SNC in Shambles, So is the Religious Harmony

Farkhund Yousafzai

Islamabad: ‘One nation, one education system’ echoed in the corridors of power soon after the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) won the elections in 2018. This led to the much-talked-about educational reform in the shape of the Single National Curriculum (SNC), aiming to bring the public educational system of the country on the same footing as the private educational resources accessible to the upper economic class of society.

Since the launch and implementation of the SNC in primary schools in 2021, the SNC seems to have excluded minorities from the nation-building process while aspiring for equal education for all. Having fallen under the duress exerted by society and various sections adhering to different ideological schools of thought, observers claim the governments across the country have not been able to develop a curriculum that can ensure religious tolerance and much-aspired inter-faith harmony in the country, as per the 2014 judgement of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP).

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Former Chief Justice Tassaduq Husain Jillani, in his landmark ruling on June 19, 2014, directed the governments both at the federal and provincial levels to introduce a unified curriculum to ensure religious tolerance and inter-faith harmony through education. But the overall judgement has been hanging fire, and the different minorities are still waiting for the implementation of the landmark judgement in letter and in spirit.

The PTI-led government formed the National Curriculum Council (NCC), which comprised 400 representatives from all federating units, including representatives from the private sector, civil society, religious minorities, and religious seminaries.

After the implementation of the first phase of SNC in August 2021, it drew a lot of criticism from many circles, including religious minorities who objected to the inclusion of Islamic-centric content in subject textbooks other than Islamiat.

“The SNC represents the majority of Pakistan, its history, achievements, laws, procedures, and perspectives. It seems that there is no place for minorities to explore their thoughts while enjoying freedom of speech,” said Bishop Mukhtar Masih Waqas, the Secretary General of the Joint Executive Council of the United Church of Pakistan.

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Unfortunately, the religious minorities’ feelings were never respected in preparing the school syllabus in this country, Bishop Mukhtar said while talking to ThePenPK.com. He said he himself encountered the hateful behavior of teachers and fellow students’ multiple times in his schooling days.

Excessive religious content in the school books, especially in the subject of history, inadequately trained teachers, and their flawed teaching techniques might often cause mental stress and embarrassment to minority students.

Sanvi Kumari, a recently graduated Hindu girl hailing from the district of Buner, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, said, “I always felt ashamed whenever we read about the war stories of Muslim heroes like Muhammad Bin Qasim, Mahmood Ghaznavi, and Muhammad Ghori in our classes.”

“I do not deny their achievements and victories over the Hindu warriors, but the way our teachers taught us caused me embarrassment in front of my classmates,” the young Sanvi Kumari pointed out while sharing her school-life experiences.

Kumari stresses the need to maintain religious harmony through the content of the books included in the syllabus, and according to her, it is one of the best possible ways to interact with inter-faith and inter-religious cultures, forums, activities, and perspectives for common interests, which can bring diversity and progress to make the country a peaceful place to live.

The purpose of giving representation to different religious minorities in the NCC was to address their objections and concerns related to curriculum development.

Peter Jacob, Executive Director of the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), believes that members representing their respective religious communities put forth their utmost efforts to assuage the authorities to include content promoting religious tolerance and harmony in the school curriculum.

Peter Jacob was also a member of the council, which was working on the school curriculum. The members of the minority council were urged to adhere to Article 22 of the Constitution, which asserts that no person attending any educational institution shall be required to receive religious instruction, take part in any religious ceremony, or attend religious worship if such instruction, ceremony, or worship relates to a religion other than his own. They further urged not to bring modern and religious education to non-conformity as both retained particular epistemologies.

According to Peter Jacob, one of the main demands of the members was to discourage the practice of memorizing and encourage creativity. “But these demands were totally ignored, and the syllabus was propped up in the name of SNC. It was like an ‘old wine in a new bottle’, Peter added.

Similarly, citing some reasons, one of the minority council members said, “The main reason for ignoring our genuine demands was the pressure from the clerics and religious-minded members of the Council.”

“They outright rejected our demand for omitting Islamic content from Urdu, English, and science books,” he further said, while requesting not to be named.

“Justice Jillani’s ruling is a landmark verdict for the rights of minorities but unfortunately, the National Commission on Minorities (NCM) did not play its due role in its implementation,” he told ThePenPk.com

An integral part of the Jillani judgement is to reform the school curriculum and syllabus so that it promotes religious tolerance and protects the rights of religious minorities. The PTI government embarked on the SNC journey with chest-thumping; however, it seems now that the SNC has failed to achieve its objective of bringing religious and social harmony to the country.

Pirbhu Satyani, author of “Humain Bhi Jenay Do” (a book telling the story of the plight of Hindu Dalits in Pakistan) and renowned human and religious rights activist, said that he believed the SNC was unconstitutional and that it undermined pluralism.

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Satyani added that Pakistan is a diverse country in terms of religion, language, culture, and geography; therefore, the curriculum of each province should be separate. Justice Jillani’s ruling is a landmark that explains the constitutional rights of minorities and international commitments, and it has directed governments to reform curriculum in order to promote inclusiveness and diversity while removing hate material.”

For Satyani, religious minorities have been facing various issues in educational institutions, and hate material against Hindus is the most serious one. “Furthermore, there are 20 additional marks for Muslim students who learn the Quran Majeed by heart, but there are not such grace marks for religious minority students. In this way, they are deprived of getting admissions and jobs on the basis of these 20 marks,” he pointed out.

Satyani said that after the 18th Amendment, education is a provincial subject; therefore, he said there is no need for the SNC. However, in case the educational reforms are inevitable, Satyani stressed that the government should respect Articles 4, 20, 22, 25, and 36 of the Constitution, Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 5 of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, Article 14 of the UN Treaty on Children’s Rights, Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Guidelines of UNESCO, and the National Action Plan 2014.

Due to mounting pressure on the SNC, the newly installed PML-N-led coalition government has reportedly ordered the government to stop further work on it and to restore the old Single National Curriculum introduced in 2006.

ThePenPK.com tried to reach out to Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Rana Tanveer Hussain in this regard, but he was not available to comment on the issue.

However, Parliamentarian Syed Murtaza Mahmud of the Pakistan People’s Party said that the Sindh government has successfully thwarted the attempt by the federal government to impose SNC in the province.

Another Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from Lahore, while commenting on the issue, said that it was our national duty to take care of the religious minorities and fulfill their demands. “They are our brothers and equal citizens of Pakistan, and they should be treated with respect,” the Lahore MNA emphasized.