solutions (two marks), proper implementation strategies and assigning responsibilities (two marks) and independent feedback mechanisms for reporting on progress and quality of reforms (two marks). One mark is for general neatness, grammar and organisation of the report and one mark I reserve for myself — to give as I please — as the privilege of being the examiner.
The NEP puts the right foot forward by recognising the two major weaknesses in the current system 1) low access and quality of education and 2) dearth and misappropriation of funds. It then clearly identifies the class barriers that a tripartite (public, A/O level, madrasa) system creates and expresses the desire to move away from the status quo by reviving confidence in public-sector education. It accepts that it is the failure of the state to provide quality public education for all that has resulted in the mushrooming of private institutions and madrasas, which by-and-large are free from any sorts of checks and balances. It accepts that the national curriculum is in dire need of reform and understands the need for greater provincial autonomy when it comes to administration. It also understands that lack of proper training and pay-scales correlates directly to a reduction in the quality of education. One point where the report is notably silent is on the inclusion of minorities with respect to curriculum subjects. However, all in all, a comprehensive analysis and an excellent start, two marks out of two.
The most visible and perhaps the only solution worth celebrating provided in the report is decision to increase educational spending to 7 percent of the GDP by the year 2015. However, the fact that the same government reduced the educational funding allocation from 2.4 percent to 2.1 percent (actual amount spent was 1.7 percent) last year creates serious doubts over it’s commitment to prioritise educational spending. The noncommittal attitude of the current government with regards to its statements and policies also lend weight to the argument that the projected figures are merely for political posturing and are unrealistic at the very least.
While the previous section clearly identified the pitfalls of a tripartite educational system, the policies put forward do very little to rectify the situation. Partnerships between private and public institutions are proposed while madrasa reforms are hinted at. Details of any sort regarding how and when these objectives will be achieved are absent.
Additionally, the policy sets itself a few notable milestones—i.e., provision of free primary education by 2015, provision of free education up to metric by 2025, increase in adult literacy rates to 86 percent by 2015, increase in higher education enrolment from 4.7 percent to 10 percent in 2015 and 15 percent in 2020. What is most worrying about all these milestones is that they seemed to have been plucked out of thin air, with no data provided to show any projections that might have been carried out. In the absence of any such projections, these numbers seem to be more of a wish-list than the result of any careful planning and deliberation.
This wish-list attitude has been notably present in all previous educational policy documents that successive military and civilian governments have come up with. It’s also notable that all such policies spread themselves too thin over what they hope to achieve rather than certain key areas to focus on. The NEP is no different in this regard, and for that reason, the recommendations and milestones it proposes seem highly unrealistic and just for political gain. Hence, for the reasons of not providing any visionary leadership, failing to ground projections on reality and strong allegations of doublespeak, I am compelled to give the solutions section a poor 0.5 out of 2.
After the particularly disappointing solutions section, the implementation plan needs to be clear, concise and to the point. It does exactly that when it proudly states “The NEP thus outlines what is to be done. The NEP does not deal with who will do what, how will something be done and when is something done.” 0 marks out of 2.
To report on the nonexistent implementation framework, the NEP proposes the setting up of a national forum—i.e., the inter-provincial education ministers (IPEM). Under this framework, the IPEM will serve as both the judge and the executioner in that it is both responsible for creating an implementation roadmap as well as gathering data to see how well the implementation is being carried out. Those familiar with public policy and development work will know that policymaking and research bodies are kept separate and independent from each other so that their conclusions can be considered to be unbiased. On a brighter note this section talks of implementing both 1) greater provincial autonomy and 2) greater interaction between policy monitoring bodies such as the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and the National Vocation and Technical Education Commission (NAVTEC), though again details regarding how these goals will be achieved are notably absent. Therefore for getting the very basics of policy monitoring wrong, this section gets graded 0.5 out of 2.
On the general neatness, grammar and organisation front, this report gets a 0.5 out of 1. Half-a-mark has been docked for it being very repetitive between sections and in places referring to itself as NEP 2008.
It’s clearly apparent that NEP 2009 is not the solution to the myriad of problems plaguing our educational system. The situation is extremely grim, given that work on the NEP was started as way back as 2005 and that it serves as an educational policy document for the next 10 years of our nation. Furthermore there is the highly contentious fourth chapter of Islamic education. Including such a section into the national policy document is clearly a political move. In doing so it risks further alienating the religious minorities which are already under significant pressures following recent attacks and events. The chairman of the Pakistan Minorities Teachers Association (PMTA) has already condemned the policy, calling it discriminatory towards non-Muslims. Educationalists also hold the opinion that this education policy, like all others before it, violates the article guaranteeing religious freedom in the Constitution when it makes Islamiyat a compulsory subject from grade 1 to 12.
It is clear from the scorecard that the NEP is merely an elaborate exercise in political posturing and offers very little in terms of meaningful reform. And while the responsibility for this lack of vision and determination falls largely on the shoulders of the current government, the silent members must also be taken to task; educators and policymakers for their inability to create a national debate on the subject, political parties for being uninterested in taking ownership in the educational arena, the media for showing more interest in the conspiracies of ex-generals than in education, so-called secular parties for not protesting over the Islamic education chapter and all of us for our general disinterest in the genuine problems that face our nation and the possible solutions that might help put us on the long road back.
As those that are keeping count will notice, I haven’t allocated my final mark yet. That’s because it hardly matters. At the current score of 3/9, even my deciding editorial vote is not enough to help NEP 2009 reach the minimum 50-percent massing mark.
The writer is a doctoral student at Imperial College, London. Email:ejaz.naveed@googlemail.com
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Research paper of Prof. Anjum James Paul published in PCP on"BIASED PAKISTANI TEXTBOOKS AND MINORITIES"
Pakistan Christian Post
www.pakistanchristianpost.com
September 16, 2009
Biased Pakistani Textbooks and Minorities
By: Professor Anjum Paul
Chairman, Pakistan Minorities Teachers’ Association
The Founder of Pakistan the Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in his presidential address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on August 11, 1947 said, “You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the State………Now I think we should keep that in front of us as our ideal and you will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State. “
King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia in his address to the participants of the Interfaith Conference organized by the United Nations Organization in New York on November 12, 2008 said,” We should step forward to make relations. Existence of all religions will have to admit because it is necessary for peace in the world. We should respect the religion of everyone. All religions give the lesson of peace.”
Mr. Asif Ali Zardari, President of Pakistan in his address to the participants of the Interfaith Conference on November 13, 2008 said, “To maintain global harmony, politics and policies based on hatred will have to be changed.”
The Quaid -i- Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah who was much concerned about the education of Pakistani nation. In his message to the first Educational Conference in November 1947 he said, “If we are to make real, speedy and substantial progress, we must bring our educational policy and programme on the lines suited to the genius of our people, consonant with our history and culture having regard to the modern conditions and vast developments that have taken place all over the world. The future of our state will and must accordingly depend upon the type of education we give to our children, and the way in which we bring them up as future citizens of Pakistan. We should try, by sound education, to instill into them up the high sense of honour, integrity, responsibility and selfless service to the nation. There is an immediate and urgent need for giving scientific and technical education to our people in order to build up our future economic life and to see that our people take the science, commerce, trade and particularly well planned industries. We should not forget that we have to compete with the world which is moving very fast in this direction.”
If we deeply evaluate the past 62 years of Pakistan, I am sorry to say that we have violated the above mentioned ideology of the founder of Pakistan. There cannot be change in the attitudes until there is formulation of education policy according to the national needs. Politics and education is still on the Ad hoc basis in Pakistan. Negative impacts of politics have affected education field as well. Our education field has failed to create national integrity and social harmony. Our education policies have produced extremists, warriors and suicide bombers instead of intellectuals and scientists. This is all the result of the biased education policies .Teachings on hatred, bias, sectarianism; religious intolerance and extremism have been placed in the textbooks. We can practically observe that the students become intolerant, extremists, prejudiced and biased against humanity in general after reading these textbooks.
There is promotion of a particular ideology and on the other hand bias against other faiths in the Pakistani textbooks. A full detail is in the White Paper prepared by Pakistan Minorities Teachers’ Association 2007. This is a document to debate religious bias, general standard of textbooks and education policies in Pakistan. There is research on 52 textbooks in the subjects of Civics, English, Ethics, Islamic Studies, Pakistan Studies, Social Studies and Urdu from class I-XII. Only in the subject of Urdu language from class I-XII, 235 chapters and poems out 409 consist of a particular ideology through various means in 12 textbooks. So the ratio of preaching a particular through is 57.45%.
There is a bird’s eye view of the dignity of Islam and Muslim while bias against the other religions than that of Islam under the following headings.
