[Reader-list] "Aman Ki Asha" - A Foolish Asha?

[Rahul Asthana]

There is nothing wrong with intiatives such as these.But the fact remains that till the army calls the shots in Pakistan Indians should accept the terrorist acts as a cost of how Pakistan state exists in the current state.
The collective memory is short but facts remain that Pak tried to evade responsibilty of the Bombay attack and has tried to evade persecuting the perpetarators.
People like Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar are still being patronized. Hamid Mir is saying on TV that Pakistan middle class does not find anything wrong with the establishment's support of Jihad in Kashmir. Sohail Tanvir, a player who has played in IPL for a season, talks on national TV about "hinduo ki zehniyat".
Indians have enough hatred of Pakistan as well.But it needs to be repeated again and again that there is absolutely no equivalence between the two states in terms of sponsoring cross border terrorism.That is what keeps the Pak army in business.Its hard to get a corporation to abandon its business idea.

--- On Tue, 2/16/10, Shuddhabrata Sengupta <shuddha at sarai.net> wrote:

> From: Shuddhabrata Sengupta <shuddha at sarai.net>
> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] "Aman Ki Asha" - A Foolish Asha?
> To: "cashmeeri" <cashmeeri at yahoo.com>
> Cc: "Sarai" <reader-list at sarai.net>
> Date: Tuesday, February 16, 2010, 12:08 AM
> Dear Mr. Aima,
> 
> I find your reasoning hard to follow. Understandably, the
> Pakistani  
> textbooks that spew hatred towards India are a cause for
> concern, as  
> much as a whole tranche of Hindi films made in Bombay in
> recent  
> years, that spewed hatred towards Pakistan were also a
> cause for  
> concern. However, it is programmes and initiatives like
> 'Aman Ki  
> Asha' (howsoever flawed they may be) that are probably our
> last hope  
> in being able to get a different kind of conversation
> going, one that  
> addresses prejudices and misconceptions in BOTH countries.
> 
> I have several Pakistani citizens as friends, some stay in
> Delhi,  
> others stay in Lahore and Karachi, and still others stay in
> London,  
> New York and Toronto. I have no trouble in distinguishing
> them from  
> their governments, just as they have no trouble
> distinguishing me  
> from the Government of India. I will always, and in any and
> every  
> circumstance, (even in times of war and conflict) welcome
> direct,  
> close and intimate relationships between the peoples of
> India and  
> Pakistan as the only possible antidote to the insanity of
> aggression.
> 
> I do not care whether or not that makes either me, or them
> (my  
> Pakistani friends) a traitor to our respective nation
> states. I  
> strongly advocate treason to nations and nation states (on
> both sides  
> of the border) if that is a way of advancing the cause of
> peace.
> 
> I think we should ask very seriously why we should not be
> traitors  
> when called upon to go to war. To refuse to be a traitor in
> those  
> circumstances is in my view an act of cowardice and malice.
> We should  
> all be traitors to our states, in India, Pakistan and
> elswhere, when  
> it is ethically incumbent on us to be so.
> 
> best
> 
> Shuddha
> 
> 
> On 15-Feb-10, at 7:45 PM, cashmeeri wrote:
> 
> > Anil Athale in his Rediff article "Peace with
> Pakistan: Chasing a  
> > mirage" referred to Pakistani Textbooks teaching the
> children to  
> > hate India and Hindus.
> > http://news.rediff.com/column/2010/feb/11/peace-with-pakistan-
> 
> > chasing-a-mirage.htm
> >
> > Nirupama Subramanian, correspondent for The Hindu in
> Pakistan, in  
> > her article "Awaiting changes to a syllabus of hate"
> gives an  
> > expanded view  on the hate taught in Pakistani
> Textbooks.
> >
> > It will be educative towards understanding why "Aman
> Ki Asha" could  
> > possibly be "A Foolish Asha".
> >
> > It is relevant to mention that the Textbooks mentioned
> are from the  
> > National Curriculum. Expectedly, what is taught in the
> Madrassas  
> > would be more heightened in preaching and propagating
> hate.
> >
> > Under Musharraf, "For three years, 30 scholars
> commissioned by SDPI  
> > pored over textbooks in four subjects taught for
> Classes 1 to 12:  
> > Social Studies/Pakistan Studies, Urdu, English and
> Civics."
