Recently, a viral video showed four men destroying an ancient Buddha statue found in the Takhtbhai area of Mardan during construction work. According to experts, the statue belongs to the Gandhara civilisation and is about 1,700 years old. The suspects were immediately arrested by the K-P police who later registered an FIR against them under the Antiques Act 2016.
A few weeks ago, a young boy damaged the foundations of a Hindu temple which was under-construction in Islamabad, and another man was seen reciting the azan while standing on the foundations of the temple. The government has also faced severe criticism by the religious affairs ministry on their decision to support the construction of a Hindu temple. Such incidents and acts clearly portray the problematic mindset of our citizens. It reveals that the masses have ingrained prejudice and intolerance towards other religions and their places of worship. Institutionalised intolerance and extremism remain the gravest threat that the country faces today.
The only way we can get rid of this culture of bigotry is by bringing reforms in education. The debate on education reforms must not remain limited to integrating religious seminaries into the mainstream education, but should also focus on identifying the issues in the curriculum of the state. It is the need of the hour to reform the curriculum.
Nayab Iqbal
Karachi
Published in The Express Tribune, July 21st, 2020.
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