Preaching of Islam through textbooks
Dignity of Muslims
Bias against the other faiths in general
Bias against Christians
Bias against Jews
Bias against Hindus
Bias against Sikhs
Bias against Zoroasters
Bias against other civilizations
Misunderstanding of terms
Wrong information
PREACHING OF ISLAM THROUGH TEXTBOOKS
“Why did the old lady become a Muslim? Ref. English Step 6,Edition Ist ,Impression 10th ,Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 2, Line 14
“We, as Muslims should follow the noble example of the tolerance of our Holy Prophet (Peace be upon Him).” Ref. English 8,Date of printing January 2006, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 21, Line 9
“Which is the best book to read and teach?” Note: The answer of this question is the ‘Holy Quran.’ Ref. English 10, Edition Ist, Impression 7th, Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 4, Line 6.
“Write a letter to any of your non-Muslim friend, conveying the message of Islam.” Ref. Islamic Studies 7,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 21, Line 14
“You know that Islam is our religion.” Ref. Social Studies 4,Edition Ist , Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 108, Line 2
“Hindus in Sindh were converting to Islam by their own will to see the good behaviour of Muslims.” Ref. Social Studies 5, Edition 2nd, Impression 13th, Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 118, Line 17
“Students! Discuss the importance of Islam in the presence of teacher in the class.” Ref. Social Studies 6, Edition Ist ,Impression 9th,Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 82, Line 22
”Organize two teams in the class, each team asking questions about our dear Prophet (PBUH).”Ref. Urdu 2, Date of printing January 2005, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 4, Line 15
“Allah has addressed the Muslims, men of Allah! Be brothers among yourselves. We all Muslims are brothers of one another.” Ref. Urdu 2,Date of printing January 2005, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 32, Line 7
“Start your every morning reciting the Holy Quran and receive uncountable virtues.” Ref. Urdu 3,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 69, Line 11
“2. Write any of your favourite naat (poem written in praise of Prophet Muhammad) in your note book taken from any book or magazine.” Ref. Urdu 4,Edition 3rd ,Impression 21, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 22, Line 15
“As a Muslim it is an obligation of us all to act upon the life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).Try to adopt the morals of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Our worldly and hereafter success lies only in it.” Ref. Urdu 8,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 7, Line 6
“Write two paragraphs the way Muslims spread Islam.” Ref. Urdu 8,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 125, Line 14
“We the Muslims have been made the successor of the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).Now it is our responsibility to introduce the whole world about his sacred personality and kindness.” Ref. Urdu 8,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 215, Line 12
“We should not take any such step for which we shall have to be shameful before God and his messenger Muhammad (PBUH).” Ref. Urdu 10,Edition 2nd ,Impression 3rd,Code No XLV/AD Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 10, Line 8
DIGNITY OF MUSLIMS
“Before the advent of Islam not to punish the dishonest and powerful but to punish fragile was common but after the advent of Islam justice was glorified.” Ref. Pakistan Studies 9,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th, Code XLIV/AD, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 13, Line 4
“How did the Muslim women show their bravery when they were prisoners of war by the Christians?” Ref. Urdu 5,Edition Experimental ,Impression Ist, Code No XLV/AL, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 70, Line 14
Once a battle was on its peak. Christians and Muslims were busy in showing their bravery. An arrow hit the mare of the Christian commander and that died.” Ref. Urdu 6,Edition 2nd ,Impression 3rd, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 34, Line 19
“Sultan got back mosques from the occupation of the Christians and gave to Muslims.” Ref. Urdu 6,Edition 2nd,Impression 3rd,Date of printing, February 2005, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 35, Line 19
“He was a great conqueror of Crusades. He conquered Jerusalem.” Ref. Urdu 6,Edition 2nd ,Impression 3rd, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 36, Line 3
BIAS AGAINST THE OTHER FAITHS IN GENERAL
“Followers of other religions are often busy in garrulous manners on their festivals. They do not express their relation or devotion with Allah. On the contrary, on one hand these two festivals of Islam provide an opportunity of entertainment and joy to Muslims and on the other hand they become a source to meet one another and to help the needy. Besides this they are a source to have a strong contact and relationship with Allah. That is why Muslims specially arrange for prayer on the day of festival.” Ref. Islamic Studies 5,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 18, Line 4
“How do the followers of common religions celebrate their festivals?” Ref. Islamic Studies 5,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 20, Line 3
“Allah sent Prophets for the followers of the previous religions. And there was revelation of His Books on many of them. But the teachings of those Prophets and the Books revealed on them are not safe in original form.” Ref. Islamic Studies 10,Edition 2nd ,Impression 14th,Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 96, Line 12
“Some previous Books of revelation consist of such discourses which are not only against reality but in many Books there are very much indecent and immoral discourses. (It is evident that these are fake discourses which have been added by someone himself).” Ref. Islamic Studies 11,Edition 2nd ,Impression 16th,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 29, Line 18
“Before the advent of Islam not to punish the dishonest and powerful but to punish the fragile was common but after the advent of Islam justice was glorified.” Ref. Pakistan Studies 9,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th, Code XLIV/AD, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 13, Line 4
“Various non-Muslim nations in the world have been against Muslims and have often been cooperating to harm Muslims.” Ref. Social Studies 8,Date of printing ,January 2006 ,Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 126, Line 12
“And now, no other religion is popular in the eyes of Allah. Whole humanity is destitute to follow the path of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the teachings of the Holy Quran for the welfare of religious and worldly affairs.” Ref. Urdu 4,Edition 3rd ,Impression 21st,Date of printing January 2005, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 60, Line 15
“Every person must abstain drugs but especially the Muslims.” Ref. Urdu 8,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 128, Line 18
BIAS AGAINST CHRISTIANS
“They (Muslims) were forced to become Christians.” Ref. Civics 12,Edition 2005 ,Impression 12, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 1, Line 19
“Christian preachers openly attacked their (Muslims) religion. Priests entered their religious conventions and started preaching Christianity”. Ref. Civics 12,Edition 2005 ,Impression 12, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 2, Line 1
“So to stop the attacks of the Christian missionaries. Sir Syed saved many children becoming Christians by establishing orphan houses. Sir Syed had seen that time when orphans had been sent to Christian institutions at the time of famine in 1837.” Ref. Civics 12,Edition 2005 ,Impression 12, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 12, Line 17
“Ummad-ud-Din was martyred by the conspiracy of Christians.” Ref. Social Studies 7, Edition Ist, Impression 34, Code No. XLV/AL, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 17, Line 6
“On the contrary when 90 years ago Prince Gaudphrey conquered Jerusalem, there was so much execution that the horses of the victorious army slipped from the blood of the Muslims.” Ref. Urdu 6,Edition 2nd ,Impression 3rd, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 35, Line 12
“Christians changed the shape of Al Aqsa and other mosques after occupation. Christians have always harmed the Muslims. They even executed them.” Ref. Urdu 6,Edition 2nd,Impression 3rd,Date of printing, February 2005, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 35, Line 19
“Friends, highness is not of colour or race. In the Middle Ages. London and Paris were unknown places. There was filth. People who took bath were lashed by the order of the priests that they have become Muslims and have started taking bath on every Friday.” Ref. Urdu 8, Edition Ist. Impression 23rd, Code No. XLIV/AL, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 181, Line 18 BIAS BIAS AGAINST JEWS
“In a battle Hazrat Ali sat on the chest of a Jew after falling him on the ground. He wanted to behead him off. Jew spat on his face. He at once released the Jew. The Jew asked the reason of his deliverance surprisingly. He said that a Muslim fights for Allah but not for personal revenge. By spitting on my face you tried to create personal revenge in my heart. That is why I released you. Hearing this Jew became a Muslim” Ref. My Book Urdu 3, Edition Ist, Impression 4th, Code No. XLV/AL, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 71, Line 9
“In 1949 Jews tried to set on fire the Al Aqsa mosque in the occupied Bait-ul- maqdas (Jerusalem).” Ref. Urdu 6,Edition 2nd,Impression 3rd,Date of printing, February 2005, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 109, Line 15
BIAS AGAINST HINDUS
“Many good girls are deprived of getting married. We have adopted this un- Islamic ritual from Hindus.” Fundamental Civics (For non-Muslim students) Intermediate level, First Impression December 1984, Publisher: Amin Book Depot, Urdu Bazaar, Lahore Page 38, Line 1
“Pakistan came into existence on the very same day when the first Hindu was converted to Islam.” Ref. Pakistan Studies 9-10,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th,Code No XLIV/AD, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 7, Line 10
“Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi belonged to the Deoband sect. According to him Hindus were the worst enemies of Muslims.” Ref. Pakistan Studies 9-10,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th,Code No XLIV/AD, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 19, Line 8
“According to him (Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi) Hindus can never be sympathetic and well wishers of Muslims whether there may be the Day of Judgment. They are more enemies of Muslims and Islam than that of English.” Ref. Urdu 8,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 152, Line 19
“He knew that the Hindus try to merry ‘Kali Mata’ (Black Mother) flowing the blood of innocent people of other religions. They consider all untouchables except themselves.” Ref. Urdu 8,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 221, Line 13
BIAS AGAINST SIKHS
“Sikhs empowered in Punjab and destroyed the peace of Punjab.” Ref. Pakistan Studies 9,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th, Code XLIV/AD, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 10, Line 8
“Sikhs flourished their influence on weakening the government of Punjab and started looting the big cities of Punjab………At last Sikh ruler Ranjeet Singh established his government in Punjab. Sikhs were cruel with Hindus and Muslims. Sikhs destroyed the worship places, various tombs and particularly the educational institutions of Muslims.” Ref. Social Studies 4,Edition Ist ,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 82, Line 11
“Sikhs and the rulers of the Sikh states of Punjab helped British through weapons, army and money.” Ref. Social Studies 4,Edition Ist ,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 83, Line 11
“Ranjeet Singh’s regime was a cruel one for the Muslims and Hindus, Describe in detail.” Ref. Social Studies 4,Edition Ist ,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 87, Line 9
“In this regard for the achievement of religious freedom in 1826 he started the movement of religious jihad against Sikhs.” Ref. Urdu 12,Edition 5th ,Impression Ist, Date of printing ,August 2006,Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 8, Line 14
BIAS AGAINST ZOARSHTERS
“This was the day……..when temples of the worshippers were extinguished.” Ref. Urdu 8, Edition Ist, Impression 23rd, Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 213, Line 12
BIAS AGAINST OTHER CIVILIZATIONS
“English people sent the precious books of Islamic religious institutions to England. English people destroyed the religious institutions of Muslims. They did not want flourishing of Islam.” Ref. Social Studies 6,Edition Ist ,Impression 9th,Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 75, Line 11
“Being fed of religion, Western mind has excluded religion from its system many centuries ago.” Ref. Urdu 9, Edition Ist ,Impression 7th,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 50, Line 13
“After that, attacked on another British and slaughtered him too.” Ref. Urdu 9, Edition Ist ,Impression 7th,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 73, Line 15
“Westerners are expert in spoiling the names of Muslims. They remember Abu- Al -Qasim Zahravi by the names of Abulcasis, Albucasis and Alzaharawius.” Ref. Urdu 11,Experimental Edition Ist ,Impression 5th,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 24, Line 17
MISUNDERSTANDING OF TERMS
“Negation of Theocracy. There is no place of theocracy in an Islamic state.” Ref. Civics 11,.Edition Ist ,Impression Ist, Date of impression January 2006, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 69, Line 17 Note: Where there religion is declared a state religion is called a theocratic state. Most of the Muslim states have declared Islam as the state religion
WRONG INFORMATION
“In Hebrew Jacob’s name is Israel that stands for Man of Allah.” Ref. Ethics 11-12, Edition Ist, Month & Year of Publishing July 1999, Publisher: Sindh Textbook Board, Jam Shoroo, Page 54, Line 1 Note: The meaning of Israel is ‘Selected Prince.’
“Hindus laid the foundation of Congress.” Ref. Social Studies 6, Edition Ist, Impression 9th, Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 94, Line 18
Note Mr. A. O. Hume laid the foundation of Indian National Congress in 1885 who was a British.
“In the beginning the Quaid- i- Azam joined the Congress Party. Muslim political party Muslim League had not yet established.” Ref. Social Studies 7, Edition Ist, Impression 34, Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 29, Line 1
Note: Muslim League was established in 1906 while Quaid- i- Azam joined it after 7 years in 1913.
Pakistan Minorities Teachers’ Association (PMTA) flays the biased Education Policy 2009 approved on September 09, 2009 as chapter will on “Islamic teachings” supports the bias against the other religions which will definitely promote hatred, bias, discrimination and persecution against the minorities as this policy is not based on human values. Incidents like Shanti Nagar, Sangla Hill, Bagminiwala, Korian, Gojra and Jeteke will take place where innocent people of minorities will be beaten up, forced to convert, burnt and their houses will be looted and burnt to ashes with powerful explosive chemicals. In the end faith of the minorities is hurt by desecration and burning their Holy Books and places of worships especially churches.
www.pakistanchristianpost.com
September 16, 2009
Biased Pakistani Textbooks and Minorities
By: Professor Anjum Paul
Chairman, Pakistan Minorities Teachers’ Association
The Founder of Pakistan the Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in his presidential address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on August 11, 1947 said, “You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the State………Now I think we should keep that in front of us as our ideal and you will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State. “
King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia in his address to the participants of the Interfaith Conference organized by the United Nations Organization in New York on November 12, 2008 said,” We should step forward to make relations. Existence of all religions will have to admit because it is necessary for peace in the world. We should respect the religion of everyone. All religions give the lesson of peace.”
Mr. Asif Ali Zardari, President of Pakistan in his address to the participants of the Interfaith Conference on November 13, 2008 said, “To maintain global harmony, politics and policies based on hatred will have to be changed.”
The Quaid -i- Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah who was much concerned about the education of Pakistani nation. In his message to the first Educational Conference in November 1947 he said, “If we are to make real, speedy and substantial progress, we must bring our educational policy and programme on the lines suited to the genius of our people, consonant with our history and culture having regard to the modern conditions and vast developments that have taken place all over the world. The future of our state will and must accordingly depend upon the type of education we give to our children, and the way in which we bring them up as future citizens of Pakistan. We should try, by sound education, to instill into them up the high sense of honour, integrity, responsibility and selfless service to the nation. There is an immediate and urgent need for giving scientific and technical education to our people in order to build up our future economic life and to see that our people take the science, commerce, trade and particularly well planned industries. We should not forget that we have to compete with the world which is moving very fast in this direction.”
If we deeply evaluate the past 62 years of Pakistan, I am sorry to say that we have violated the above mentioned ideology of the founder of Pakistan. There cannot be change in the attitudes until there is formulation of education policy according to the national needs. Politics and education is still on the Ad hoc basis in Pakistan. Negative impacts of politics have affected education field as well. Our education field has failed to create national integrity and social harmony. Our education policies have produced extremists, warriors and suicide bombers instead of intellectuals and scientists. This is all the result of the biased education policies .Teachings on hatred, bias, sectarianism; religious intolerance and extremism have been placed in the textbooks. We can practically observe that the students become intolerant, extremists, prejudiced and biased against humanity in general after reading these textbooks.
There is promotion of a particular ideology and on the other hand bias against other faiths in the Pakistani textbooks. A full detail is in the White Paper prepared by Pakistan Minorities Teachers’ Association 2007. This is a document to debate religious bias, general standard of textbooks and education policies in Pakistan. There is research on 52 textbooks in the subjects of Civics, English, Ethics, Islamic Studies, Pakistan Studies, Social Studies and Urdu from class I-XII. Only in the subject of Urdu language from class I-XII, 235 chapters and poems out 409 consist of a particular ideology through various means in 12 textbooks. So the ratio of preaching a particular through is 57.45%.
There is a bird’s eye view of the dignity of Islam and Muslim while bias against the other religions than that of Islam under the following headings.
Preaching of Islam through textbooks
Dignity of Muslims
Bias against the other faiths in general
Bias against Christians
Bias against Jews
Bias against Hindus
Bias against Sikhs
Bias against Zoroasters
Bias against other civilizations
Misunderstanding of terms
Wrong information
PREACHING OF ISLAM THROUGH TEXTBOOKS
“Why did the old lady become a Muslim? Ref. English Step 6,Edition Ist ,Impression 10th ,Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 2, Line 14
“We, as Muslims should follow the noble example of the tolerance of our Holy Prophet (Peace be upon Him).” Ref. English 8,Date of printing January 2006, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 21, Line 9
“Which is the best book to read and teach?” Note: The answer of this question is the ‘Holy Quran.’ Ref. English 10, Edition Ist, Impression 7th, Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 4, Line 6.
