Pakistan studies curriculum (Urdu: ) is the name of a curriculum of academic research and study that encompasses the culture, demographics, geography, history, International Relations and politics of Pakistan. The subject is widely researched in and outside the country, though outside Pakistan it is typically part of a broader Indology or some other wider field. Several universities in Pakistan have departments and research centers dedicated to the subject, whereas many independent research institutes carry out multidisciplinary research on Pakistan Studies. There are also a number of international organizations that are engaged in collaborative teaching, research, and exchange activities on the subject.
International organizations As the second largest South Asian country, and one of the major actors in the politics of the Muslim world, Pakistan is a focus of multidisciplinary studies.Pakistan Workshop (2007) Conference programme and paper abstracts . Workshop organised by Pakistan Studies Group at University of Leeds. Retrieved on 4 June 2008 Various universities in the United States and the United Kingdom have research groups busy in academic and research related activities on Pakistan Studies. One such example is the American Institute of Pakistan Studies (AIPS) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, established since 1973. An affiliate of the Association for Asian Studies, the institute regularly holds events such as seminars, public lectures, and conferences on various topics related to the Pakistan Studies. It also offers annual international fellowships for the research on materials relating to the history and culture of Pakistan.See the official website of the institute at http://www.pakistanstudies-aips.org/ Retrieved on 4 June 2008
In April 2004, AIPS organized an international workshop on the Salt Range Culture Zone of Pakistan at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Wisconsin–Madison.Meister, M.W. (2006). Salt Range Temples, Pakistan . Retrieved on 4 June 2008 The event provided the international audience with an opportunity to understand the archaeological and architectural heritage of the country.
Another academic initiative is the British Association for Pakistan Studies that was established in 1989. The forum has wider views on the topic than the common historiographical contexts, and encourages research and dialogue that involves both the academics and practitioners. The forum acknowledges that the topic has not received the sort of individual attention that the country and its society deserve, and therefore strives to increase international awareness on the subject.Malik, I.H. (1996). The British Association for Pakistan Studies. International Institute for Asian Studies. Newsletter 7. Retrieved on 4 June 2008
There are also larger multinational and multicultural organizations that provide pluralist platforms for the discussions and debates on Pakistan Studies within the wider contexts of Asia. The Asia Foundation, for example, has launched specific projects for a diverse understanding of the subject through actions on local governance, civil society, human rights, and healthcarePakistan Projects at The Asia Foundation website. Retrieved on 6 June 2008. as well as political, economic, judicial, and foreign relations.AF (2000). Focus on Pakistan . Asian Perspectives Seminar. Asia Foundation. 3 February. Retrieved on 6 June 2008.
Curriculum Pakistan Studies is one of the few heritage subjectsCIE (2006). Education and Skills consultation on IGCSE. p.6. Retrieved on 6 June 2008. for O-levelCIE (2008a).Cambridge International O Level. Retrieved on 4 June 2008. and IGCSE qualifications governed by Cambridge International Examinations. The syllabus covers Pakistan's history, languages, national identity, geography, economy, and environment, as well as the challenges and opportunities faced by the country.CIE (2008b).Cambridge IGCSE. Retrieved on 4 June 2008. It is also one of the compulsory subjects at O level to obtain equivalency from the Inter Board Coordination Commission. and hence all Pakistani O levels and IGCSE students (except those with foreign citizenship) have to study it.
In Pakistan In Pakistan, the subject is one of the four compulsory courses (along with the Urdu, English courses and Islamyat) at the Secondary School and Higher Secondary school levels of education.AKDN (2004). Curriculum for the Aga Khan Higher Secondary School, Hunza . Aga Khan Development Network. Retrieved on 4 June 2008 It is also taught as a degree course at most of the Social Science departments in many universities. There are also university departments dedicated to the education and research in Pakistan Studies.See for example the Department of Pakistan Studies at Federal Urdu University, Karachi. Retrieved on 6 June 2008.
