The use of certain Urdu language stories in the syllabus of private primary schools seems to be an issue of such urgent importance for the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) that they would rather see the regular business of the Punjab Assembly suspended to discuss the matter.
PTI MPA from PP-8 (Rawalpindi VIII), Malik Taimoor Masood, filed an adjournment motion on the weekend, asking the provincial assembly to postpone the session’s activities to discuss the matter of ‘urgent importance’ on the floor of the house.
The matter involved a children’s story being taught in Johar Town’s Lahore Grammar School’s girls campus, which the legislator found to be “inappropriate, obscene and detrimental to the future of the nation’s youth.”
A copy of the adjournment motion—which is available with Pakistan Today—asks the members of the assembly to take immediate notice of “a private school which has carried out the funeral procession of morals and ethics by teaching young children immoral stories.”
It continues on to say that the school has been teaching a story called ‘Mulk Wafadar ki Azmaisah’ which teaches children to “disrespect and disobey their parents, as well as teaching them inappropriate content for their age, and sows in them the seeds of rebellion.”
One tends to wonder why a school would be teaching all this to children in their early years of education. Even if one were to ascribe to the ‘agenda’ idea, why would anyone encourage children to run away from home and be rude to their parents? Going through the story in question, it is even harder to make the connections.
Penned by author Musharraf Ali Farooqi, the story is about a princess in a fictional fairly kingdom, who is wooed by a common man. The only thing in the story encouraging dissent among children is the normal amount of teenage rebellion displayed in nearly all popular entertainment. Despite the harsh scrutiny, no vestige of ‘inappropriate content’ could be found in the children’s tale.
Online readers can view the story themselves, a copy of which was provided to Pakistan Today.
The motion also claimed that “psychologists and other experts have confirmed that the reading of such stories can lead to serious consequences in the development of the child.”
After providing Pakistan Today with a copy of the adjournment motion, Malik Taimoor Masood seemed to be insistent that the matter was urgent enough to adjourn the house. However, no answer to the question of what ‘experts’ had said regarding this was provided.