“Write a letter to any of your non-Muslim friend, conveying the message of Islam.” Ref. Islamic Studies 7,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 21, Line 14
“You know that Islam is our religion.” Ref. Social Studies 4,Edition Ist , Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 108, Line 2
“Hindus in Sindh were converting to Islam by their own will to see the good behaviour of Muslims.” Ref. Social Studies 5, Edition 2nd, Impression 13th, Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 118, Line 17
“Students! Discuss the importance of Islam in the presence of teacher in the class.” Ref. Social Studies 6, Edition Ist ,Impression 9th,Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 82, Line 22
”Organize two teams in the class, each team asking questions about our dear Prophet (PBUH).”Ref. Urdu 2, Date of printing January 2005, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 4, Line 15
“Allah has addressed the Muslims, men of Allah! Be brothers among yourselves. We all Muslims are brothers of one another.” Ref. Urdu 2,Date of printing January 2005, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 32, Line 7
“Start your every morning reciting the Holy Quran and receive uncountable virtues.” Ref. Urdu 3,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 69, Line 11
“2. Write any of your favourite naat (poem written in praise of Prophet Muhammad) in your note book taken from any book or magazine.” Ref. Urdu 4,Edition 3rd ,Impression 21, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 22, Line 15
“As a Muslim it is an obligation of us all to act upon the life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).Try to adopt the morals of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Our worldly and hereafter success lies only in it.” Ref. Urdu 8,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 7, Line 6
“Write two paragraphs the way Muslims spread Islam.” Ref. Urdu 8,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 125, Line 14
“We the Muslims have been made the successor of the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).Now it is our responsibility to introduce the whole world about his sacred personality and kindness.” Ref. Urdu 8,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 215, Line 12
“We should not take any such step for which we shall have to be shameful before God and his messenger Muhammad (PBUH).” Ref. Urdu 10,Edition 2nd ,Impression 3rd,Code No XLV/AD Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 10, Line 8
DIGNITY OF MUSLIMS
“Before the advent of Islam not to punish the dishonest and powerful but to punish fragile was common but after the advent of Islam justice was glorified.” Ref. Pakistan Studies 9,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th, Code XLIV/AD, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 13, Line 4
“How did the Muslim women show their bravery when they were prisoners of war by the Christians?” Ref. Urdu 5,Edition Experimental ,Impression Ist, Code No XLV/AL, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 70, Line 14
Once a battle was on its peak. Christians and Muslims were busy in showing their bravery. An arrow hit the mare of the Christian commander and that died.” Ref. Urdu 6,Edition 2nd ,Impression 3rd, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 34, Line 19
“Sultan got back mosques from the occupation of the Christians and gave to Muslims.” Ref. Urdu 6,Edition 2nd,Impression 3rd,Date of printing, February 2005, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 35, Line 19
“He was a great conqueror of Crusades. He conquered Jerusalem.” Ref. Urdu 6,Edition 2nd ,Impression 3rd, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 36, Line 3
BIAS AGAINST THE OTHER FAITHS IN GENERAL
“Followers of other religions are often busy in garrulous manners on their festivals. They do not express their relation or devotion with Allah. On the contrary, on one hand these two festivals of Islam provide an opportunity of entertainment and joy to Muslims and on the other hand they become a source to meet one another and to help the needy. Besides this they are a source to have a strong contact and relationship with Allah. That is why Muslims specially arrange for prayer on the day of festival.” Ref. Islamic Studies 5,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 18, Line 4
“How do the followers of common religions celebrate their festivals?” Ref. Islamic Studies 5,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 20, Line 3
“Allah sent Prophets for the followers of the previous religions. And there was revelation of His Books on many of them. But the teachings of those Prophets and the Books revealed on them are not safe in original form.” Ref. Islamic Studies 10,Edition 2nd ,Impression 14th,Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 96, Line 12
“Some previous Books of revelation consist of such discourses which are not only against reality but in many Books there are very much indecent and immoral discourses. (It is evident that these are fake discourses which have been added by someone himself).” Ref. Islamic Studies 11,Edition 2nd ,Impression 16th,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 29, Line 18
“Before the advent of Islam not to punish the dishonest and powerful but to punish the fragile was common but after the advent of Islam justice was glorified.” Ref. Pakistan Studies 9,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th, Code XLIV/AD, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 13, Line 4
“Various non-Muslim nations in the world have been against Muslims and have often been cooperating to harm Muslims.” Ref. Social Studies 8,Date of printing ,January 2006 ,Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 126, Line 12
“And now, no other religion is popular in the eyes of Allah. Whole humanity is destitute to follow the path of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the teachings of the Holy Quran for the welfare of religious and worldly affairs.” Ref. Urdu 4,Edition 3rd ,Impression 21st,Date of printing January 2005, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 60, Line 15
“Every person must abstain drugs but especially the Muslims.” Ref. Urdu 8,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 128, Line 18
BIAS AGAINST CHRISTIANS
“They (Muslims) were forced to become Christians.” Ref. Civics 12,Edition 2005 ,Impression 12, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 1, Line 19
“Christian preachers openly attacked their (Muslims) religion. Priests entered their religious conventions and started preaching Christianity”. Ref. Civics 12,Edition 2005 ,Impression 12, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 2, Line 1
“So to stop the attacks of the Christian missionaries. Sir Syed saved many children becoming Christians by establishing orphan houses. Sir Syed had seen that time when orphans had been sent to Christian institutions at the time of famine in 1837.” Ref. Civics 12,Edition 2005 ,Impression 12, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 12, Line 17
“Ummad-ud-Din was martyred by the conspiracy of Christians.” Ref. Social Studies 7, Edition Ist, Impression 34, Code No. XLV/AL, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 17, Line 6
“On the contrary when 90 years ago Prince Gaudphrey conquered Jerusalem, there was so much execution that the horses of the victorious army slipped from the blood of the Muslims.” Ref. Urdu 6,Edition 2nd ,Impression 3rd, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 35, Line 12
“Christians changed the shape of Al Aqsa and other mosques after occupation. Christians have always harmed the Muslims. They even executed them.” Ref. Urdu 6,Edition 2nd,Impression 3rd,Date of printing, February 2005, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 35, Line 19
“Friends, highness is not of colour or race. In the Middle Ages. London and Paris were unknown places. There was filth. People who took bath were lashed by the order of the priests that they have become Muslims and have started taking bath on every Friday.” Ref. Urdu 8, Edition Ist. Impression 23rd, Code No. XLIV/AL, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 181, Line 18 BIAS BIAS AGAINST JEWS
“In a battle Hazrat Ali sat on the chest of a Jew after falling him on the ground. He wanted to behead him off. Jew spat on his face. He at once released the Jew. The Jew asked the reason of his deliverance surprisingly. He said that a Muslim fights for Allah but not for personal revenge. By spitting on my face you tried to create personal revenge in my heart. That is why I released you. Hearing this Jew became a Muslim” Ref. My Book Urdu 3, Edition Ist, Impression 4th, Code No. XLV/AL, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 71, Line 9
“In 1949 Jews tried to set on fire the Al Aqsa mosque in the occupied Bait-ul- maqdas (Jerusalem).” Ref. Urdu 6,Edition 2nd,Impression 3rd,Date of printing, February 2005, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 109, Line 15
BIAS AGAINST HINDUS
“Many good girls are deprived of getting married. We have adopted this un- Islamic ritual from Hindus.” Fundamental Civics (For non-Muslim students) Intermediate level, First Impression December 1984, Publisher: Amin Book Depot, Urdu Bazaar, Lahore Page 38, Line 1
“Pakistan came into existence on the very same day when the first Hindu was converted to Islam.” Ref. Pakistan Studies 9-10,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th,Code No XLIV/AD, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 7, Line 10
“Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi belonged to the Deoband sect. According to him Hindus were the worst enemies of Muslims.” Ref. Pakistan Studies 9-10,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th,Code No XLIV/AD, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 19, Line 8
“According to him (Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi) Hindus can never be sympathetic and well wishers of Muslims whether there may be the Day of Judgment. They are more enemies of Muslims and Islam than that of English.” Ref. Urdu 8,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 152, Line 19
“He knew that the Hindus try to merry ‘Kali Mata’ (Black Mother) flowing the blood of innocent people of other religions. They consider all untouchables except themselves.” Ref. Urdu 8,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 221, Line 13
BIAS AGAINST SIKHS
“Sikhs empowered in Punjab and destroyed the peace of Punjab.” Ref. Pakistan Studies 9,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th, Code XLIV/AD, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 10, Line 8
“Sikhs flourished their influence on weakening the government of Punjab and started looting the big cities of Punjab………At last Sikh ruler Ranjeet Singh established his government in Punjab. Sikhs were cruel with Hindus and Muslims. Sikhs destroyed the worship places, various tombs and particularly the educational institutions of Muslims.” Ref. Social Studies 4,Edition Ist ,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 82, Line 11
“Sikhs and the rulers of the Sikh states of Punjab helped British through weapons, army and money.” Ref. Social Studies 4,Edition Ist ,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 83, Line 11
“Ranjeet Singh’s regime was a cruel one for the Muslims and Hindus, Describe in detail.” Ref. Social Studies 4,Edition Ist ,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 87, Line 9
“In this regard for the achievement of religious freedom in 1826 he started the movement of religious jihad against Sikhs.” Ref. Urdu 12,Edition 5th ,Impression Ist, Date of printing ,August 2006,Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 8, Line 14
BIAS AGAINST ZOARSHTERS
“This was the day……..when temples of the worshippers were extinguished.” Ref. Urdu 8, Edition Ist, Impression 23rd, Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 213, Line 12
BIAS AGAINST OTHER CIVILIZATIONS
“English people sent the precious books of Islamic religious institutions to England. English people destroyed the religious institutions of Muslims. They did not want flourishing of Islam.” Ref. Social Studies 6,Edition Ist ,Impression 9th,Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 75, Line 11
“Being fed of religion, Western mind has excluded religion from its system many centuries ago.” Ref. Urdu 9, Edition Ist ,Impression 7th,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 50, Line 13
“After that, attacked on another British and slaughtered him too.” Ref. Urdu 9, Edition Ist ,Impression 7th,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 73, Line 15
“Westerners are expert in spoiling the names of Muslims. They remember Abu- Al -Qasim Zahravi by the names of Abulcasis, Albucasis and Alzaharawius.” Ref. Urdu 11,Experimental Edition Ist ,Impression 5th,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 24, Line 17
MISUNDERSTANDING OF TERMS
“Negation of Theocracy. There is no place of theocracy in an Islamic state.” Ref. Civics 11,.Edition Ist ,Impression Ist, Date of impression January 2006, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 69, Line 17 Note: Where there religion is declared a state religion is called a theocratic state. Most of the Muslim states have declared Islam as the state religion
WRONG INFORMATION
“In Hebrew Jacob’s name is Israel that stands for Man of Allah.” Ref. Ethics 11-12, Edition Ist, Month & Year of Publishing July 1999, Publisher: Sindh Textbook Board, Jam Shoroo, Page 54, Line 1 Note: The meaning of Israel is ‘Selected Prince.’
