Pakistan Education & Absolutism

Arts & Culture Culture, Arts, Literature & Linguistics
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The massacre of Shia’s in Quetta recently has highlighted extremism in Pakistani society, many religious and ethnic groups feel very insecure in Pakistan right now. This writer makes some interesting points about Pakistans education system and I should add many of the changes made during Zia ul Haqs time.

Op-ed: Roots of absolutism

Ravian

Dangerous strains of the absolutist ideology associated with madrassahs have crept into the mainstream government education system, producing children who are easy prey to sectarian and ethnic hate-mongers. Fixing school curriculum has to be the top priority

It is well-known that madrassahs, sanctuaries of traditional Islamic learning, were turned, with our connivance, into centres of militancy and absolutist ideology to fight the CIA/Saudi Arabia-sponsored jihad against the Soviets in Afghanistan. The current terrorist outrage that has frozen up investors and threatens our nascent economic recovery is payback for that blunder.

Less well-known is the fact that several dangerous strains of that ideology have now crept into the mainstream public education system run by the government. In a recent report, “The Subtle Subversion”, authors A.H. Nayyar and Ahmed Salim at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) systematically investigate the curricula and textbooks used in Pakistan’s government schools. They show how, beginning with Ziaul Haq’s regime, the textbooks have been subverted to promote an absolutist ideology.

The authors, with the help of 30 leading experts on the country’s education system gathered at the SDPI last year, ploughed through course materials for Social/Pakistan Studies and Urdu and English used in class I to Class XII. This is what they find:

  • inaccuracies of fact and omissions that distort our history

  • insensitivity to the religious diversity of the nation

  • incitement to militancy and violence, encouraging jihad and shahadat (martyrdom)

  • encouraging prejudice, bigotry and discrimination against women and minorities

  • discouraging critical self-awareness

The report highlights the all-pervasive and anti-India, specifically anti-Hindu bias in the course material. There is virtually no acknowledgement of the contributions to the country made by non-Muslims such as A R Cornelius, Dorab Patel, Sobho Gianchandani, Cecil Choudhry and Bapsi Sidwa. A largely Sunni version of Islam dominates the course material, not just of Islamiat, but also Pakistan Studies, Urdu and English.

Heavy religious content permeates Urdu textbooks in particular: four out of 25 lessons in Class I are on Islam, eight out of 33 in Class II, 10 out of 45 in Class IV, seven out of 34 in Class V, 14 out of 46 lessons in Class VI, 16 out 53 lessons in Class VII, 15 out of 46 lessons in Class VIII and 10 out of 68 lessons in Classes IX to X.

Here are some nuggets contained in textbooks compulsory for all students, Muslim and non-Muslim:

“Our country is Pakistan. We live in our country. Pakistan is an Islamic country. Here Muslims live. Muslims believe in the unity of Allah. They do good deeds” (Class II Urdu textbook).

“Who am I? I am a Muslim. I am a Pakistani. I love my country and I love my people … you know that you are a Muslim and your religion is Islam” (Class Six Urdu textbook).

Another textbook exhorts: “Good people are those who read the Qur’an and teach the Qur’an to others”.

And what is a Christian or a Hindu or a Parsee child to feel on reading this compulsory material? And how does the Muslim child thus indoctrinated view his non-Muslim neighbour in the class or indeed in the big, wide world?

The themes of jihad and shahadat recur in textbooks obeying instructions of the National Curriculum for Social Studies. Here are some of the instructions:

“Learning outcomes: Recognize the importance of jihad in every sphere of life. Awareness of the blessings of jihad. Must create a yearning for jihad in the heart of the child. Promote love and aspiration for jihad, Tableegh (proselytisation), jihad, shahadat, sacrifice, ghazi (the victor in holy wars), shaheed (martyr).”

Viewing the world through the prism of religion results in a unique interpretation of history. The report cites a textbook of Pakistan Studies:

“…as a matter of fact, Pakistan came to be established for the first time when the Arabs under Mohammed bin Qasim occupied Sindh and Multan in the early years of the eighth century, and established Muslim rule in this part of the South Asian Sub-continent. Pakistan under the Arabs comprised the Lower Indus Valley.” The text goes on, “…the 11th century Ghaznavid Empire comprised what is now Pakistan and Afghanistan. During the 12th century the Ghaznavids lost Afghanistan, and their rule came to be confined to Pakistan”.

