The writer is the Chairperson of the History Department at Forman Christian College, Lahore
I have been teaching in Pakistan for just about a year and a half and during this time, have had an opportunity to interact with a wide variety of students. The few hundred students I have taught have come from every province and territory of Pakistan, almost every social and economic background and, at least, half of them hail from rural backgrounds. What has been patently clear from this cross section of students is that our educational system is geared towards the discouragement of abstract thinking. Our students are taught not to question the teacher or the textbook and to just regurgitate material — no processing and thinking is involved. So, the students are very shocked when I say that they are not supposed to write my opinion and have to come up with their own ideas supported by evidence. They also get confused when I simply say, “I don’t know” in answer to a question, since a teacher in Pakistan is always supposed to know everything, no matter if they are even making it up. Similarly, when asked why students would want to study history, I still get, “I want to learn objective and unbiased history”, and often I get very quizzical looks when I have to burst their bubble and tell them that there is no such thing as “unbiased” and “objective” history. All these fallacies exist in Pakistan because “thinking” is never nurtured. One of the most important distinguishing aspects of the early Homo sapiens was their ability of abstract thinking; unfortunately, this is the very ability we are trying to retard in Pakistan.
As mentioned in my article last week, my paper was the only slightly philosophical paper I came across at the Judicial Conference. This, coupled with the fact that there were very few academics present at the conference, again reinforces the point that even in law, there is no real promotion of “thinking.” Law as a discipline or as a practice cannot flourish unless there are legal philosophers who can develop theory, think of new ways of interpretation, argue for different aspects of fundamental rights, etc. In a recent conversation with an eminent lawyer about the judicial history of Pakistan, it became even clearer that except for the first couple of decades, most judges have increasingly become unable to theorise, and hence, major judgments at times have not even been coherent.
Pakistan has an inherent dearth of thinkers. At Partition, a large number of Muslim thinkers remained in India, such as Abul Kalam Azad and Zakir Hussain, while in Pakistan, the coterie of thinkers was limited to Maulana Maududi and a very few others. Hence, while Iqbal is eulogised in Pakistan greatly, philosophy departments in the country are mostly collecting dust and not producing scholars. The very few scholars who do come up, like Eqbal Ahmad and Fazul Rahman, are quickly hounded so that they relocate out of Pakistan. This lack of thinking is also related to the fact that freedom of conscience is not guaranteed as a right in the Constitution of Pakistan. Thinking freely and following your conscience in all matters are important, related matters.
It has been pointed out by several people that while rulers in the Indian subcontinent were busy making tombs, rulers in the West were establishing universities. Most of the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge are in people’s memories, and even though their tombs are rather simple, their colleges today are well endowed. The difference is so much that today, we cannot even claim the ruins of a medieval madrassa or academy in Pakistan — there were simply very few of those in South Asian history and their dearth is making its mark even now.
In this election, almost all major political parties have vowed to raise education spending to at least five per cent of GDP. Cautiously, I am taking this as an optimistic sign (even though none of the parties has articulated actually how this will be achieved), but in this era of hopes and promises, let me implore the parties to please make “thinking” a central element of their education strategies. Tombs are nice but they house mortal remains; we should focus more on immortal words and ideas.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 30th, 2013.
COMMENTS (48)
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An article that sets us thinking.
In Pakistan people illiterate or educated all eat with religion, sleep with religion,cover the religion on themselves and die with religion, Religion is embedded with every activities of people's lives.. And religion demands submission. Not to doubt what is taught to them , never dare to disbelieve words uttered by Mullah/ Ulema or famed scholar,. never dare to think why some one born to a parent of different faith is unbeliever of Islam and for this reason only is wazib ul katl.? How a society with the genes of obedience and total belief will inculcate the habit of asking questions to themselves and others? A systemic effort is required to encourage questioning in the process of education and life there after including encouragement to search the answers too. Once the right path is finalized and first step taken the wheel of thinking too will move forward.