“Hindus laid the foundation of Congress.” Ref. Social Studies 6, Edition Ist, Impression 9th, Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 94, Line 18
Note Mr. A. O. Hume laid the foundation of Indian National Congress in 1885 who was a British.
“In the beginning the Quaid- i- Azam joined the Congress Party. Muslim political party Muslim League had not yet established.” Ref. Social Studies 7, Edition Ist, Impression 34, Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 29, Line 1
Note: Muslim League was established in 1906 while Quaid- i- Azam joined it after 7 years in 1913.
Pakistan Minorities Teachers’ Association (PMTA) flays the biased Education Policy 2009 approved on September 09, 2009 as chapter will on “Islamic teachings” supports the bias against the other religions which will definitely promote hatred, bias, discrimination and persecution against the minorities as this policy is not based on human values. Incidents like Shanti Nagar, Sangla Hill, Bagminiwala, Korian, Gojra and Jeteke will take place where innocent people of minorities will be beaten up, forced to convert, burnt and their houses will be looted and burnt to ashes with powerful explosive chemicals. In the end faith of the minorities is hurt by desecration and burning their Holy Books and places of worships especially churches.
BIASED PAKISTANI TEXTBOOKS AND MINORITIES"
Biased Pakistani Textbooks and Minorities.
By: Professor Anjum Paul
Chairman, Pakistan Minorities Teachers’ Association
The Founder of Pakistan the Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in his presidential address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on August 11, 1947 said, “You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the State………Now I think we should keep that in front of us as our ideal and you will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State. “
King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia in his address to the participants of the Interfaith Conference organized by the United Nations Organization in New York on November 12, 2008 said,” We should step forward to make relations. Existence of all religions will have to admit because it is necessary for peace in the world. We should respect the religion of everyone. All religions give the lesson of peace.”
Mr. Asif Ali Zardari, President of Pakistan in his address to the participants of the Interfaith Conference on November 13, 2008 said, “To maintain global harmony, politics and policies based on hatred will have to be changed.”
The Quaid -i- Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah who was much concerned about the education of Pakistani nation. In his message to the first Educational Conference in November 1947 he said, “If we are to make real, speedy and substantial progress, we must bring our educational policy and programme on the lines suited to the genius of our people, consonant with our history and culture having regard to the modern conditions and vast developments that have taken place all over the world. The future of our state will and must accordingly depend upon the type of education we give to our children, and the way in which we bring them up as future citizens of Pakistan. We should try, by sound education, to instill into them up the high sense of honour, integrity, responsibility and selfless service to the nation. There is an immediate and urgent need for giving scientific and technical education to our people in order to build up our future economic life and to see that our people take the science, commerce, trade and particularly well planned industries. We should not forget that we have to compete with the world which is moving very fast in this direction.”
If we deeply evaluate the past 62 years of Pakistan, I am sorry to say that we have violated the above mentioned ideology of the founder of Pakistan. There cannot be change in the attitudes until there is formulation of education policy according to the national needs. Politics and education is still on the Ad hoc basis in Pakistan. Negative impacts of politics have affected education field as well. Our education field has failed to create national integrity and social harmony. Our education policies have produced extremists, warriors and suicide bombers instead of intellectuals and scientists. This is all the result of the biased education policies .Teachings on hatred, bias, sectarianism; religious intolerance and extremism have been placed in the textbooks. We can practically observe that the students become intolerant, extremists, prejudiced and biased against humanity in general after reading these textbooks.
There is promotion of a particular ideology and on the other hand bias against other faiths in the Pakistani textbooks. A full detail is in the White Paper prepared by Pakistan Minorities Teachers’ Association 2007. This is a document to debate religious bias, general standard of textbooks and education policies in Pakistan. There is research on 52 textbooks in the subjects of Civics, English, Ethics, Islamic Studies, Pakistan Studies, Social Studies and Urdu from class I-XII. Only in the subject of Urdu language from class I-XII, 235 chapters and poems out 409 consist of a particular ideology through various means in 12 textbooks. So the ratio of preaching a particular through is 57.45%.
There is a bird’s eye view of the dignity of Islam and Muslim while bias against the other religions than that of Islam under the following headings.
Preaching of Islam through textbooks
Dignity of Muslims
Bias against the other faiths in general
Bias against Christians
Bias against Jews
Bias against Hindus
Bias against Sikhs
Bias against Zoroasters
Bias against other civilizations
Misunderstanding of terms
Wrong information
Recommendations
PREACHING OF ISLAM THROUGH TEXTBOOKS
“Why did the old lady become a Muslim? Ref. English Step 6,Edition Ist ,Impression 10th ,Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 2, Line 14
“We, as Muslims should follow the noble example of the tolerance of our Holy Prophet (Peace be upon Him).” Ref. English 8,Date of printing January 2006, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 21, Line 9
“Which is the best book to read and teach?” Note: The answer of this question is the ‘Holy Quran.’ Ref. English 10, Edition Ist, Impression 7th, Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 4, Line 6.
