NIDDERAU, GERMANY: This is with reference to your editorial of November 10 titled “Violence against Hindus”. I recently read a report written by an agency of the US government that said that textbooks in Pakistani schools teach intolerance toward Hindus and other minorities. “Teaching discrimination increases the likelihood that violent religious extremism in Pakistan will continue to grow, weakening religious freedom, national and regional stability, and global security,” said Leonard Leo, chairman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.
And then I found other examples of what schoolbooks in Pakistan teach. For example, a Social Studies textbook for Class VIII prescribed by the Punjab Textbook Board says (page 82): “Hindu pundits were jealous of Al Beruni.” A Social Studies textbook for Class VI students (also prescribed by the Punjab Textbook Board) says (page 141): “The Hindus… had always been opportunists.” And another, an Urdu textbook for Class V students (again by the Punjab Textbook Board) says: “The Hindus have always been an enemy of Islam”.
It is not hard to figure out the direction in which Pakistan is headed. The indoctrination and hate starts right from school, and is not just limited to madrassas but are prevalent in mainstream schools as well.
It is time that public pressure was brought upon the government and on policymakers to revise these books and purge them of their hate and poison. They are one of the main reasons for the growing intolerance in Pakistan.
Sharif Lone
Published in The Express Tribune, November 14th, 2011.