@humaira:
ET has trashed my reply about the homo sapiens originating from Arabia 100,000 years ago. Your DNA check will show you that the people of th subcontinent contains arabian content. History is always time related, todays Romans are not those who lived in the 4th century, nor are todays Indians who lived in 4th centuy.
Rex Minor
@Nobody: The point the author was making was that while Europe was investing in education Indians (under Mughals were not doing so - giving example of building Taj Mahal but no universities). The point that @Indian was making is that in pre-Islamic times, education was valued in this region and universities were built and those uiversities were destroyed by Islamic invaders. Nalanda university at its peak enjoyed as big a reputation as Oxford today and scholars from the world came there.. Same thing about TakshSheela (which people now call Taxila)
@Humaira bibi, We are childrens of those educated Barbarians and Rome or other west was not .....
The inherent tragedy of humanity is that the barbarian always wins. Because the barbarian is hungrier and more desperate than the more civilized and satisfied person. Life in the Indian subcontinent was always richer more civilized than the nomadic existence of central asia and Arabia. It is no wonder that barbarians came conquered and destroyed the subcontinent since time immemorial. It is a real oddity that we are the only country to associate with the barbarian instead of our own civilized ancestors. No one else does that. When was the last time an Italian praised the barbaric Germanic tribes who overran Rome? Or the Mongol hordes who overran Europe.
@Indian: Mate, while there were no doubt universities established centuries ago, Taxila being the oldest one, how many of those carry the weight of names like Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, etc (list goes on)? I think that was the point the author was getting at.
And here is a page for Thinking Through Education: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Education-and-thinking/165860180133237?ref=ts&fref=ts
@observer: They were not universities sir, but monastries and closters for the Asian Buddhists including chinese student travellers. As an Indian you should be interested to find out about the sudden disappearnce of several civilisations in the Indian subcontinent, apart from the Mohinjidaro, Gandhara and other unknown ones now buried in the ocean or the new find of Mes Aynak in Afghanistan 40 km south east of Kabul, a complete city and a complex of closters near the copper mines.. This is the first indication that Indian Buddhists were preoccupied with industry as is known about the cambodians. Thinking is the call which the author is making and it must start in schools.
Rex Minor
@Raja Islam: I don't agree with you. I left Pakistan for Europe almost 50 years ago for higher studies. It was in Pakistani schools and colleges where I was instilled critical thinking and reasoning. As far as I know, things started changing in the mid-seventies when Zia ul Haq took over.
While I was working in Iran many years ago post revolution it was a joke that Iran has no "why" meaning never ask why. The problem of Muslim societies are that they stop reasoning and questioning. In Islam Questioing one's religious believes is equalled to death sentence while Islam itself says there is no compulsion in religion.In Indian subcontinent Phrases such as "to point a mistake of an adult by itself is a mistake" wree invented to stop new generation challenging the status quo. Akbar Allahbadi Said he wants all booke to be confiscated after reading which sons questions thier fathers sanity ". There has been systemic approch to discourage people to question any thing which challanges status qou hence the continued down dall of muslim countries.
@Ali Tanoli:
all those univesities were distroyed long before islam came to india
Really? This is what happened to Nalanda
Nalanda was ransacked and destroyed by an army under Bakhtiyar Khilji in 1193. The great library of Nalanda University was so vast that it is reported to have burned for three months after the invaders set fire to it
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nalanda
@Jim:
There was no fear among the majority muslims territories of India which are now in Pakistan. The referendum ende int a consensus, right or wrong, it was their decision and not of those who charted this course. The author writes about the non thnking people of his land also means that such people lack foresights but are very sharp in their hindsight!!
Rex Minor
@Zeeshan:
And who were your thinkers sir? What is the point you are making? If you have not grasped the message in the article, then please do not complicate the issue with your political stance. th message of the auho is to think, challenge if you must, it is the method used to educate people so that they are able to make independent in making their decisions. And those who do ar the one who exercise their freedom of existance.
Rex Minor
@Hasan Rizvi:
I am touched by your confession--there are very few on this planet who can realize the holes in their intellect that one can drive a truck through. Touche, mon ami.
