Our ideological education

Letter November 27, 2014
The display of such a stall cannot be justified on any grounds in a country such as Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: This is apropos Yaqoob Khan Bangash’s article, “Our ideological education” (November 27). The writer seems to have confused the acts of displaying the Israel stall at a university exhibition and the disfiguring of the statue of Dr Woolner. The two incidents are totally different. The Israeli stall was not critisiced while keeping the ‘ideology of Pakistan’ in mind, as the writer seems to imply in his article. The criticism was about the fact that Israel is not recognised by Pakistan, so its stall should not have been displayed in honour of the sensitivities of the state. The people who arranged that stall, and in particular the administration of the university in question, should have kept that fact under consideration. The display of such a stall cannot be justified on any grounds in a country such as Pakistan.

On the other hand, the disfiguring of Dr Woolner’s statue is a totally different matter and has to be condemned. This definitely is the work of some ignorant people. Unfortunately, some of our intellectuals are always looking for an opportunity to criticise the ideology of Pakistan and are seen to make haste in blaming the country and administration for any and everything, no matter how remotely it is related to the concept of faith. Also, as far India is concerned, it is true that Hindus are not the only residents of that country, indeed people of other faiths are also present, but it is a recognised fact that India is a country of Hindus.

Dr Nisar A Kayani

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28th, 2014.

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