Curriculum change: Protesters take to the streets against ‘secular’ education

Warn govt of agitation if decision not withdrawn.

SWAT:

The exclusion of Quranic verses and Hadith from the syllabus ignited angry protests across Swat on Wednesday.

As many as a thousand protesters marched to  Nishat Chowk, demanding the government to withdraw its decision by March 30 or brace itself for countrywide agitation.

“The provincial government has started to implement American policies in the educational syllabus by excluding Hadith and Quranic verses, which is not acceptable to us,” said Junaid Shahab, a student of Jahanzeb College.

Protesters condemned the government’s decision and said while Nato forces had desecrated the Quran, the provincial government had excluded Quranic verses and Hadith from the syllabus,  which proved the government’s commitment to anti-Islamic policies.

“The government is determined to act upon the policies of its ‘masters’, but they will not be successful,” said a protester, Zebul Islam.

The protesters said that they would never allow the government to make the amendments it wanted in the syllabus.

“What do they want to prove by excluding verses and Hadith? I cannot understand why the government is complicating things by introducing innovations in religious aspects of the course,” said Murad Khan, a social activist.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2012.