Now to the laundry list of modern Western scholars you have cited, let me add names like Michael Jackson, Spice Girls, and Madonna--they are all from the West and hence in your mind, groomed into Western slavery from childhood, will readily accept them as scholars.
Finally, once you are done with your penace, why don't you look up Confucius, Ibn Khuldoun, Ibn Sina, Kitaro Nishida, etc? None of them spoke English, German or French but you will be amazed how much wisdom they had imparted to the list of philosophers you have waived above and who came after them. Iqbal read all the scholars you have cited (at a German University) and then some; he did not go for the NYT Tope Ten List of Western Philosophers.
@sure?: Hasan Rizvi is the perfect example of an educated Pakistani with unquestioning submission to Westoxification, the same disease the author suffers from.
Once again an excellent article; How much time you give to your students to think? Et needs hours just to print the comments after vetting it. You talk about abstract thinking, what you mean is lateral thinking. It would sem that Pakistan education system set up by the anglo saxons has not been refomedi That system did not allow the subjects to think but to arn what they were told and those who were loyal were givn knighthoods.
You have the Madrassas as the basis for development; upgrade them with additional subjects beside lssons in theology, the method which was employed in Oxford and Harvard, both were set up as schools of theology. This is a natural process of education, the students want to first learn about the religion of thei parents, followed by History and later the paagogy of how and why begins, which needs lessons in phlosophy and so on of science subjects.
Rex Minor
PS This is what made Mr Iqbal to study philosophy in Germany!
@Zeeshan:
Maulana Azad and Zakir Hussain were your thinkers but not mine.
And therefore, there is no need to travel to China, no matter who asked you to.
Having said that, who else do you reject as not being 'your' thinkers. All the Geophysicists Physicists, Medicinemen? All of them explain Earthquakes, Celestial Bodies and Disease and ill health differently than Iqbal, i.e. your thinker.
And who exactly are your 'thinkers' and what 'novel' thoughts have they produced?
@John the Baptist: So please tell me what was the influence of his philosophy? If present day Pakistan is an image of his ideas, then one can hardly consider those ideas as having been very successful. If even Pakstan rejected his ideas...
@Hasan Rizvi : John is the perfect example of an educated Pakistani with unquestioning submission to dogma that the author spoke of.
@K B Kale: "Even after 60+ years since both India and Pakistan became independent, the educational system hasn’t changed much qualitatively as the new rulers on both sides of the border found the “obedience” part of the existing system to suit their purposes perfectly!"
PArtially true Sir. In India it has not changed as much as needed to become more innovative. However in Pakistan it has actually regressed with more and more madrassas being opened and a scientific education being rejected.
@John the Baptist I confess I lack the intellect. I can understand thinkers like Bertrand Russel, Karl Popper, Hume and Descartes but my feeble mind cannot comprehend the profound thought of Iqbal.
@indian, all those univesities were distroyed long before islam came to india and real barerian is west who distroyed our way of life in 18th century. correct your history make sure BJP history no one reads in india other wise there will be war bet indopak.
Pakistan and Pakistanis have never been taught to think, question and reason. It starts from faith God and Islam and continues to parents, elders and teachers. Dissent or disagreement in any form in not tolerated. We live in a totalitarian society and brainwashed into being subservient.
This is a very patronizing article. Pakistani students, just like American students, ranged from very well-read students to uninformed students. Bush and Zardari are great examples of this. One graduated from Harvard and Yale and another some "London university". Both have destroyed their nations in one way or another. One was supposedly a product of a thinking and advanced society while another was a product of a backward society.
The problem is more than "Pakistan students incapable of thinking". It is about what kind of thinking you have hoped come out from them and your tolerance toward their "thinking". A Pakistani student who stands for religious party is also "thinking" and producing thoughts out of his mind but his "thinking" is not worthy of being labeled as "thoughts" or "reasons". The problem here is Pakistani students are refusing to parrot what you have hoped they would parrot: they are not sufficiently "liberals", not sufficiently aware why we "should give up Kashmir" etc. Yes, there are students who treat teachers like Gods but there are also teachers who treat their students with contempt and look down at their own students. In Pakistan, exams are used as the measurements of one's academic achievements and hence the results have been students are trying to give answers closer to the grading schemes which are created by the professors. This method of examination is part of the problem but so is the hierarchical relationship between a professor and his students. In Pakistan, professors are not just doctors, they are also sirs.
