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Revision as of 03:25, 22 February 2011 by Wikireader41 (talk | contribs) (Hindus treated a second class citizens)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Decline of Hinduism , Buddhism and Sikhism in the areas that now constitute the new country of Pakistan which was formed in 1947 happened for a variety of reasons, and even as these religions have continued to flourish beyond the eastern frontiers of Pakistan, these Dharmic religions have continued to dwindle in Pakistan. Hindus in Pakistan feel that they are treated as second class citizens and many have migrated to India.
Persecution
Main articles: Hinduism in Pakistan, Persecution of Hindus § Pakistan, and Anti-Hindu § PakistanThere are a number of instances of persecution of Hindus in Pakistan. In 1951, Hindus constituted 22 percent of the Pakistani population. By 1998 the proportion of Hindus was down to around 1.7 percent. This huge drop is due to wide forcible conversion and murder of those who resisted it, a situation that is recorded to have continued till date. Minority members of the Pakistan National Assembly have alleged that Hindus were being hounded and humiliated to force them to leave Pakistan.
The increasing Islamisation of Pakistan and antagonism against India, a nation with a Hindu majority, has been an influential factor in the persecution of religious minorities, among those minorities, Hindus. Such Islamisation include the blasphemy laws, which make it dangerous for religious minorities to express themselves freely and engage freely in religious and cultural activities. The promulgation of Sharia, Quranic law has also increased the marginalisation of Hindus and other minorities. Following the Babri Mosque riots in India, riots and attacks on Hindus in retaliation has only increased; Hindus in Pakistan are routinely affected by communal incidents in India and violent developments on the Kashmir conflict between the two nations. It remains the hope of many that a permanent peace between the two nations will go a long way in making life better for the roughly 3 million Hindus living in Pakistan. The 1998 census recorded 2,443,614 Hindus in Pakistan.
Hindu minorities, under Taliban rule in Swat, were forced to wear Red headgear such as turbans as a symbol of dhimmi.. In July 2010, around 60 members of the minority Hindus in Karachi were attacked and ethnically cleansed following an incident when a Hindu youth drank from a water tap near an Islamic mosque
Pakistan Studies curriculum issues
Main article: Pakistan Studies curriculumAccording to the Sustainable Development Policy Institute report 'Associated with the insistence on the Ideology of Pakistan has been an essential component of hate against India and the Hindus. For the upholders of the Ideology of Pakistan, the existence of Pakistan is defined only in relation to Hindus, and hence the Hindus have to be painted as negatively as possible' A 2005 report by the National Commission for Justice and Peace a non profit organization in Pakistan, found that Pakistan Studies textbooks in Pakistan have been used to articulate the hatred that Pakistani policy-makers have attempted to inculcate towards the Hindus. 'Vituperative animosities legitimise military and autocratic rule, nurturing a siege mentality. Pakistan Studies textbooks are an active site to represent India as a hostile neighbour' the report stated. 'The story of Pakistan’s past is intentionally written to be distinct from, and often in direct contrast with, interpretations of history found in India. From the government-issued textbooks, students are taught that Hindus are backward and superstitious.' Further the report stated 'Textbooks reflect intentional obfuscation. Today’s students, citizens of Pakistan and its future leaders are the victims of these partial truths'.
An editorial in Pakistan's oldest newspaper Dawn commenting on a report in The Guardian on Pakistani Textbooks noted 'By propagating concepts such as jihad, the inferiority of non-Muslims, India’s ingrained enmity with Pakistan, etc., the textbook board publications used by all government schools promote a mindset that is bigoted and obscurantist. Since there are more children studying in these schools than in madrassahs the damage done is greater. ' According to the historian Professor Mubarak Ali, textbook reform in Pakistan began with the introduction of Pakistan Studies and Islamic studies by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1971 into the national curriculum as compulsory subject. Former military dictator Gen Zia-ul-Haq under a general drive towards Islamization, started the process of historical revisionism in earnest and exploited this initiative. 'The Pakistani establishment wrongly taught their children right from the beginning that this state was built on the basis of religion.'. The Pakistani people forget that Pakistan was partitioned from India for religious freedom of muslims but not for supression of freedom of other religions. The trend of abusal of other religions in Pakistan should not be a reflection of what the earlier Muslim rulers like Babur or Aurangazeb have done, but instead be democratic and valuing all religions equally. It's baseless to force muslim religious practices on other religion people in a country which had about 25% of Hindu, Sikh and Christian population. Pakisitan needs to provide religious freedom for it's citizens and go astep ahead by safe guarding people volunteering to shift back to there original religion.
According to Pervez Hoodbhoy, a physics professor at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, the "Islamizing" of Pakistan's schools began in 1976 when an act of parliament required all government and private schools (except those teaching the British O-levels from Grade 9) to follow a curriculum that includes learning outcomes for the federally approved Grade 5 social studies class such as: 'Acknowledge and identify forces that may be working against Pakistan,' 'Make speeches on Jihad,' 'Collect pictures of policemen, soldiers, and national guards,' and 'India's evil designs against Pakistan.'
References
- Sohail, Riaz (2 March 2007). "Hindus feel the heat in Pakistan". BBC. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
- Census of Pakistan, 1951
- Hindu masjids by Prafull Goradia, 2002 "In 1951, Muslims were 77 percent and Hindus were 22 percent."
- Census of Pakistan, 1998
- Reddy, B. Murlidhar (September 23, 2005). "Hindus in Pakistan allege humiliation". Chennai, India: The Hindu. Retrieved 2006-08-26.
- "Hindus feel the heat in Pakistan". BBC News. 2 March 2007.
- http://specials.rediff.com/news/2009/mar/18sld1-hindu-families-face-the-heat.htm
- Press Trust of India (12 July 2010). "Hindus attacked, evicted from their homes in Pak's Sindh". The Hindu. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
- "Hindus attacked in Pakistan". Oneindia.in. Tuesday, 13 July 2010.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Nayyar, A.H. and Salim, A. (eds.)(2003). The subtle Subversion: A report on Curricula and Textbooks in Pakistan. Report of the project A Civil Society Initiative in Curricula and Textbooks Reform. Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Islamabad.
- Hate mongering worries minorities, Daily Times (Pakistan), 2006-04-25
- In Pakistan's Public Schools, Jihad Still Part of Lesson Plan - The Muslim nation's public school texts still promote hatred and jihad, reformers say. By Paul Watson, Times Staff Writer; August 18, 2005; Los Angeles Times. 4 Page article online Retrieved on 02 January 2010
- Primers Of Hate - History or biology, Pakistani students get anti-India lessons in all their textbooks; 'Hindu, Enemy Of Islam' - These are extracts from government-sponsored textbooks approved by the National Curriculum Wing of the Federal Ministry of Education. By AMIR MIR; Oct 10, 2005; Outlook India Magazine Retrieved on 02 January 2010
- Noor's cure: A contrast in views; by Arindam Banerji; July 16, 2003; Rediff India Abroad Retrieved on 02 January 2010
- Curriculum of hatred, Dawn (newspaper), 2009-05-20
- ^ ‘School texts spreading more extremism than seminaries’ By Our Special Correspondent; Tuesday, 19 May 2009; Dawn Newspaper. Retrieved 01 January 2010
- The threat of Pakistan's revisionist texts, The Guardian, 2009-05-18
- Pakistan: Do school texts fuel bias?, Christian Science Monitor, 2009-01-21