There is no room in this absolutist worldview for the vast majority of Pakistani children whose ancestors converted from Hinduism, probably because of its oppressive caste system, and have an identity rooted in the Indus Basin quite distinct from the Afghans, the Iranians and the Arabs with whom the child is exhorted to identify.

Such course material extends the madrassah worldview to government schools, in effect creating a two-tier system of education split along income lines. The middle class children attend private schools whose curriculum is geared towards a more rational worldview. The poor, meanwhile, are indoctrinated, even in government schools, in a fatalistic ideology that is shockingly ignorant and cynical about the rest of the world. This amounts to sowing the seeds of a class war. Given the religion-based absolutist ideological underpinnings, this class hatred increasingly results in tragedies such as the two recent events in Quetta.

Economists and others who recommend increasing education expenditures as a necessary condition for economic development focus only on inputs i.e., money spent on education or enrolment rates or, at best, years of completed schooling. What matters is the product of the education system. And if the curriculum is as dangerously misguided as the report argues, the input-based focus on education will clearly not suffice.

To improve the product of education, the report recommends:

  • Establish a national education board of leading public/private educationists

  • Abolish the curriculum wing of the Ministry of Education

  • Abolish textbook boards

  • Reform the national curriculum to remedy falsehoods, distortions and omissions.

  • Remove material encouraging discrimination against women, religious and ethnic minorities and other nations

  • Remove incoherent, inconsistent, arbitrary concepts and pedagogical problems in the course material.

The report is compulsory reading.

The writer is a leading economist of Pakistan

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I had no idea, and I want to send my kids to school in Pakistan. Is it really like that in every school?

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Sadya is it because you dont want your kids going to school in western countries? Just curious, because you always have the option of homeschooling. If you dont want to send them to school you dont have to.

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^ chewy I don't understand that logic. That won't make the problem go away. IN India there was/still to some degree is a drive to revise the Indian historical experience for education purposes. A lot of opposition sprouted up among the status quo believers who petitioned publishers, fed and state gov'ts and NGO's to stop this from happening. I was part of an NGO form the US that caters to primary educational concern in India that lobbied hard and thankfully stopped the curriculum changes in a lot of states. Interestingly the only states where we couldn't stop the changing tide,was in UP and Bihar. The least educated and most poor states.

THink about if India a muslim child has to repeat the mantra that only hindus are good people and therefore good Indians. Only those who believe in polytheism are the righteous ones. It is darn right ofensive. Doesn't matter if the muslim child is part of the 12% of population or the Hindu child is part of 2% of population.

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Zakk, excellent post!. The best post I have read on GS so far.

But I want to make one personal observation. In my HS in Pakistan, we had a separate Islamiyat class for Shia students. Also, Christians were exempt from taking Islamiyat class. But then again, it was a missionary school. I am not sure about government schools.

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^ Mats: True , in case of Pakistan the syallabi mentioned in the article was mostly invented in the 80's during Zia ul Haq's time. One of those cheap theatrics to win a bit of popularity. The problem is made worse by the three tier nature of the education system.

The people who do well, that is those who to private schools or slightly better off stateschools, are disconnected from the rest (the failure to invest in education is another problem). Religious education was always an established practice in Muslim society but in the past it was never so exclusionary and unbalanced as it now is in some sections. That disconnection has created a group of people who can't progress in society because they lack any education in real lifes problems or real life skills.

In India's case Saffronisation of education in UP may have the same effect 10 or 20 years down the road. And I'd like to point out for the BJP UP was the main victory it does after all constitute the biggest proportion of India's population.

With regard to sadyas post, No not every school is like that, in the private sector there are many good schools

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by cHEeGUm: *
Sadya is it because you dont want your kids going to school in western countries? Just curious, because you always have the option of homeschooling. If you dont want to send them to school you dont have to.
[/QUOTE]

Actually, I'm not a big fan of homeschooling, because I think that interaction with other children is necesary for the development of character. I think it stimulates children to try harder, when they see other children with good grades. Education should be fun too, I think it would be more fun for kids to be able to go to school.

I'm not sure what to think anymore about western schools. Some say, as long as you keep your kids in touch with your own culture, it shouldn't make too much difference. If they have kids their own age from their own culture to identify with, kids want to belong to a group, it's tough to be different when you're a child. All I know is the difference even in little children who attended an Islamic school and a 'normal' western school. We only have Primary Islamic Schools here, recently an Islamic University opened as well. But it's still a beginning and the waiting lists are huge!
The children which attend Islamic school (the ones I've seen anyway) seem to be better mannered, that also depends on the parents of course, but the school makes a huge difference too. Like in other schools (here in Dutchyland anway) they can call the teachers by their names, there is hardly any respect left for teachers. And the same kids also don't have much respect for the elderly. And of course the western view of Islam isn't great either. Just look at the history books when it comes to the chapter about Islam!

