ICC Note:

The National Commission for Justice and Peace in Pakistan has released a report claiming that the state approved textbooks and curricula is actually teaching students to hate religious minorities. Pakistan, which often ranks among the worst offenders of religious freedom, often witnesses religiously motivated violence against the country’s vulnerable religious minority communities. Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs often face violence and open discrimination at the hands of the country’s Muslim majority. Will Pakistan be able to reverse this trend by changing its education system to teach a more inclusive and tolerant attitude to its students? 

8/1/2016 Pakistan (Asia News) – State-approved textbooks and curricula are full of references that incite hatred and intolerance against non-Muslims, this according to a study released yesterday in Lahore by the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) of Pakistan.

“This is not only about religious minorities but a national issue,” said NCJP executive director Cecil Shane Chaudhry. “It is a red flag for the government, which must ask the Church to promote the role of minorities in creating and defending the country.”

According to the 40-page study, government-approved curricula used in the country’s four provinces are responsible for the rise in mass violence, religious fanaticism and extremism.

It examines the effects of Islamic texts on society, looks at its effects on Muslim students, and reviews educational reforms.

At the same time, it points out human rights violations in education policy and in the school system, showing how historical facts are twisted, and ending with some recommendations from the Commission.

“When I was in Grade 6, I felt proud when reading about my fighter pilot dad in the school book,” said Cecil Shane Chaudry. “However his name along with other non-Muslim heroes disappeared by the time I reached in college. For me, this deliberate change set off an alarm bell.”

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