02-05-2025
Hindus To Congress: Review Highlights ‘Textbook Case' Of Pakistan's Anti-India Propaganda
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The review, 'General Standard of Pakistani Textbooks', evaluates the content and quality of Pakistani school textbooks and suggests corrections
From biased content against Hindus and India to historical inaccuracies, Pakistani school textbooks are replete with anti-India content, according to a critical review.
The document, 'General Standard of Pakistani Textbooks' (October 2014), authored by Anjum James Paul and published by the Pakistan Minorities Teachers' Association (PMTA), evaluates the content and quality of Pakistani school textbooks and suggests corrections.
Hindu Religion: The term 'Hinduism" is often used instead of 'Hindu religion". The report recommends consistently using 'Hindu religion", arguing that 'Hinduism" is used pejoratively or inconsistently compared to respectful references for other religions like Islam.
Historical Terms: History Grade VII (Chapter 1: Mughal Empire) mentions, 'Mughal emperors ruled Indo-Pak which had a majority of Hindus and Muslims with many other communities."
Mislabelling: Lahore Resolution is inconsistently referred to as 'Pakistan Resolution," which promotes the ideological narrative of an Islamic state while omitting the original context and inclusive language of the resolution.
HISTORICAL INACCURACIES ABOUT INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (INC)
Hindu Party: History Grade V states, 'Within a few years, this party [INC] became completely a party of the Hindus."
The report recommends correction stating it is factually incorrect and omits contributions of key Muslim leaders in the INC.
It also rebuts it listing the names of Badruddin Tyabji (President in 1887), Nawab Syed Muhammad Bahadur (President in 1913), and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad – President in 1923 and again in 1940–1946 (the longest tenure). Maulana Muhammad Ali Jouhar, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, and others also served as Congress presidents.
Misleading Goals: INC is described as promoting 'purely Hindu nationalism" and marginalising Muslims. The report criticises this as biased, arguing that INC was a multi-religious, anti-colonial platform for decades.
Misuse of 'Indo-Pak Subcontinent': Descriptions of historical periods like the Mughal Empire and British Raj inaccurately use terms like 'Indo-Pak subcontinent". The report suggests using 'India' or 'Indian subcontinent' instead, since Pakistan did not exist prior to 1947.
Renaming India: The term 'Hindustan" is replaced inconsistently with 'Indo-Pak", and 'India" is used selectively to obscure the continuity of Indian civilisation and downplay its shared heritage with Pakistan.
First Published:
May 02, 2025, 19:44 IST