To me going to Pakistan when they're a little order is jsut the solution. On the other hand, what I just read in the article above is scary! I don't want my kids to be like that either! They should be pious, but also openminded.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by funguy: *
In my HS in Pakistan, we had a separate Islamiyat class for Shia students. Also, Christians were exempt from taking Islamiyat class. But then again, it was a missionary school. I am not sure about government schools.
[/QUOTE]

So that means it's better to send your kids to a private school instead of government school. I heard people talking about military school or something, they said the kids are lectured there in Urdu as well as in English. I wonder why they name it military school.

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Excellent article and I am glad that there are organizations who are keeping an eye on such issues and want to see something done about it.

The curricula changed at the time of Zia was systematic, where primary classes were changed at first and then the same change in syllabus were carried out for higher eds. Unfortunately for people like myself who were brought up in the 80s had little idea of anything else.

I went to a P.A.F school in the beginning and they are usually like any private school. Most of them offer course books that are taught in British schooling system and are way ahead of the game than many other schools. The one on Peshawar Base used to be the trend setter for all other expensive private schools in the area. I have heard some of the non-traditional army schools! Though as far as the state owned F.G schools are concerned, they are in a pretty bad condition.

For example, if you read the Islamiya'at course book for 9th and 10th, it says on the cover, for Shia & Sunni Muslims. Even though the Shia part is for lip service but that's a different story. But what about the Ahmadis, Ismailies etc. Where are they suppose to go. Between me and my outspoken Ismaili friend, we were usually asked to leave the Islamiya'at class. The other option was to study civics, which one of the Christian student in our class did. But guess what? There was no teacher for Civics in school, even if there were there wouldn't be a class available for him to teach in and even if that was possible, there was no way in the world the timetable could be adjusted to accommodate such classes. The Christian dude hired a tutor at home for his civics.

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sadya, I am not sure what city you plan on living in but there are good private schools in every major city.

Another Zia legacy was that he natianalized all schools and indirectly tried to dictatae curriculum taught in private schools. I believe things have changed now.

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great article :k: and there is a real need to change the standard of our text books as more than 50 years have passed and a more rational viewpoint should be introduced from beginning.. it really becomes confusing or amusing when the student goes to bachelors or masters as the person has to unlearn so many things.. our higher studies are much better in quality and more rational..

Sadya, dont worry there are loads of great schools in every major cities of Pakistan.. alas our government schools so miserable dont even think about that.. the day we will ahve equal standard for the whole population - the day will be start of social justice promised long back..

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Great article.

Unfortunately it is very true too !! I remember when I did my O Levels from Pakistan, we studied History which covered the history of Indo-Pak from the Aryans to Modern day Pakistan. There were 4 sections- Pre Islam, Muslim rule, British and Modern history. A few years later when my cousin did O Levels from the same school, history had been changed to "Pak Studies". The Pakstan studies in the lower classes at my school was also extremely biased and until I left Pakistan, I was not aware of any significant achievements of any non-muslim leaders for independence !!

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A related article

Op-ed: On madrassah reform

Abbas Rashid

The task for the government is not just that of reforming madrassahs. As important, if not more so, it urgently needs to reform public sector education

The issue of madrassah reform in Pakistan has become the focus of considerable attention in the aftermath of September 11 and the rise of terrorist acts within Pakistan. In part this is due to the recent role of the madrassahs — traditionally, places of learning — in the rise of the Taliban. Consider institutions such as the Madrassah Dar-ul Uloom Haqqania in Akora Khattak from where the better part of Afghanistan’s Taliban leadership graduated. In 1997, Maulana Sami-ul Haq closed down the school so that the students could assist the Taliban fighting in Afghanistan.

Of course, earlier, when the Soviets were in Afghanistan the madrassahs were seen in a very different light by the US administration and the government of General Ziaul Haq. Madrassahs, though by no means all, were a part of the institutional support structure in the Afghan jihad against the Soviet Union, financed by the US and Saudi Arabia and mediated by Pakistan. But now that the scenario has changed, efforts are underway to ‘modernise’ madrassah education on the assumption that this would change the mindset of the students who are a product of the system. As a first step towards controlling the activities of the madrassahs the government has sought to end foreign students’ enrolment in these institutions.