You write a lot about your students as your constant sample to gauge Pakistanis. Why wouldn't we hear what your students think about you instead? If I were your student, the above piece is extremely insulting because I have never given you consent to talk about me just because your eyes were studying me throughout my interaction with you.
Finally, recognizing history is not an objective field is the first step in recognizing the past have multiple narratives. The "non-thinking" Pakistanis are saying certain version of history which might not be in sync with what "professional" and "full time" historians are saying from their bully pulpits. So, Maulana Azad and Zakir Hussain were your thinkers but not mine.
"in Pakistan, the coterie of thinkers was limited to Maulana Maududi and a very few others"
Seriously? .The tree of hatred was planted by Maulana sahib, and nurtured by the blood of minorities. The harvest of evil is plentiful. Every one is kafir in the eyes of each other. Thanks, to Maulana Sahib!
God save Pakistan from thiners like Maulana Maududi sahib. May the thinkers be open minded, humble creatures who consider themselves, simple human beings not equipped by their Maker to judge the faith of others.
ET, let's see if this comment gets through the gate keepers.
Whether it is the question of Kashmir or Law, Prof. Bangash always has the courage to speak his mind! Bravo, Professor!! Keep it up.
British colonial rulers created an educational system for undivided India to basically produce automatons and robots who would follow the words of their masters and who would never question them. Even after 60+ years since both India and Pakistan became independent, the educational system hasn't changed much qualitatively as the new rulers on both sides of the border found the "obedience" part of the existing system to suit their purposes perfectly!
When the pinnacle of learning is memorising books written long long ago. When being a 'Scholar' means quoting 'Traditions' recorded hundreds of years ago. Who needs the spirit of inquiry?
In fact 'inquiry' implies 'disbelief' in the available answers, and that way lies disaster.
No matter what percentage of GDP you spend on unquestioning memorising, nothing is going to change.
Sir, nobody left Pakistan. Pakistani scholars often choose to stay abroad because the demand for Pakistani scholars is quite strong in other countries. Besides, Allama Iqbal, the Quaid, Maudoodi, Sir Hafeez Sayeed, Sir Ejaz Haider, and Sir Hameed may not seem like world-class thinkers to you, but to me and to many others, they are like none other.
"It has been pointed out by several people that while rulers in the Indian subcontinent were busy making tombs, rulers in the West were establishing universities." Here you go bangash
Nalanda University - Gr8est University in World (Its burning and destruction took several months)
Vickramasila 800 A.C
Odantapuri- Second oldest of India's universities after Taxila
Somapura University
Jagaddala University
Vallabhi University
Sanskrit College of Visaladeva
"The Islamic conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. It is a discouraging tale, for its evident moral is that civilization is a precious good, whose delicate complex of order and freedom, culture and peace, can at any moment be overthrown by barbarians invading from without or multiplying within." - Will Durant
@Hasan Rizvi:
Iqbal is no great thinker but a master manipulator of emotions.
No, no of course not. It is actually you who is known the world over as an avant garde philosopher and has an institute named after you at a leading German university. Dr. Ann Marie Schimmel actually wrote a whole treatise on Hasan Rizvi!
@Author Yet another excellent article Sir.
@Dee Cee: Your thoughtful comment also adds a new dimension to the discussion.
We don't think we just act on our emotions. The stronger and the rawer the emotions the more we are impressed. Iqbal is no great thinker but a master manipulator of emotions.
Spot on Mr. Bangash, spot on!
