HISTORY TAUGHT IN PAKISTAN

SARASIJ MAJUMDER

You ask any Indian school boy about the history of the Indian subcontinent; he will refer to the Harappan civilization which lasted for at least 2000 years till the Aryans entered the subcontinent in 1500 BC from the land what is now known as Iran.

You put the same question to a Pakistani school boy and he will tell you, history in the Indian subcontinent began in 710 AD. No, I am not joking, Pakistan has simply erased 4,200 years of history in a stroke.

1. 710 AD was the year the first Arab Muhammad bin Qasim entered the Sindh.
2. Pakistanis are “taught” Muhammad bin Qasim was the first Pakistani. Again, I am not joking. The book “Pakistan Studies” introduced by Zia Ul Haq tells you so. Passing this course is compulsory for all students at all levels up to university courses including engineering and medicine.
3. History of the subcontinent is scissored to remove all reference to non-Muslim kingdoms.
4. The British and the Congress (read, Hindus) colluded to cheat Muslims in deciding land for Pakistan. There is no mention of the terms of reference accepted by Jinnah for the purpose of partition. “The evil collusion between the Congress and the British” [victimized innocent Muslims]. That is the idea propagated!
5. Textbook writers are forced to depict Jinnah as a deeply religious person. A top official of the Oxford University Press disclosed this.
6. Pakistani “history” never refers to any non-Muslim freedom fighters. It doesn’t refer to even Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan because he argued for autonomy for his province.
7. This book liberally referred to Hindus as “enemy”. The epithets for Hindu are, “cunning” and “evil”.
8. “Evil force” was the term used for Sikhs.
9. Subsequent “reforms” in curricula toned down the hostility but the spirit is still there: Muslims were innocent victims while the “Other” were perpetrators.
10. Pakistani students are taught, their country routed India in all wars it fought with us. Referring to the 1965 war - “The Armed Forces of Pakistan, filled with the spirit of Jihad, forced an enemy many times bigger than it to face a humiliated defeat”.
11. All students of grade 9 and 10 going for matriculation are required to cram up this “history” and give an exam. When 2 million students take the matric exam in any year, you can imagine the indoctrination Pakistanis undergo at an impressionable tender age, no wonder hatred & paranoia for India lives on for ever.
12. “Graduates” from madrassas teach this kind of history in normal schools. Their “degrees” are conferred under the Zia’s “revamp” of Pakistani educational system.
13. Students & teachers are not allowed to question the logic underlying textbook material. Discussion, debate, analytical thinking etc. are discouraged. Textbook material is a “given”. Say, science books invariably begin with the declaration that the world is made by the god.
14. Bangladesh is the result of “a secret agreement of big powers”. Of course, no mention of the cultural & ethnic domination (by Punjabi Pakistanis) being the root cause. “….negative role of Hindu teachers [in East Pakistan]….”
15. “Pakistan is playing a very effective role against terrorism and extremism in the world”.
16. “Why would our students need to study world history when they live in Pakistan?”
17. Teaching methods stress upon rote learning like one does for religious scriptures.
18. “India had a constant wish to weaken the integrity of Pakistan for one reason or other”.
19. “The process of separation of East Pakistan was secretly supported by America”.
20. They are told, India and USA have evil designs to destroy Pakistan. This is so despite the 10s (or perhaps 100s) of billions USA dumped into this country.

There are many such interesting points but this should be enough. An important thing we must note is, groomed under such highly biased & brainwashing schemes, the attitudes of students and adults are exactly befitting the indoctrination.

NOTE: What I have written is ENTIRELY VERBATIM from the book by Madiha Afzal. I have neither added any nor interpreted any.

Caught in its own Narrative, and “History” of Pakistan -is- rewritten!

Source:

Pakistan Under Siege: Extremism, Society and the State by Madiha Afzal, a USA based Political Economist of Pakistani origin. Refer Image .