“Write a letter to any of your non-Muslim friend, conveying the message of Islam.” Ref. Islamic Studies 7,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 21, Line 14
“You know that Islam is our religion.” Ref. Social Studies 4,Edition Ist , Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 108, Line 2
“Hindus in Sindh were converting to Islam by their own will to see the good behaviour of Muslims.” Ref. Social Studies 5, Edition 2nd, Impression 13th, Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 118, Line 17
“Students! Discuss the importance of Islam in the presence of teacher in the class.” Ref. Social Studies 6, Edition Ist ,Impression 9th,Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 82, Line 22
”Organize two teams in the class, each team asking questions about our dear Prophet (PBUH).”Ref. Urdu 2, Date of printing January 2005, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 4, Line 15
“Allah has addressed the Muslims, men of Allah! Be brothers among yourselves. We all Muslims are brothers of one another.” Ref. Urdu 2,Date of printing January 2005, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 32, Line 7
“Start your every morning reciting the Holy Quran and receive uncountable virtues.” Ref. Urdu 3,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 69, Line 11
“2. Write any of your favourite naat (poem written in praise of Prophet Muhammad) in your note book taken from any book or magazine.” Ref. Urdu 4,Edition 3rd ,Impression 21, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 22, Line 15
“As a Muslim it is an obligation of us all to act upon the life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).Try to adopt the morals of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Our worldly and hereafter success lies only in it.” Ref. Urdu 8,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 7, Line 6
“Write two paragraphs the way Muslims spread Islam.” Ref. Urdu 8,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 125, Line 14
“We the Muslims have been made the successor of the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).Now it is our responsibility to introduce the whole world about his sacred personality and kindness.” Ref. Urdu 8,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 215, Line 12
“We should not take any such step for which we shall have to be shameful before God and his messenger Muhammad (PBUH).” Ref. Urdu 10,Edition 2nd ,Impression 3rd,Code No XLV/AD Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 10, Line 8
DIGNITY OF MUSLIMS
“Before the advent of Islam not to punish the dishonest and powerful but to punish fragile was common but after the advent of Islam justice was glorified.” Ref. Pakistan Studies 9,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th, Code XLIV/AD, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 13, Line 4
“How did the Muslim women show their bravery when they were prisoners of war by the Christians?” Ref. Urdu 5,Edition Experimental ,Impression Ist, Code No XLV/AL, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 70, Line 14
Once a battle was on its peak. Christians and Muslims were busy in showing their bravery. An arrow hit the mare of the Christian commander and that died.” Ref. Urdu 6,Edition 2nd ,Impression 3rd, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 34, Line 19
“Sultan got back mosques from the occupation of the Christians and gave to Muslims.” Ref. Urdu 6,Edition 2nd,Impression 3rd,Date of printing, February 2005, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 35, Line 19
“He was a great conqueror of Crusades. He conquered Jerusalem.” Ref. Urdu 6,Edition 2nd ,Impression 3rd, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 36, Line 3
BIAS AGAINST THE OTHER FAITHS IN GENERAL
“Followers of other religions are often busy in garrulous manners on their festivals. They do not express their relation or devotion with Allah. On the contrary, on one hand these two festivals of Islam provide an opportunity of entertainment and joy to Muslims and on the other hand they become a source to meet one another and to help the needy. Besides this they are a source to have a strong contact and relationship with Allah. That is why Muslims specially arrange for prayer on the day of festival.” Ref. Islamic Studies 5,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 18, Line 4
“How do the followers of common religions celebrate their festivals?” Ref. Islamic Studies 5,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 20, Line 3
“Allah sent Prophets for the followers of the previous religions. And there was revelation of His Books on many of them. But the teachings of those Prophets and the Books revealed on them are not safe in original form.” Ref. Islamic Studies 10,Edition 2nd ,Impression 14th,Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 96, Line 12
“Some previous Books of revelation consist of such discourses which are not only against reality but in many Books there are very much indecent and immoral discourses. (It is evident that these are fake discourses which have been added by someone himself).” Ref. Islamic Studies 11,Edition 2nd ,Impression 16th,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 29, Line 18
“Before the advent of Islam not to punish the dishonest and powerful but to punish the fragile was common but after the advent of Islam justice was glorified.” Ref. Pakistan Studies 9,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th, Code XLIV/AD, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 13, Line 4
“Various non-Muslim nations in the world have been against Muslims and have often been cooperating to harm Muslims.” Ref. Social Studies 8,Date of printing ,January 2006 ,Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 126, Line 12
“And now, no other religion is popular in the eyes of Allah. Whole humanity is destitute to follow the path of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the teachings of the Holy Quran for the welfare of religious and worldly affairs.” Ref. Urdu 4,Edition 3rd ,Impression 21st,Date of printing January 2005, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 60, Line 15
“Every person must abstain drugs but especially the Muslims.” Ref. Urdu 8,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 128, Line 18
BIAS AGAINST CHRISTIANS
“They (Muslims) were forced to become Christians.” Ref. Civics 12,Edition 2005 ,Impression 12, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 1, Line 19
“Christian preachers openly attacked their (Muslims) religion. Priests entered their religious conventions and started preaching Christianity”. Ref. Civics 12,Edition 2005 ,Impression 12, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 2, Line 1
“So to stop the attacks of the Christian missionaries. Sir Syed saved many children becoming Christians by establishing orphan houses. Sir Syed had seen that time when orphans had been sent to Christian institutions at the time of famine in 1837.” Ref. Civics 12,Edition 2005 ,Impression 12, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 12, Line 17
“Ummad-ud-Din was martyred by the conspiracy of Christians.” Ref. Social Studies 7, Edition Ist, Impression 34, Code No. XLV/AL, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 17, Line 6
“On the contrary when 90 years ago Prince Gaudphrey conquered Jerusalem, there was so much execution that the horses of the victorious army slipped from the blood of the Muslims.” Ref. Urdu 6,Edition 2nd ,Impression 3rd, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 35, Line 12
“Christians changed the shape of Al Aqsa and other mosques after occupation. Christians have always harmed the Muslims. They even executed them.” Ref. Urdu 6,Edition 2nd,Impression 3rd,Date of printing, February 2005, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 35, Line 19
“Friends, highness is not of colour or race. In the Middle Ages. London and Paris were unknown places. There was filth. People who took bath were lashed by the order of the priests that they have become Muslims and have started taking bath on every Friday.” Ref. Urdu 8, Edition Ist. Impression 23rd, Code No. XLIV/AL, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 181, Line 18 BIAS BIAS AGAINST JEWS
“In a battle Hazrat Ali sat on the chest of a Jew after falling him on the ground. He wanted to behead him off. Jew spat on his face. He at once released the Jew. The Jew asked the reason of his deliverance surprisingly. He said that a Muslim fights for Allah but not for personal revenge. By spitting on my face you tried to create personal revenge in my heart. That is why I released you. Hearing this Jew became a Muslim” Ref. My Book Urdu 3, Edition Ist, Impression 4th, Code No. XLV/AL, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 71, Line 9
“In 1949 Jews tried to set on fire the Al Aqsa mosque in the occupied Bait-ul- maqdas (Jerusalem).” Ref. Urdu 6,Edition 2nd,Impression 3rd,Date of printing, February 2005, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 109, Line 15
BIAS AGAINST HINDUS
“Many good girls are deprived of getting married. We have adopted this un- Islamic ritual from Hindus.” Fundamental Civics (For non-Muslim students) Intermediate level, First Impression December 1984, Publisher: Amin Book Depot, Urdu Bazaar, Lahore Page 38, Line 1
“Pakistan came into existence on the very same day when the first Hindu was converted to Islam.” Ref. Pakistan Studies 9-10,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th,Code No XLIV/AD, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 7, Line 10
“Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi belonged to the Deoband sect. According to him Hindus were the worst enemies of Muslims.” Ref. Pakistan Studies 9-10,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th,Code No XLIV/AD, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 19, Line 8
“According to him (Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi) Hindus can never be sympathetic and well wishers of Muslims whether there may be the Day of Judgment. They are more enemies of Muslims and Islam than that of English.” Ref. Urdu 8,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 152, Line 19
“He knew that the Hindus try to merry ‘Kali Mata’ (Black Mother) flowing the blood of innocent people of other religions. They consider all untouchables except themselves.” Ref. Urdu 8,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 221, Line 13
BIAS AGAINST SIKHS
“Sikhs empowered in Punjab and destroyed the peace of Punjab.” Ref. Pakistan Studies 9,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th, Code XLIV/AD, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 10, Line 8
“Sikhs flourished their influence on weakening the government of Punjab and started looting the big cities of Punjab………At last Sikh ruler Ranjeet Singh established his government in Punjab. Sikhs were cruel with Hindus and Muslims. Sikhs destroyed the worship places, various tombs and particularly the educational institutions of Muslims.” Ref. Social Studies 4,Edition Ist ,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 82, Line 11
“Sikhs and the rulers of the Sikh states of Punjab helped British through weapons, army and money.” Ref. Social Studies 4,Edition Ist ,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 83, Line 11
“Ranjeet Singh’s regime was a cruel one for the Muslims and Hindus, Describe in detail.” Ref. Social Studies 4,Edition Ist ,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 87, Line 9
“In this regard for the achievement of religious freedom in 1826 he started the movement of religious jihad against Sikhs.” Ref. Urdu 12,Edition 5th ,Impression Ist, Date of printing ,August 2006,Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 8, Line 14
BIAS AGAINST ZOARSHTERS
“This was the day……..when temples of the worshippers were extinguished.” Ref. Urdu 8, Edition Ist, Impression 23rd, Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 213, Line 12
BIAS AGAINST OTHER CIVILIZATIONS
“English people sent the precious books of Islamic religious institutions to England. English people destroyed the religious institutions of Muslims. They did not want flourishing of Islam.” Ref. Social Studies 6,Edition Ist ,Impression 9th,Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 75, Line 11
“Being fed of religion, Western mind has excluded religion from its system many centuries ago.” Ref. Urdu 9, Edition Ist ,Impression 7th,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 50, Line 13
“After that, attacked on another British and slaughtered him too.” Ref. Urdu 9, Edition Ist ,Impression 7th,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 73, Line 15
“Westerners are expert in spoiling the names of Muslims. They remember Abu- Al -Qasim Zahravi by the names of Abulcasis, Albucasis and Alzaharawius.” Ref. Urdu 11,Experimental Edition Ist ,Impression 5th,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 24, Line 17
MISUNDERSTANDING OF TERMS
“Negation of Theocracy. There is no place of theocracy in an Islamic state.” Ref. Civics 11,.Edition Ist ,Impression Ist, Date of impression January 2006, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 69, Line 17 Note: Where there religion is declared a state religion is called a theocratic state. Most of the Muslim states have declared Islam as the state religion
WRONG INFORMATION
“In Hebrew Jacob’s name is Israel that stands for Man of Allah.” Ref. Ethics 11-12, Edition Ist, Month & Year of Publishing July 1999, Publisher: Sindh Textbook Board, Jam Shoroo, Page 54, Line 1 Note: The meaning of Israel is ‘Selected Prince.’