There were roughly 250 madrassahs in Pakistan in 1947. Before the advent of Ziaul Haq and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 there were close to 2,500 madrassahs. At present the approximate figure may be closer to 10,000 to 12,000 madrassahs. To some extent their growth was encouraged by the state for its own ends. But, partly, the dismal state of public sector schools has made them a viable option for many. The government now wants the madrassahs to register with it and thereby make themselves eligible for official assistance. Having registered they would also have to teach subjects such as science, English and mathematics. There is also a lot of emphasis on computer studies.

This is all very well, but given the ethos of the madrassah and the fact that the management and the faculty already associated with the institution will continue, how likely is it that we will witness a sea-change in the attitude of the students of these institutions in the near future? A few madrassahs may be teaching some of these subjects, already. As the vice chancellor of the key Deobandi institution Jamia Banoria, Karachi, informed the delegation from the department of education last week, the students at the Jamia were already given formal education up to eight grades with all compulsory subjects including science, English and mathematics. The government has warned of cutting off funds of madrassahs that do not register and broaden their curriculum. While this will impact some madrassahs, most that do not receive such funding, will not be affected by it. And some can certainly find alternative sources.

But the government is obviously upbeat about its efforts. A note recently circulated by the Pakistan embassy in Washington informs us that under the provisions of the 2001 Madrassah Education Board Ordinance, three model madrassahs were established in Karachi, Sukkur and Islamabad last year. These madrassahs are following the new curricula and the Islamabad madrassah was designed exclusively for girls. If these madrassahs were expected to have some sort of a ripple effect, that apparently has not come about, particularly in Islamabad.

According to a Daily Times report last Tuesday, the president’s secretariat has written to the prime minister’s secretariat to stop the growth of mosques and madrassahs in the federal capital lest this provide a spur to religious extremism. The report is instructive on more than one count. It points to the over 300 institutions in Islamabad and refers to the ‘silent competition’ between Deobandis and Barelvis to increase the number of mosques and regrets the fact that their managements do not produce ‘broad-minded and educated Muslims.’ Clearly, the 2001 ordinance is not having much of an effect even in Islamabad. However, the report tells us about some creative measures to deal with extremism proposed at a recent meeting of the Capital development authority (CDA): a boundary wall around the diplomatic enclave!

If the government is serious about the issue of madrassah reform it should keep in mind that more than a million students are a part of this system. Often they come from the poorest and most deprived backgrounds. To the extent that they get an education, it is free. And that means their boarding and lodging, clothes and textbooks etc are taken care of. Some madrassahs even provide a small stipend. Compare this to what, for instance, the Punjab government means by ‘free’ education: it has done away with the very nominal fee that children going to public sector schools are obliged to pay. But the main expense incurred on uniforms, books, meals, etc remains. And barring exceptions, there is not that much learning that takes place at these schools, either. To what extent the students’ attitudes differ from their madrassah counterparts is also debatable. But one thing is certain: the gap is narrowing.

It is by radically improving the public sector schools and subsidizing those in the private sector that are willing to provide education to the very low income groups or locate themselves in remote areas will the government provide a real alternative to the madrassahs. When the government speaks loftily of providing science, English and mathematics in madrassahs it should take some time off to examine the state of these subjects and the availability of teachers to teach them in its own over 100,000 public sector schools.

In any case, the attitudes, which are a matter of concern, may have as much to do with how we teach subjects such as Pakistan Studies, Islamiyat and Urdu. While the huge wastage in the education sector has to come to an end some of the major changes needed will become possible only when the government decides to stop treating the social sector as an area of peripheral concern and gives it the budgetary priority it must have as compared to defence expenditure, for instance. In other words the task for the government is not just that of reforming madrassahs. As important, if not more so, it urgently needs to reform public sector education.

Abbas Rashid is a freelance journalist and political analyst whose career has included editorial positions in various Pakistani newspapers

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ahmadjee: *
For example, if you read the Islamiya'at course book for 9th and 10th, it says on the cover, for Shia & Sunni Muslims. Even though the Shia part is for lip service but that's a different story. But what about the Ahmadis, Ismailies etc.

[/QUOTE]

now dont start such issues here....
u know very well that the religions u mentioned here do not fall under Islam and hence civis/pakistan geography were provided as alternatives....
sounds fair enuff....