> >
> > They detailed the hate taught and the selectivity in
> recounting  
> > history, in their 2004 report, "The Subtle Subversion:
> The State of  
> > Curricula and Textbooks in Pakistan."
> >
> > This "became the basis for a major revision of the
> national  
> > curriculum undertaken by the Musharraf regime in
> 2006."
> >
> > New Texbooks with the proposed changes have not been
> introduced in  
> > Pakistan as yet.
> >
> > Physicist Dr AH Nayyar says "My fear, is that the
> government may  
> > not have the political strength to bring in a
> progressive education  
> > policy. They may succumb to pressures of various kinds
> and end up  
> > bringing in a hopelessly muddled policy."
> >
> > Physicist Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy says  "Another
> generation has been  
> > lost because the process has taken too long," . And
> until the new  
> > textbooks are introduced, millions of children will
> continue to  
> > learn in their Urdu lessons in schools about the
> differences  
> > between Hindus and Muslims in a hatred-generating way,
> about  
> > "India’s evil designs against Pakistan" in their
> Social Studies,  
> > and that Bangladesh was a result of a conspiracy by
> India with  
> > assistance from "Hindus living in East Pakistan."
> >
> > ........... aalok aima
> >
> >
> > http://www.sacw.net/article953.html
> >
> > Will Pakistan’s schools get a curriculum that
> weed’s out hate?
> > Tuesday, 9 June 2009 / Nirupama Subramanian
> >
> > The Hindu, June 9, 2009
> > Awaiting changes to a syllabus of hate
> > by Nirupama Subramanian
> >
> > All the focus is on madrasa reforms but Pakistan’s
> schools are also  
> > seen as encouraging extremism, while the government
> has shown  
> > little urgency about implementing a revised
> curriculum.
> >
> > On a recent weekday afternoon, a small group of
> youngsters gathered  
> > at a meeting hall in Islamabad to discuss how to
> combat extremism,  
> > militancy and terrorism in Pakistan. Listed were
> top-notch  
> > speakers, including two members of Parliament and the
> well-known  
> > physicist, Pervez Hoodbhoy.
> >
> > Dr. Hoodbhoy, who teaches at the Quaid-e-Azam
> University in the  
> > Pakistan capital, spoke passionately and at length, on
> a theme that  
> > he has worked to highlight for years: the education
> imparted to  
> > Pakistani children is flawed and encourages extremism,
> intolerance  
> > and ignorance. He showed the group, mostly
> undergraduate students,  
> > slides from an illustrated primer for the Urdu
> alphabet he picked  
> > from a shop in Rawalpindi: alif for Allah; bay for
> bandook (gun);  
> > tay for takrao (collision, shown by a plane crashing
> into the Twin  
> > Towers); jeem for jihad; kay for khanjar (dagger); and
> hay for hijab.
> >
> > This was not a prescribed textbook, but another set of
> slides he  
> > showed had excerpts from a 1995 government-approved
> curriculum for  
> > Social Studies, which stated that at the end of Class
> V, the child  
> > should be able to acknowledge and identify forces that
> may be  
> > working against Pakistan; demonstrate by actions a
> belief in the  
> > fear of Allah; make speeches on jehad and shahadat
> (martyrdom);  
> > understand Hindu-Muslim differences and the resultant
> need for  
> > Pakistan; India´s evil designs against Pakistan; be
> safe from  
> > rumour-mongers who spread false news; visit police
> stations;  
> > collect pictures of policemen, soldiers, and National
> Guards; and  
> > demonstrate respect for the leaders of Pakistan.
> >
> > "Instead of teaching our children about the nice
> things in this  
> > world like the colours of flowers, about the wonders
> of the  
> > universe, we are teaching them to hate," he said. The
> school  
> > curriculum was one reason, he said, why Pakistanis
> were in denial  
> > that the militants and extremists now terrorising the
> entire  
> > country were home-grown products, and why many tended
> to  
> > externalise the problem with conspiracy theories about
> an  
> > "external" hand.
> >
> > At the end of the discussion, which included a
> question-and-answer  
> > session, the group was asked how many thought
> Pakistan´s present  
> > problems were the consequence of an "Indian hand." A
> quarter of the  
> > group put up its hands. Next, the students were asked
> how many  
> > thought the problems were the result of an American
> conspiracy to  
> > destabilise Pakistan and deprive it of its nuclear
> weapons: more  
> > than three-fourths of the group sent their hands up
> without a moment 
> > ´s hesitation.