Many of these departments provide degree programmes for in-depth studies, as well as research facilities for MPhil and PhD scholars. Courses broadly range from the history, politics and linguistics to the country's geography and economics, and from foreign affairs and religion studies to the social relations and literature.Department of Pakistan Studies at Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan. Retrieved on 6 June 2008. The focused attention on the subject at higher education levels means a wider scope for the research, thus making the subject an increasingly interdisciplinary one.
Curriculum issues The variable political history of Pakistan shows the country being ruled alternately by the civilian and military leaderships. This lack of political succession has had its effects on the way the history was depicted in the curricula of Pakistan Studies until 2006, which increasingly portrayed what Rubina Saigol termed as 'glorification of military'.Saigol, R. (1995). Knowledge and Identity – Articulation of Gender in Educational Discourse in Pakistan. ASR. Lahore. However, the occasional attempts to alter the historical texts did not escape criticisms from the academics and scholars in Pakistan and abroad.Hoodbhoy, P.A. and Nayyar, A.H. (1985). Rewriting the History of Pakistan. In A. Khan (ed.) Islam, Politics and the State: The Pakistan Experience. Zed Books. London. pp. 164–177. Historian Ayesha Jalal in her 1995 article also raised concerns over the trends of official historiography in Pakistan's history textbooks.Jalal, A. (1995). Conjuring Pakistan: History as Official Imagining. International Journal of Middle East Studies. 27(1). pp. 73–89.
Yvette Rosser, in an article based on her PhD thesis,Rosser, Y.C. (2003). Curriculum as Destiny: Forging National Identity in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh . PhD dissertation. The University of Texas at Austin. August. Retrieved on 6 June 2008. regards such curriculum as a composite of patriotic discourses. She identifies significant defects, inherent contradictions and inaccurate information within educational syllabus in general and the Pakistan Studies textbooks in particular.Rosser, Y.C. (2005). Cognitive Dissonance in Pakistan Studies Textbooks: Educational Practices of an Islamic State. Journal of Islamic State Practices in International Law. 1(2). pp. 4–15 In 2003, Sustainable Development Policy Institute in Pakistan published a report that had emerged from a survey of text books of Urdu, English, Social Studies and Civics subjects being taught at the secondary and higher secondary school levels.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. The survey identified inaccuracies of fact and omissions that appeared to distort the significance of actual events in the country's history. Some of the prominent issues included the lack of understanding towards the civil society, religious diversity, and gender relations. The report recommended for major structural reforms and establishment of a National Education Advisory Board to centralise the curriculum development and carry out regular revisions.Nayyar and Salim (2003). pp. ix–xi
About the international perception of the subject, Burzine Waghmar of the School of Oriental and African Studies argues that Pakistan Studies is increasingly perceived with sonorous sessions on weapons control, civil unrest, bonded labour, gender inequality and the like.Waghmar, B. (2005). Pakistan Studies: The State of the Craft. Dawn. 27 February. p. 5. Retrieved on 9 June 2008. These issues are considered among major hurdles to the wider international interest in the subject. Waghmar concludes that Pakistan and India, among other oriental societies, are plagued by visceral nationalism and post-imperial neurosis where state-sanctioned dogmas suppress eclectic historical readings.
According 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'.Hate mongering worries minorities, Daily Times (Pakistan), 2006-04-25In 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; 18 August 2005; Los Angeles Times. 4 Page article online Retrieved on 2 January 2010Primers 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; 10 October 2005; Outlook India Magazine Retrieved on 2 January 2010Noor's cure: A contrast in views; by Arindam Banerji; 16 July 2003; Rediff India Abroad Retrieved on 2 January 2010
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. 'Curriculum of hatred, Dawn, 2009-05-20‘School texts spreading more extremism than seminaries’ By Our Special Correspondent; Tuesday, 19 May 2009; Dawn. Retrieved 1 January 2010