Anomaly: Curriculum biased toward non-Muslims, say speakers
Civil society urges immediate reforms to end disparity.
Civil society urges immediate reforms to end disparity. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
Non-Muslim religious groups expressed concern over discriminatory clauses in the Constitution of Pakistan that deny them their fundamental rights and urged the government to take immediate steps to address the issue.
They were speaking at a seminar on ‘Non-Muslim Pakistanis are Equal Citizens in Words, Not in Practice’, organised by Peace and Development Foundation (PDF) here on Tuesday.
Speakers said the constitution discriminates on the basis of religion. To address this anomaly, a charter of demand aimed at recognition and protection of their fundamental rights as equal citizens was presented and approved.
Through the charter, they demanded the removal of “hate content” directed towards non-Muslims in school textbooks.
Educationist Dr AH Nayyar said that there was a need to understand what we are teaching our children through these textbooks. He said that most of our textbooks promote hatred and clearly discriminate between Muslim and non-Muslim.
Participants said that such material is widening the gap between faiths, sects and other communities in Pakistan. Hence, it must be urgently removed from the textbooks.
They expressed concerns over the policy of awarding 20 extra marks to a Hafiz-e-Quran in the public sector boards’ exams, giving an unfair advantage to Muslims over others.
Besides this, the charter said the modality and criteria for elections to the reserve seats for religious minorities in the national and provincial assemblies and local government tiers should be revised and altered to enable each community to elect their own candidate. The number of seats should be increased and a nationwide census of non-Muslims should urgently be conducted with the findings publicised.
Senior advocate Naeem Shakir said, “It is clearly stated in the constitution that a non-Muslim cannot become president, prime minister or hold other key positions.”
The charter demanded that all such controversial additions in the law must urgently be removed.
PDF executive Director Romana Bashir said that in Pakistan, it is very difficult to be a woman and more so from a minority group.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 1st, 2014.
Non-Muslim religious groups expressed concern over discriminatory clauses in the Constitution of Pakistan that deny them their fundamental rights and urged the government to take immediate steps to address the issue.
They were speaking at a seminar on ‘Non-Muslim Pakistanis are Equal Citizens in Words, Not in Practice’, organised by Peace and Development Foundation (PDF) here on Tuesday.
Speakers said the constitution discriminates on the basis of religion. To address this anomaly, a charter of demand aimed at recognition and protection of their fundamental rights as equal citizens was presented and approved.
Through the charter, they demanded the removal of “hate content” directed towards non-Muslims in school textbooks.
Educationist Dr AH Nayyar said that there was a need to understand what we are teaching our children through these textbooks. He said that most of our textbooks promote hatred and clearly discriminate between Muslim and non-Muslim.
Participants said that such material is widening the gap between faiths, sects and other communities in Pakistan. Hence, it must be urgently removed from the textbooks.
They expressed concerns over the policy of awarding 20 extra marks to a Hafiz-e-Quran in the public sector boards’ exams, giving an unfair advantage to Muslims over others.
Besides this, the charter said the modality and criteria for elections to the reserve seats for religious minorities in the national and provincial assemblies and local government tiers should be revised and altered to enable each community to elect their own candidate. The number of seats should be increased and a nationwide census of non-Muslims should urgently be conducted with the findings publicised.
Senior advocate Naeem Shakir said, “It is clearly stated in the constitution that a non-Muslim cannot become president, prime minister or hold other key positions.”
The charter demanded that all such controversial additions in the law must urgently be removed.
PDF executive Director Romana Bashir said that in Pakistan, it is very difficult to be a woman and more so from a minority group.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 1st, 2014.