“Hindus laid the foundation of Congress.” Ref. Social Studies 6, Edition Ist, Impression 9th, Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 94, Line 18
Note Mr. A. O. Hume laid the foundation of Indian National Congress in 1885 who was a British.
“In the beginning the Quaid- i- Azam joined the Congress Party. Muslim political party Muslim League had not yet established.” Ref. Social Studies 7, Edition Ist, Impression 34, Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 29, Line 1
Note: Muslim League was established in 1906 while Quaid- i- Azam joined it after 7 years in 1913.
Pakistan Minorities Teachers’ Association (PMTA) flays the biased Education Policy 2009 approved on September 09, 2009 as chapter will on “Islamic teachings” supports the bias against the other religions which will definitely promote hatred, bias, discrimination and persecution against the minorities as this policy is not based on human values. Incidents like Shanti Nagar, Sangla Hill, Bagminiwala, Korian, Gojra and Jeteke will take place where innocent people of minorities will be beaten up, forced to convert, burnt and their houses will be looted and burnt to ashes with powerful explosive chemicals. In the end faith of the minorities is hurt by desecration and burning their Holy Books and places of worships especially churches.
By: Professor Anjum Paul
Chairman, Pakistan Minorities Teachers’ Association
The Founder of Pakistan the Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in his presidential address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on August 11, 1947 said, “You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the State………Now I think we should keep that in front of us as our ideal and you will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State. “
King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia in his address to the participants of the Interfaith Conference organized by the United Nations Organization in New York on November 12, 2008 said,” We should step forward to make relations. Existence of all religions will have to admit because it is necessary for peace in the world. We should respect the religion of everyone. All religions give the lesson of peace.”
Mr. Asif Ali Zardari, President of Pakistan in his address to the participants of the Interfaith Conference on November 13, 2008 said, “To maintain global harmony, politics and policies based on hatred will have to be changed.”
The Quaid -i- Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah who was much concerned about the education of Pakistani nation. In his message to the first Educational Conference in November 1947 he said, “If we are to make real, speedy and substantial progress, we must bring our educational policy and programme on the lines suited to the genius of our people, consonant with our history and culture having regard to the modern conditions and vast developments that have taken place all over the world. The future of our state will and must accordingly depend upon the type of education we give to our children, and the way in which we bring them up as future citizens of Pakistan. We should try, by sound education, to instill into them up the high sense of honour, integrity, responsibility and selfless service to the nation. There is an immediate and urgent need for giving scientific and technical education to our people in order to build up our future economic life and to see that our people take the science, commerce, trade and particularly well planned industries. We should not forget that we have to compete with the world which is moving very fast in this direction.”
If we deeply evaluate the past 62 years of Pakistan, I am sorry to say that we have violated the above mentioned ideology of the founder of Pakistan. There cannot be change in the attitudes until there is formulation of education policy according to the national needs. Politics and education is still on the Ad hoc basis in Pakistan. Negative impacts of politics have affected education field as well. Our education field has failed to create national integrity and social harmony. Our education policies have produced extremists, warriors and suicide bombers instead of intellectuals and scientists. This is all the result of the biased education policies .Teachings on hatred, bias, sectarianism; religious intolerance and extremism have been placed in the textbooks. We can practically observe that the students become intolerant, extremists, prejudiced and biased against humanity in general after reading these textbooks.
There is promotion of a particular ideology and on the other hand bias against other faiths in the Pakistani textbooks. A full detail is in the White Paper prepared by Pakistan Minorities Teachers’ Association 2007. This is a document to debate religious bias, general standard of textbooks and education policies in Pakistan. There is research on 52 textbooks in the subjects of Civics, English, Ethics, Islamic Studies, Pakistan Studies, Social Studies and Urdu from class I-XII. Only in the subject of Urdu language from class I-XII, 235 chapters and poems out 409 consist of a particular ideology through various means in 12 textbooks. So the ratio of preaching a particular through is 57.45%.
There is a bird’s eye view of the dignity of Islam and Muslim while bias against the other religions than that of Islam under the following headings.
Preaching of Islam through textbooks
Dignity of Muslims
Bias against the other faiths in general
Bias against Christians
Bias against Jews
Bias against Hindus
Bias against Sikhs
Bias against Zoroasters
Bias against other civilizations
Misunderstanding of terms
Wrong information
Recommendations
PREACHING OF ISLAM THROUGH TEXTBOOKS
“Why did the old lady become a Muslim? Ref. English Step 6,Edition Ist ,Impression 10th ,Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 2, Line 14
“We, as Muslims should follow the noble example of the tolerance of our Holy Prophet (Peace be upon Him).” Ref. English 8,Date of printing January 2006, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 21, Line 9
“Which is the best book to read and teach?” Note: The answer of this question is the ‘Holy Quran.’ Ref. English 10, Edition Ist, Impression 7th, Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 4, Line 6.
“Write a letter to any of your non-Muslim friend, conveying the message of Islam.” Ref. Islamic Studies 7,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 21, Line 14
“You know that Islam is our religion.” Ref. Social Studies 4,Edition Ist , Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 108, Line 2
“Hindus in Sindh were converting to Islam by their own will to see the good behaviour of Muslims.” Ref. Social Studies 5, Edition 2nd, Impression 13th, Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 118, Line 17
“Students! Discuss the importance of Islam in the presence of teacher in the class.” Ref. Social Studies 6, Edition Ist ,Impression 9th,Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 82, Line 22
”Organize two teams in the class, each team asking questions about our dear Prophet (PBUH).”Ref. Urdu 2, Date of printing January 2005, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 4, Line 15
“Allah has addressed the Muslims, men of Allah! Be brothers among yourselves. We all Muslims are brothers of one another.” Ref. Urdu 2,Date of printing January 2005, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 32, Line 7
“Start your every morning reciting the Holy Quran and receive uncountable virtues.” Ref. Urdu 3,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 69, Line 11
“2. Write any of your favourite naat (poem written in praise of Prophet Muhammad) in your note book taken from any book or magazine.” Ref. Urdu 4,Edition 3rd ,Impression 21, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 22, Line 15
“As a Muslim it is an obligation of us all to act upon the life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).Try to adopt the morals of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Our worldly and hereafter success lies only in it.” Ref. Urdu 8,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 7, Line 6
“Write two paragraphs the way Muslims spread Islam.” Ref. Urdu 8,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 125, Line 14
“We the Muslims have been made the successor of the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).Now it is our responsibility to introduce the whole world about his sacred personality and kindness.” Ref. Urdu 8,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 215, Line 12
“We should not take any such step for which we shall have to be shameful before God and his messenger Muhammad (PBUH).” Ref. Urdu 10,Edition 2nd ,Impression 3rd,Code No XLV/AD Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 10, Line 8
DIGNITY OF MUSLIMS
“Before the advent of Islam not to punish the dishonest and powerful but to punish fragile was common but after the advent of Islam justice was glorified.” Ref. Pakistan Studies 9,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th, Code XLIV/AD, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 13, Line 4
“How did the Muslim women show their bravery when they were prisoners of war by the Christians?” Ref. Urdu 5,Edition Experimental ,Impression Ist, Code No XLV/AL, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 70, Line 14
Once a battle was on its peak. Christians and Muslims were busy in showing their bravery. An arrow hit the mare of the Christian commander and that died.” Ref. Urdu 6,Edition 2nd ,Impression 3rd, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 34, Line 19
“Sultan got back mosques from the occupation of the Christians and gave to Muslims.” Ref. Urdu 6,Edition 2nd,Impression 3rd,Date of printing, February 2005, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 35, Line 19
“He was a great conqueror of Crusades. He conquered Jerusalem.” Ref. Urdu 6,Edition 2nd ,Impression 3rd, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 36, Line 3
BIAS AGAINST THE OTHER FAITHS IN GENERAL
“Followers of other religions are often busy in garrulous manners on their festivals. They do not express their relation or devotion with Allah. On the contrary, on one hand these two festivals of Islam provide an opportunity of entertainment and joy to Muslims and on the other hand they become a source to meet one another and to help the needy. Besides this they are a source to have a strong contact and relationship with Allah. That is why Muslims specially arrange for prayer on the day of festival.” Ref. Islamic Studies 5,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 18, Line 4