> >
> > The irony was that this was the "youth group" of a
> non-governmental  
> > organisation, the Liberal Forum of Pakistan. The
> students had  
> > reserved their maximum applause for a speaker who
> projected the  
> > widespread line that Pakistan´s problems began only
> after 2001, and  
> > are the fallout of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.
> >
> > "Was there a single incident of terrorism before that?
> A single  
> > suicide bombing? No." he said. The speaker was an
> official of the  
> > Ministry of Youth Affairs.
> >
> > In the search for solutions to the crisis sweeping
> Pakistan and  
> > threatening to tear it apart, the international
> community has  
> > tended to focus on madrasas as "terrorist factories."
> But for Dr.  
> > Hoodbhoy and others who have been fighting a long
> battle for urgent  
> > changes in Pakistan´s national school curriculum and
> the prescribed  
> > school textbooks, children getting a
> government-approved education  
> > in the public school system are at equal risk.
> >
> > "Madrasas are not the only institutions breeding hate,
> intolerance,  
> > a distorted world view. The educational material in
> government-run  
> > schools do much more than madrasas. The textbooks tell
> lies, create  
> > hatred, inculcate militancy…" This was the damning
> conclusion of a  
> > landmark research project by the Islamabad-based
> Sustainable  
> > Development Policy Institute.
> >
> > For three years, 30 scholars commissioned by SDPI
> pored over  
> > textbooks in four subjects taught for Classes 1 to 12:
> Social  
> > Studies/Pakistan Studies, Urdu, English and Civics.
> The startling  
> > findings of their labour came out in a 2004
> publication, "The  
> > Subtle Subversion: The State of Curricula and
> Textbooks in Pakistan."
> >
> > The much-written about research unleashed a huge
> debate on what was  
> > being taught in Pakistan´s schools, and became the
> basis for a  
> > major revision of the national curriculum undertaken
> by the  
> > Musharraf regime in 2006. The new curriculum has made
> several big  
> > changes. There is a conscious move to teach tolerance
> and respect  
> > for diversity, and the open vilification of India is
> absent. It  
> > also does not insist on imposing Islamic religious
> teaching on non- 
> > Muslim students. Religion is to be taught in focussed
> courses,  
> > rather than being infused in Social Studies, Civics,
> Urdu and English.
> >
> > Unfortunately, so far, no move has been made to
> introduce new  
> > textbooks that reflect the changes. "The revised
> curriculum is a  
> > huge departure from the earlier one. But whether the
> changes it  
> > prescribes will be implemented at all is not clear to
> us. The more  
> > it is delayed, the less and less we are sure it is
> going to come,"  
> > said A.H. Nayyar, research fellow at SDPI and one of
> the initiators  
> > of the project.
> >
> > The changes in the curriculum are up on the Internet
> site of the  
> > Ministry of Education. For Grades 4 and 5 Social
> Studies, the  
> > curriculum has dropped the learning outcomes
> prescribed by the 1995  
> > and 2002 curricula, focussing instead on providing an
> "unbiased"  
> > education that aims to build informed citizens
> equipped with  
> > analytical skills and "values such as equality, social
> justice,  
> > fairness, diversity, and respect for self and diverse
> opinions of  
> > others."
> >
> > The SDPI recommendation that history be taught as a
> separate  
> > subject instead of being lumped into Pakistan Studies
> was accepted  
> > by the framers of the revised curriculum. So, for the
> first time, a  
> > curriculum has been framed for history as a separate
> subject from  
> > Grades 6 to 8.
> >
> > In contrast to the earlier approach in the Pakistan
> Studies  
> > curriculum, in which the history of Pakistan begins
> with the day  
> > the first Muslim set foot in India, the revised
> curriculum includes  
> > a study of the Indus valley civilisation, of Hinduism,
> Buddhism and  
> > Jainism, and of the ancient Maurya and Gupta
> dynasties.
> >
> > The curriculum appears keen to emphasise a composite
> South Asian  
> > history from which Pakistan took birth including the
> "joint Hindu- 
> > Muslim" efforts in the struggle for independence. The
> Pakistan  
> > Studies curriculum for Grades 9 and 10 wants children
> to learn  
> > about the multicultural heritage of Pakistan and "get
> used to the  
> > idea of unity in diversity," a big no-no earlier. The
> revised  
> > curriculum also has a component on "peace studies" and
> conflict  
> > resolution.
