- Hostile agendas take over
A process of facilitating learning and acquisition of knowledge, skills, values and beliefs, known as education, is increasingly being made hostage in Pakistan by elements of hatred and persecution. The result: a growing atmosphere of intolerance, backwardness, extremism and pessimism prevails; the very opposite of which education inculcates, that is a balanced, growth propelling forward approach.
Two worrying incidents have recently emerged to give strength to this argument. In a bid to understand the woes of a harassed community better, an instructor of a prominent university in Lahore took his students of political science to a visit. The students were encouraged to interact for a better understanding and express solidarity with the community. While they indeed made the effort, the students and their institution’s administration were later rudely reminded by certain elements that their actions bore sentiments of ‘anti-Islam’.
A circulation of threats emerged against the assistant professor who arranged the trip, his students and the administration of their varsity, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), warning of a campaign against them.
The threat makers cheekily admitted to their ‘mission’, claiming that “If LUMS does not respond, we will launch a campaign against them just like we launched a campaign against Beaconhouse”.
The other institution which has had to bear the brunt of zealots, is a well-established school system in Pakistan. Near to completing almost half a century in the field, the system is now slapped with allegations that it promotes ‘anti-Pakistan’ sentiments.
And what suffers in the end is not only the society, the entire education system of the nation is at stake. The system is being made a hostage
The ‘sin’ which Beaconhouse committed, which led to an unnecessary uproar, was that in a map of one of its textbooks, Kashmir was shown as part of India rather than a disputed territory. Secondly, the school’s website had published an exam paper which included a question asking why India had triumphed in the wars of 1965 and 1971.
The school system clarified that the flaw in the map was a human error rectified already 2-3 years ago, while the exam question, which was a rude awakening of the stark reality against the web of lies spun to exemplify the ‘glorious’ victory of our nation, was in fact included in a past paper of the Cambridge Ordinary Levels exam, not the school and attempted by all students of Pakistan in that year. But with these statements conveniently brushed aside, Beaconhouse was trending on Twitter for the wrong reasons, accused of treason and tens of thousands of Facebook posts and tweets with the hashtag ‘BoycottBeaconhouse’ emerged.
Independent analysts were quick to point out that these trends were not organic. In a column in the daily The Nation, Hassan Javid, assistant professor of political science at LUMS – the same institution which has been accused of promoting ‘anti–Islam’ agenda, wrote that “it is worth mentioning the ‘trends’ of this kind of social media are not spontaneous expressions of collective sentiment. They are, in fact, manufactured and planned, promoted by key social media influencers who use the technological tools at their disposal, as well as their popularity, to push particular agendas”.
What these two campaigns depict is not an undying love for our nation or the spirit of maintaining the glory of Islam. What they represent is a shockingly stifling atmosphere, where freedom of expression and education of masses mean nothing in front of false agendas and intolerant mindsets. It portrays a worrying picture of a society, which is evolving to be one where no questions dare to be asked and where beliefs are forced upon, non-acceptance of which is countered by a threat to life.
Where personal motives of vendetta can instigate a crowd to question the authenticity of a well-established institution, we cannot call that community learned. Where the generations of a nation are fed upon lies and deceits, that culture cannot be termed honest. Where freedom of expression and basic human rights granted by the constitution of the country are trampled upon, the country cannot claim to be independent. For when that community, nation and country depend on the shackles of fear, narrow mindedness and forceful obedience, it can hardly be expected to be progressive.
And what suffers in the end is not only the society, the entire education system of the nation is at stake. The system is being made a hostage. It is expected to practice rote learning and blind following of set beliefs and agendas and ‘agreeable’ notions. Asking questions, efforts to promote harmony and mutual learning are not accepted. As a result, what we would inculcate to our coming generations would not be education, but literacy of closed minded concepts by only those who thrive on them.
Hassan Javid closes his column by concluding that “What needs to be understood is that critical thinking and free expression are crucial to the development of any society. It is only by questioning received wisdom and by speaking truth to power that lessons can be learnt from the past and the powerful can be held accountable”.
I would conclude my column by saying that if we educate with the true meaning of the word and follow the true spirit of Islam promoting peace, harmony and tolerance, as practiced by the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), the outcome would itself ensure that there is no treason or blasphemous act in our society. Truth exists, it cannot be denied or made to believe.