“How do the followers of common religions celebrate their festivals?” Ref. Islamic Studies 5,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 20, Line 3
“Allah sent Prophets for the followers of the previous religions. And there was revelation of His Books on many of them. But the teachings of those Prophets and the Books revealed on them are not safe in original form.” Ref. Islamic Studies 10,Edition 2nd ,Impression 14th,Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 96, Line 12
“Some previous Books of revelation consist of such discourses which are not only against reality but in many Books there are very much indecent and immoral discourses. (It is evident that these are fake discourses which have been added by someone himself).” Ref. Islamic Studies 11,Edition 2nd ,Impression 16th,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 29, Line 18
“Before the advent of Islam not to punish the dishonest and powerful but to punish the fragile was common but after the advent of Islam justice was glorified.” Ref. Pakistan Studies 9,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th, Code XLIV/AD, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 13, Line 4
“Various non-Muslim nations in the world have been against Muslims and have often been cooperating to harm Muslims.” Ref. Social Studies 8,Date of printing ,January 2006 ,Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 126, Line 12
“And now, no other religion is popular in the eyes of Allah. Whole humanity is destitute to follow the path of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the teachings of the Holy Quran for the welfare of religious and worldly affairs.” Ref. Urdu 4,Edition 3rd ,Impression 21st,Date of printing January 2005, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 60, Line 15
“Every person must abstain drugs but especially the Muslims.” Ref. Urdu 8,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 128, Line 18
BIAS AGAINST CHRISTIANS
“They (Muslims) were forced to become Christians.” Ref. Civics 12,Edition 2005 ,Impression 12, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 1, Line 19
“Christian preachers openly attacked their (Muslims) religion. Priests entered their religious conventions and started preaching Christianity”. Ref. Civics 12,Edition 2005 ,Impression 12, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 2, Line 1
“So to stop the attacks of the Christian missionaries. Sir Syed saved many children becoming Christians by establishing orphan houses. Sir Syed had seen that time when orphans had been sent to Christian institutions at the time of famine in 1837.” Ref. Civics 12,Edition 2005 ,Impression 12, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 12, Line 17
“Ummad-ud-Din was martyred by the conspiracy of Christians.” Ref. Social Studies 7, Edition Ist, Impression 34, Code No. XLV/AL, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 17, Line 6
“On the contrary when 90 years ago Prince Gaudphrey conquered Jerusalem, there was so much execution that the horses of the victorious army slipped from the blood of the Muslims.” Ref. Urdu 6,Edition 2nd ,Impression 3rd, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 35, Line 12
“Christians changed the shape of Al Aqsa and other mosques after occupation. Christians have always harmed the Muslims. They even executed them.” Ref. Urdu 6,Edition 2nd,Impression 3rd,Date of printing, February 2005, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 35, Line 19
“Friends, highness is not of colour or race. In the Middle Ages. London and Paris were unknown places. There was filth. People who took bath were lashed by the order of the priests that they have become Muslims and have started taking bath on every Friday.” Ref. Urdu 8, Edition Ist. Impression 23rd, Code No. XLIV/AL, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 181, Line 18 BIAS BIAS AGAINST JEWS
“In a battle Hazrat Ali sat on the chest of a Jew after falling him on the ground. He wanted to behead him off. Jew spat on his face. He at once released the Jew. The Jew asked the reason of his deliverance surprisingly. He said that a Muslim fights for Allah but not for personal revenge. By spitting on my face you tried to create personal revenge in my heart. That is why I released you. Hearing this Jew became a Muslim” Ref. My Book Urdu 3, Edition Ist, Impression 4th, Code No. XLV/AL, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 71, Line 9
“In 1949 Jews tried to set on fire the Al Aqsa mosque in the occupied Bait-ul- maqdas (Jerusalem).” Ref. Urdu 6,Edition 2nd,Impression 3rd,Date of printing, February 2005, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 109, Line 15
BIAS AGAINST HINDUS
“Many good girls are deprived of getting married. We have adopted this un- Islamic ritual from Hindus.” Fundamental Civics (For non-Muslim students) Intermediate level, First Impression December 1984, Publisher: Amin Book Depot, Urdu Bazaar, Lahore Page 38, Line 1
“Pakistan came into existence on the very same day when the first Hindu was converted to Islam.” Ref. Pakistan Studies 9-10,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th,Code No XLIV/AD, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 7, Line 10
“Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi belonged to the Deoband sect. According to him Hindus were the worst enemies of Muslims.” Ref. Pakistan Studies 9-10,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th,Code No XLIV/AD, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 19, Line 8
“According to him (Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi) Hindus can never be sympathetic and well wishers of Muslims whether there may be the Day of Judgment. They are more enemies of Muslims and Islam than that of English.” Ref. Urdu 8,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 152, Line 19
“He knew that the Hindus try to merry ‘Kali Mata’ (Black Mother) flowing the blood of innocent people of other religions. They consider all untouchables except themselves.” Ref. Urdu 8,Edition Ist ,Impression 23rd,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 221, Line 13
BIAS AGAINST SIKHS
“Sikhs empowered in Punjab and destroyed the peace of Punjab.” Ref. Pakistan Studies 9,Edition 5th ,Impression 5th, Code XLIV/AD, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 10, Line 8
“Sikhs flourished their influence on weakening the government of Punjab and started looting the big cities of Punjab………At last Sikh ruler Ranjeet Singh established his government in Punjab. Sikhs were cruel with Hindus and Muslims. Sikhs destroyed the worship places, various tombs and particularly the educational institutions of Muslims.” Ref. Social Studies 4,Edition Ist ,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 82, Line 11
“Sikhs and the rulers of the Sikh states of Punjab helped British through weapons, army and money.” Ref. Social Studies 4,Edition Ist ,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 83, Line 11
“Ranjeet Singh’s regime was a cruel one for the Muslims and Hindus, Describe in detail.” Ref. Social Studies 4,Edition Ist ,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 87, Line 9
“In this regard for the achievement of religious freedom in 1826 he started the movement of religious jihad against Sikhs.” Ref. Urdu 12,Edition 5th ,Impression Ist, Date of printing ,August 2006,Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 8, Line 14
BIAS AGAINST ZOARSHTERS
“This was the day……..when temples of the worshippers were extinguished.” Ref. Urdu 8, Edition Ist, Impression 23rd, Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 213, Line 12
BIAS AGAINST OTHER CIVILIZATIONS
“English people sent the precious books of Islamic religious institutions to England. English people destroyed the religious institutions of Muslims. They did not want flourishing of Islam.” Ref. Social Studies 6,Edition Ist ,Impression 9th,Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 75, Line 11
“Being fed of religion, Western mind has excluded religion from its system many centuries ago.” Ref. Urdu 9, Edition Ist ,Impression 7th,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 50, Line 13
“After that, attacked on another British and slaughtered him too.” Ref. Urdu 9, Edition Ist ,Impression 7th,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 73, Line 15
“Westerners are expert in spoiling the names of Muslims. They remember Abu- Al -Qasim Zahravi by the names of Abulcasis, Albucasis and Alzaharawius.” Ref. Urdu 11,Experimental Edition Ist ,Impression 5th,Code No XLIV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 24, Line 17
MISUNDERSTANDING OF TERMS
“Negation of Theocracy. There is no place of theocracy in an Islamic state.” Ref. Civics 11,.Edition Ist ,Impression Ist, Date of impression January 2006, Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 69, Line 17 Note: Where there religion is declared a state religion is called a theocratic state. Most of the Muslim states have declared Islam as the state religion
WRONG INFORMATION
“In Hebrew Jacob’s name is Israel that stands for Man of Allah.” Ref. Ethics 11-12, Edition Ist, Month & Year of Publishing July 1999, Publisher: Sindh Textbook Board, Jam Shoroo, Page 54, Line 1 Note: The meaning of Israel is ‘Selected Prince.’
“Hindus laid the foundation of Congress.” Ref. Social Studies 6, Edition Ist, Impression 9th, Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 94, Line 18
Note Mr. A. O. Hume laid the foundation of Indian National Congress in 1885 who was a British.
“In the beginning the Quaid- i- Azam joined the Congress Party. Muslim political party Muslim League had not yet established.” Ref. Social Studies 7, Edition Ist, Impression 34, Code No XLV/AL Publisher, Punjab Textbooks Board, Lahore, Page 29, Line 1
Note: Muslim League was established in 1906 while Quaid- i- Azam joined it after 7 years in 1913.
Pakistan Minorities Teachers’ Association (PMTA) flays the biased Education Policy 2009 approved on September 09, 2009 as chapter will on “Islamic teachings” supports the bias against the other religions which will definitely promote hatred, bias, discrimination and persecution against the minorities as this policy is not based on human values. Incidents like Shanti Nagar, Sangla Hill, Bagminiwala, Korian, Gojra and Jeteke will take place where innocent people of minorities will be beaten up, forced to convert, burnt and their houses will be looted and burnt to ashes with powerful explosive chemicals. In the end faith of the minorities is hurt by desecration and burning their Holy Books and places of worships especially churches.
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