In Pakistan's Public Schools, Jihad Still Part of Lesson Plan
- From: "GWhyte" <gwhyte3003@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2005 19:52:20 -0400
In Pakistan's Public Schools, Jihad Still Part of Lesson Plan
The Muslim nation's public school texts still promote hatred and jihad,
reformers say.
By Paul Watson, Times Staff Writer
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-schools18aug18,0,5638785.story?coll=la-home-headlines
LAHORE, Pakistan - Each year, thousands of Pakistani children learn from
history books that Jews are tightfisted moneylenders and Christians vengeful
conquerors. One textbook tells kids they should be willing to die as martyrs
for Islam.
They aren't being indoctrinated by extremist mullahs in madrasas, the
private Islamic seminaries often blamed for stoking militancy in Pakistan.
They are pupils in public schools learning from textbooks approved by the
administration of President Pervez Musharraf.
Since joining the U.S. as an ally in its "war on terror" four years ago,
Musharraf has urged Pakistanis to shun radical Islam and pursue "enlightened
moderation."
Musharraf and U.S. officials say education reforms are crucial to defeating
extremism in Pakistan, the only Islamic nation armed with nuclear weapons.
Yet reformers who study the country's education system say public school
lessons still promote hatred against non-Muslims and urge jihad, or holy
war.
"I have been arguing for the longest time that, in fact, our state system is
the biggest madrasa," said Rubina Saigol, a U.S.-trained expert on
education. "We keep blaming madrasas for everything and, of course, they are
doing a lot of things I would disagree with.
"But the state ideologies of hate and a violent, negative nationalism are
getting out there where madrasas cannot hope to reach."
The current social studies curriculum guidelines for grades 6 and 7 instruct
textbook writers and teachers to "develop aspiration for jihad" and "develop
a sense of respect for the struggle of [the] Muslim population for achieving
independence."
In North-West Frontier Province, which is governed by supporters of the
ousted Taliban regime in neighboring Afghanistan, the federally approved
Islamic studies textbook for eighth grade teaches students they must be
prepared "to sacrifice every precious thing, including life, for jihad."
"At present, jihad is continuing in different parts of the world," the
chapter continues. "Numerous mujahedin [holy warriors] of Islam are involved
in defending their religion, and independence, and to help their oppressed
brothers across the world."
The textbook for adolescent students says Muslims are allowed to "take up
arms" and wage jihad in self-defense or if they are prevented from
practicing their religion.
"When God's people are forced to become slaves of man-made laws, they are
hindered from practicing the religion of their God," the textbook says.
"When all the legal ways in this regard are closed, then power should be
used to eliminate the evil.
"If Muslims are being oppressed," the book says, "then jihad is necessary to
free them from this cruel oppression."
"Jihad" can mean peaceful struggle as well as holy war. Jihad can be waged
on several levels, beginning with a peaceful, inner struggle for one's own
soul and escalating to killing "infidels."
But Pakistani critics of the public school system maintain that jihad's
softer sense is easily lost in lessons that emphasize that Muslims are
oppressed in many parts of the world, and that encourage fellow Muslims to
fight to free them.
"Some people coming from the regular school system are volunteering for
various kinds of jihad, which is not jihad in classical Islamic theory, but
actually terrorism in the modern concept," said Husain Haqqani, a Pakistani
author and professor of international relations at Boston University.
"All of that shows that somehow the schooling system has fed intolerance and
bigotry."
About 97% of Pakistan's people are Muslims, so it's not unusual for its
government to promote Islamic values in public schools. Many Muslims find
that versions of history taught in countries dominated by non-Muslims are
biased against Islam.
But Pakistan's public education system goes beyond instilling pride in being
Muslim and encourages bigotry that can foment violence against "the other,"
said Haqqani, who has written a new book on the links between the Pakistani
military and radical Muslims.
Under Pakistan's federal government, a national curriculum department in
Islamabad, the capital, sets criteria for provincial textbook boards, which
commission textbooks for local public schools.
Javed Ashraf Qazi, a retired army general and former head of the military's
powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency, or ISI, was named education
minister in September to revive a stalled reform effort. He acknowledges
that the job is still only half finished.
.
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