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发帖数: 29846 | 1 (CNSNews.com) – Textbooks used in Pakistani public schools and religious
madrassas promote intolerant views of non-Muslim minorities, extol jihad,
and portray non-Muslims not at citizens with rights but as infidels, pagans,
apostates or subservient dhimmis, according to an unprecedented new study.
Interviews with teachers and students, carried out as part of the
investigation, found that negative views of non-Muslims contained in the
books are widely held by teachers and transmitted to children.
The study was funded by the U.S. Commission on International Religious
Freedom (USCIRF) while the research was conducted by the International
Center for Religion and Diplomacy in partnership with a Pakistani think tank
, the Sustainable Development Policy Institute.
A 139-page report was released by the USCIRF in Washington on Wednesday.
“This study – the first-ever study of its kind – documents how Pakistan’
s public schools and privately-run madrassas are not teaching tolerance but
are exacerbating religious differences,” said USCIRF chairman Leonard Leo.
“Education reform incorporating religious tolerance is critical to the
development of a society that values human rights, including religious
freedom, for all its citizens,” he said. “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.”
The USCIRF, an independent, statutory body that advises the U.S. government
on religious freedom around the world, has called every year since 2002 for
the State Department to designate Pakistan as a “country of particular
concern” (CPC), but to no avail.
Under the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, CPCs are countries whose
governments either perpetrate or condone “systematic, ongoing, and
egregious” abuses of religious freedom. The U.S. may impose sanctions or
take other diplomatic steps designed to encourage improvements.
In the new study, researchers reviewed more than 100 textbooks, used by
Muslim and non-Muslim students from grades 1-10, in Pakistan’s four
provinces – Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They also
interviewed hundreds of teachers and students at 37 public schools and 19
madrassas.
“The goal of this study was to explore what linkages, if any, exist between
the portrayal of religious minorities in Pakistan’s public schools and
madrassas, biases that exist toward these minorities, and acts of
discrimination or extremism resulting from such biases,” Leo wrote in the
preface to the report’s preface.
The results, he said, were “eye opening and concerning.”
Despite efforts by Pakistani authorities to reform the education system over
the past six years, including revisions to the national curricula, the
investigation found that problematic content remains in textbooks, including
those that have been reprinted since the revisions were introduced.
Even ostensibly non-religious textbooks contain significant Islamic content,
and they are used by Muslim and non-Muslim children alike.
For example, in grade 3,4,5 and 6 Urdu-language social studies textbooks
used in all four provinces, lessons with Islamic content comprise about one-
quarter of the total.
The study found that the defense of Pakistan is equated with the defense of
Islam.
“The anti-Islamic forces are always trying to finish the Islamic domination
of the world,” reads an excerpt from a grade 5 Punjab social studies
textbook. “This can cause danger for the very existence of Islam. Today,
the defense of Pakistan and Islam is very much in need.”
Where reference to non-Muslims or non-Islamic beliefs do appear, they are
often derogatory.
“Religious minorities are often portrayed as inferior or second-class
citizens who have been granted limited rights and privileges by generous
Pakistani Muslims, for which they should be grateful, and to whom religious
minorities should be subservient,” the report states.
“The contributions of religious minorities towards the formation,
development, and protection of Pakistan are largely absent.”
Hindus are often singled out, as are Ahmadis, adherents of an Islamic sect
considered heretical by mainstream Muslims.
“Although an unbiased review of history would show that Hindus and Muslims
enjoyed centuries of harmonious co-existence, Hindus are repeatedly
described as extremists and eternal enemies of Islam. Hindu culture and
society are portrayed as unjust and cruel, while Islam is portrayed as just
and peaceful.”
The few references to Christians “seem generally negative, painting an
incomplete picture of the largest religious minority in Pakistan,” while
Jews are depicted as predatory moneylenders.
The report acknowledged that many public school teachers and students do “
advocate respect for religious minorities, but a large portion do not
understand minority citizenship rights and are wary about them ever holding
public office.”
‘Fight until they submit or convert to Islam’
Books used in madrassas, privately-run religious institutions, were
especially worrying.
“In every madrassa textbook reviewed, the concept of jihad has been reduced
from its wider meaning of personal development to violent conflict in the
name of Islam, considered to be the duty of every Muslim. The Qur’anic
verse commanding the believer to ‘kill the pagans [or infidels or
unbelievers] wherever you find them’ is often cited with no context.”
“At no time is it suggested that decisions regarding warfare should be left
to the state, creating the possibility that the reader could consider it
his or her individual responsibility to fight,” the report says.
While public school textbooks tend to make negative generalizations and omit
positive facts about religious minorities, those used in madrassas
prescribe unequal status and treatment for non-Muslims, who are generally
portrayed as fitting in one of three categories:
--Infidels or pagans: “They are treated as enemies, and there are clear,
recurring orders to fight against them until they submit or convert to Islam
.”
--Dhimmis: Referring to those who have “protected” status under Islamic
law and are subjected to humiliating regulations and taxes, textbooks
encourage segregation, instruct that dhimmis are not equal to Muslim
citizens, and instruct Muslims to make them uncomfortable.
--Apostates: Madrassa textbooks reviewed gave instructions that a person
who has turned away from Islam must be arrested and given three days to
repent on pain of death. One book advised that an apostate should be killed
immediately.
Hardline views were also evident in the interviews.
“As many as 90% of the teachers interviewed for this study had a
reductionist understanding of jihad, referring only to killing or fighting
in the name of Allah or for Islam,” the report stated. “As many as 80% of
the respondents considered non-Muslims to be enemies of Islam.”
The report’s recommendations include: full implementation of the curricular
reforms introduced six years ago; removal of derogatory content and
inclusion of content highlighting contributions of religious minorities to
Pakistan; anti-discrimination training for school leaders and faculty; and
the creation of an effective, confidential reporting mechanism for incidents
of minority discrimination. |
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