> >
> > One reason new textbooks based on the revised
> curriculum have not  
> > come out yet, Dr. Nayyar speculated, may be that the
> 1998 national  
> > educational policy introduced by the shortlived Nawaz
> Sharif  
> > government, remains in force till 2010. The Pakistan
> People´s Party- 
> > led government could be waiting to introduce its own
> education  
> > policy, and usher in the changes to the curriculum and
> the  
> > textbooks along with this, he said.
> >
> > Even the draft new education policy is ready, based on
> a two-year- 
> > old White Paper. It too reflects a major shift from
> the 1998  
> > policy, which laid down that education should enable
> the citizens  
> > to lead their lives as true practising Muslims
> according to the  
> > teachings of Islam as prescribed in the Quran and
> Sunnah. It also  
> > made the teaching of Nazra Quran a compulsory subject
> from Grades 1  
> > to 8, and the learning of selected verses from the
> Quran  
> > thereafter, in clear violation of the Constitution
> that Islam will  
> > not be imposed on non-Muslims.
> >
> > By contrast, the draft new policy makes it clear that
> only Muslim  
> > children will be provided instruction in Islamiyat,
> while  
> > minorities will be provided an education in their own
> religion. The  
> > new policy will provide the framework for the
> implementing the new  
> > curriculum and introducing new textbooks.
> >
> > The bad news is that in April, the federal Cabinet put
> off  
> > approving the draft indefinitely. Only after the
> Cabinet approves  
> > the policy can it be placed before Parliament. A
> report in Dawn  
> > newspaper said the Cabinet wanted the Education
> Ministry to make  
> > the policy "more comprehensive, covering every aspect
> of education  
> > sector which needs improvement along with an
> implementable work  
> > plan." But no urgency is visible in the Ministry to
> get cracking on  
> > this task. Another concern is that the Education
> Minister is not  
> > known for his progressive views, especially on gender
> issues.
> >
> > "My fear," said Dr. Nayyar, a soft-spoken physicist
> who retired  
> > from teaching at the Quaid-e-Azam University some
> years ago, "is  
> > that the government may not have the political
> strength to bring in  
> > a progressive education policy. They may succumb to
> pressures of  
> > various kinds and end up bringing in a hopelessly
> muddled policy."
> >
> > Yet the need for reforms in education has never been
> as urgent and  
> > necessary as now. As Dr. Hoodbhoy has pointed out in
> several recent  
> > articles, while a physical takeover of Pakistan by the
> Taliban may  
> > be a far cry, extremist ideology has taken root in
> young minds  
> > across the country, thanks to a flawed education
> system.
> >
> > Compared to the 1.5 million who study in madrasas, an
> estimated 20  
> > million children are enrolled in government schools.
> Dr. Nayyar  
> > laments that in the five years since the publication
> of the SDPI  
> > report, children who were 11 years old at the time
> have completed  
> > their matriculation. They read the old textbooks, and
> learnt a way  
> > of thinking about themselves and the world that will
> prove hard to  
> > change.
> >
> > "Another generation has been lost because the process
> has taken too  
> > long," he said. And until the new textbooks are
> introduced,  
> > millions of children will continue to learn in their
> Urdu lessons  
> > in schools about the differences between Hindus and
> Muslims in a  
> > hatred-generating way, about "India’s evil designs
> against  
> > Pakistan" in their Social Studies, and that Bangladesh
> was a result  
> > of a conspiracy by India with assistance from "Hindus
> living in  
> > East Pakistan."
> >
> >
> >
> > _________________________________________
> > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the
> city.
> > Critiques & Collaborations
> > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net
> with  
> > subscribe in the subject header.
> > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
> > List archive: &lt;https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
> 
> Shuddhabrata Sengupta
> The Sarai Programme at CSDS
> Raqs Media Collective
> shuddha at sarai.net
> www.sarai.net
> www.raqsmediacollective.net
> 
> 
> _________________________________________
> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the
> city.
> Critiques & Collaborations
> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net
> with subscribe in the subject header.
> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list 
> List archive: &lt;https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>