I appreciate your article. As a retired teacher, I always wondered why no great thinkers and philosophers have emerged from Pakistan. I surmise that the lack of freedom and the need to accept all religious and cultural practices without question kills children's desire for knowledge. Free thinking without asking questions is impossible. The teacher can not teach everything and his job is to encourage the student to seek knowledge without fear.
The author fails to acknowledge the great University at Taxila that flourished from the sixth century BC to the fifth century AD, when the Hephthalites razed it to the ground.
One reason for discouraging thinking is that if students, especially of subcontinent, think too much and investigate the origins of Pakistan, they might find it was a bad idea, based on the perceived insecurities of a small number of people, one man in particular. That it was not a popular mass movement but a fear- and violence-driven movement. In fact, any critical thinking will lead to drastic revision of current "reality" that has been filtered into the minds of young Pakistanis.
Although there is a religious perspective, which is no doubt powerful, it will be incomplete analysis to ignore the legacy of the colonial education system where textbooks and school inspectors reigned supreme, and the teacher was, to quote Krishna Kumar, a "meek dictator" who would be at the lowest rung in the educational officials' hierarchy and a terror for students in the classroom. The dependence of the colonial education system on textbooks, and lack of teacher empowerment programs, led to textbook-oriented rote learning practices in the sub-continent. The historical forces of religion might have been strongly relevant for the pre-colonial ages, but we should also look into the practices of the colonial education system to understand the prevalence of unthinking acceptance of received knowledge in the sub-continent. "Ratta" (mugging up), as the Bollywood movie 3 Idiots shows, knows no religion.
This is not just a Pakistani problem, but a problem of the entire Muslim world.
Even in India the only group to NOT to have benefited from universal education and free goodies in education sector are the Muslims. Sir Syed wrote about it long before Independence, its true even today.
Wonderful!
"What has been patently clear from this cross section of students is that our educational system is geared towards the discouragement of abstract thinking. Our students are taught not to question the teacher or the textbook and to just regurgitate material"
But I must say that there's a religious reason why this happens. I'm 100% certain that you are aware of it but afraid of mentioning it lest there will be backlash.
Some versions of Islam as preached by some humans asks a muslim to submit completely. When you submit completely doesn't it come with the condition that 'no questions asked'?
"It has been pointed out by several people that while rulers in the Indian subcontinent were busy making tombs, rulers in the West were establishing universities."
This is a wonderful and brave observation. Taj Mahal which is a legacy of the muslim rule of Delhi is a prime example of a tomb whose contribution was ZERO to humanity. This is exactly at a time when the west was going through revolutions.
Well said Mr Bangash. I cant agree more. This is what Pervez Hoodbhoy is saying all along.
As for the questions raised by the students... I believe it all depends on your interest in the course and important it is for your career. Just a thought.
Bravo to the writer on such a nice description of recipe for success which needs to be adopted by a society.
Very true Mr. Bangash, I had the same problem having teacher say "I don't know" was something very weird for me. FCCU is doing good job by compelling students to be more intellectual and skeptic in nature.
Point driven home. Pakistan's problem will be a lot more easier if a sound education is imparted to the youth. In fact most Muslim world is way below in education . plz google the statistics.
Cheers mate. I wish more people in Pakistan pay attention to these basic requirements of an evolving society i.e. rational thinking and quest for knowledge.
change of socio-political system in pakistan.
AOA, Pakistan is extremely in need of change i.e. prevailing socio- political system of sole power in the hands of one person or few of them ,where in 99% people are left powerless having no voice of them in decision making, need to be change, but the change should not be the change of faces but the change of socio-political system to empower the people at grass root level and allowed them to join the decision making process at all level to decide their own destiny and the destiny of the Nation. This can only be possible by decentralizing the power to empower the people at grass root level on the basis of division within the provinces, with equal opportunity and basic guarantee, for the establishment of welfare state with self-sufficiency in agree culture and industries along with sturdy defense and export oriented foreign policy. For the change read the FAQ on www.idp.org.pk Please do not hesitate to ask me, any relevant question regarding this program.
With regard Ilyas Khan Baloch
Eqbal Ahmad remained in Pakistan for a long time and died in Islamabad