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Send your kids to Beaconhouse :)

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Very one sided article!

Why are we so apologetic about Islam.

-Isn't Jihad mandatory on Muslims??? (ofcourse destroying buildings and killing innocent people is not Jihad) Jihad is struggle against bad and sometimes it may even reach Qitaal, but with strict conditions. We do not have to be apologetic about it. Its part of our faith. Our curriculum needs to teach it but in the right way.

  • Yes Islam came to Sub-Continent with the conquest of Sindh. We should be proud of it! Why are you guys ashamed? Yes we are Muslims! We got rid of the tyrrany of Hindus and got freedom! We saw light and came out of darkness!

  • Iran is a theocratic state, and even though there are 20% sunnis in it, there is no place of any Sunni literature. I personally do no believe on any sects. We are all Muslims!

  • There are 97% Muslims in Pakistan. The minority is only 3%. We can reword our text and respect our minorities beliefs, but we cannot change it completely. Its just like saying, lets not teach meanings of the Quran on TV, since TV is being watched worldwide, so respect people's feelings. What is this logic?

[Quote]
“Our country is Pakistan. We live in our country. Pakistan is an Islamic country. Here Muslims live. Muslims believe in the unity of Allah. They do good deeds” (Class II Urdu textbook).

“Who am I? I am a Muslim. I am a Pakistani. I love my country and I love my people ... you know that you are a Muslim and your religion is Islam” (Class Six Urdu textbook).

Another textbook exhorts: “Good people are those who read the Qur’an and teach the Qur’an to others”.
[/Quote]

I do not find any problem with these statements quoted above!

Yes in the MAdrassahs of Pakistan, people are taught extremism, which I myself observed. They need to be changed. The curriculum in the schools regarding Islamiat isn't that objectionable. Maybe some so called "forward looking" , "progressive" people do not want to see any Islam in the minds of our people.

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Another article on the issue:

Moderation and education
Amina Jilani
Our indefatigable federal education minister has been on the go now for three and a half years, charged by the President General to work wonders and get the country’s literacy rate up to a respectable figure - a task that is probably beyond Zobaida Jalal, as it has been beyond any minister since time memorial in Pakistan. The minister reportedly regularly interacts (to use one of Musharraf’s favorite expressions) with the American ambassador, Nancy Powell, and they get together to visit, and sometimes to paint, schools around the capital area. They also engage in interminable discussions on the use of the funds provided by the US and international donors such as USAID and UNICEF towards upping the literacy rate, which right now is sinking, in line with the booming population growth (does anyone believe the suddenly reduced government birth rate figure of 2.1 percent per annum?).
Musharraf’s avowed intent is to convert this complexed, largely bigoted and intolerant nation, with definite obscurantist tendencies, into a nation that is moderate, tolerant, forward-looking and forward-moving. Now this cannot happen overnight, and it cannot happen unless the literacy rate gives a massive leap upwards. The nation needs schools and more schools, education and more education of the formal, sane, balanced, enlightening type - state of the art and in tune with the 21st century, which means a total revamping of the national curriculum. Just what has Ms Jalal done about the curriculum, which since 1972 has distorted the minds of the few million subjected to it?
According to contemporary textbooks used in government schools the history of Pakistan begins with the arrival in Sindh of conqueror Mohammad bin Qasim and Islam, followed by Mahmud of Ghazni who stormed through the Khyber Pass 17 times spreading Islam (and a good deal of terror, which of course is not mentioned). It then jumps, with a strange elision in time, to Muhammad Ali Jinnah - nothing before, no Mohenjodaro, Taxila, or Indic civilisation, and nothing much in between - nothing that does not deal with Muslim heroes. Such has been the sense of history imparted since Zulfikar Ali Bhutto decided, using his own peculiar reasoning, that the national curriculum should discard the factual history of the subcontinent and concentrate on the evilness of India and Hinduism. Mard-e-Momeen Zia-ul-Haq duly magnified these deliberate convenient distortions.
For 30 years, those children who have made it into schools are not taught to see Pakistan as what it actually was or is, but solely in juxtaposition with the ‘traditional enemy’, India. They are imbued with vituperative anti-Indian and anti-Hindu rhetoric. Any shortcomings or failures are justified or dismissed by discussion of parallel, or worse, problems in India. All is based on self-justification, which actually translates itself into self-negation.
As for the textbooks on Pakistan Studies, not only are they loaded with contradictions, fully geared to promote schizophrenia, but also they induce a strange form of self-hatred. Politicians have failed as they lack a true commitment to Islamic objectives; businessmen and industrialists have robbed the exchequer for the same reason. Students must guard against degenerate western influences, as modernization and progressive activities damage their cultural heritage, yet, at the same time they are exhorted to embrace western technology in order to modernize their country. They must not lose out on economic opportunities by rejecting western education, yet the religious right together with the Sharia law is their last hope. Pakistan deserves praise for its application of the modern banking system, yet interest is unIslamic. Between the ideal and the real, lies a yawning chasm.
Coupled with all this brainwashing, is the existence of the madrasas in which are educated one third of those who attend schools, who are theoretically trained for religious service, including sectarian and international jihads, and whose straightened view of the world make them a thoroughly destabilising force. Over the past decade, some 300 million US dollars a year has flowed in from Arab friends abroad to be spent on building a network of thousands of madrasas all over Pakistan, in its cities, towns and villages. It is admitted that there now exist over 10,000 madrasas., the most famous of which is the ‘University for the Education of Truth’ at Karak, fully funded from abroad, and guided by the equally famous Samiul Haq, of the party of the maulvis and mullahs which now has the upper hand in two provinces of Pakistan. The US is providing over five years some 100 million US dollars for the reform of these institutions and the widening of their curriculum. The majority of the madrasas have spurned any interference - they do not need it, funds from their Arab benefactors amount to ten times that of the American funds.
Musharraf, last year guaranteed to his friends abroad that he would change the status of the madrasas in tune with the country’s pledge to fight terrorism. His past reluctance to really take on the religious right, rather than just make noises, has resulted in nothing other than a draft ordinance under which the clerical gentlemen of the madrasas would be requested to voluntarily submit to regulation - a request that has been largely turned down.
And there is another strange contradiction here - the teachings of the madrasas are admitted to be dangerously restrictive, yet their graduates are deemed to be at a par with graduates in the formal sector.
It is high time Musharraf found time to deal with both sectors of our dismal education scenario, and sort them out. No one else will or can. With his new found support and strength, it should be easy, and by doing so he will further please those, so highly placed in today’s world order, who generously befriend him.
E-mail queries and comments to: [email protected]
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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by laeeqkhan: *

  • Yes Islam came to Sub-Continent with the conquest of Sindh. We should be proud of it! Why are you guys ashamed? Yes we are Muslims! We got rid of the tyrrany of Hindus and got freedom! We saw light and came out of darkness!

[/QUOTE]

I think that's where the problem lies. We think that our history starts at Mohd Bin Qasim. We have a proud history that goes back to 2000BC and our history includes great people such as Gautama Budha, Chandragupta Mauriya, Asoka, Kanishka etc as well as the later Muslim Sultans. Yes we are muslims but that does not mean that we are arabs and that our history is that of arabs. We should be proud of our "Indian" heritage and should teach that in our schools. It is our school curriculum that has made our nation very confused about it's identity.

Finally, Islam did not come to the Sub-continent because of Mohd bin Qasim. If you read your history, you will find that the conquest had very little long lasting impact on the region. Islam spread through initially the arab traders in the region and later through the Great Sufis. The traders were around before Mohd bin Qasim.

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why pakistanis deny their own heritage . iraquis dont deny their sumerian past or egyptian dont deny thier history or persians dont
deny thier pre-islaic heritage.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Khattana: *

I think that's where the problem lies. We think that our history starts at Mohd Bin Qasim. We have a proud history that goes back to 2000BC and our history includes great people such as Gautama Budha, Chandragupta Mauriya, Asoka, Kanishka etc as well as the later Muslim Sultans. Yes we are muslims but that does not mean that we are arabs and that our history is that of arabs. We should be proud of our "Indian" heritage and should teach that in our schools. It is our school curriculum that has made our nation very confused about it's identity.

Finally, Islam did not come to the Sub-continent because of Mohd bin Qasim. If you read your history, you will find that the conquest had very little long lasting impact on the region. Islam spread through initially the arab traders in the region and later through the Great Sufis. The traders were around before Mohd bin Qasim.
[/QUOTE]

You are right in a way, because we also need to teach more about the Indus Valley civilization etc.. Yes we are not Arabs, but their coming had a lasting influence on us. Actually Islam changed are very culture, since its a complete way of life. Even the style of writing in Sindh is Arabic.