An overhaul of the entire curriculum is a prerequisite for any
positive change in the Pakistani psyche. Unfortunately, it is
reluctantly being done under US pressure, which is leading to
misperceptions of its own

“Was Aurangzeb a brutal emperor?” a fairly educated journalist asked me, after watching the play The Trial of Dara Shikoh. The
question was revealing because it shows that the teaching of history
leaves with our students concocted fiction rather than fact-based
records of the present and past.

The play The Trial of Dara Shikoh
written by Akbar S Ahmad and directed by Manjula Kumar had been staged
in many locations in the last few weeks. As expected, most of the caste
comprised Indian artists except the usual suspects, Noor Naghmi and his
son Sultan Naghmi.

Despite much professional criticism of many
aspects of the play, the general audience appreciated it very much. The
play was also successful in spurring pertinent questions in the minds
of the viewers like my journalist friend.

Aurangzeb imprisoned
his father, murdered three of his brothers and most of their children.
He dumped most of the Indian Shias in Kashmir and, once while he was
riding his elephant, crushed a Hindu mob because they were protesting
against high taxes. Given these facts, it was up to my friend, I told
him, to decide whether Aurangzeb was brutal or not.

“How about
the stated history that Aurangzeb used to make his living by producing
Qur’anic calligraphy and sewing topis (hats)?” he asked. I remember
such a characterisation of Aurangzeb in school textbooks. And if I had
not kept educating myself beyond school textbooks that would be the
Aurangzeb I would have in my mind.

Elaborating my point I told
my friend that Aurangzeb spent most of his time fighting and
administering wars and that his favourite wife — mother of his youngest
son, Kam Bakhash — was a Hindu woman. Aurangzeb used to vacation in
Kashmir often, along with a large harem, according to some historical
accounts.

I do not know when he found time to produce calligraphy or sew topis on
a scale that could meet the expenses of his palace which was housing
hundreds of Mughal princes and princesses besides a large army of
concubines and servants/slaves.

Intellectual Talibinisation was
initiated from very early on after the creation of Pakistan. A mythical
history of Muslims was introduced in textbooks where every ruler,
invader and plunderer, was shown in the role of protector and religious
crusader.

Starting from Mahmud Ghaznavi, the conqueror of the
Somnath Temple, to Nadir and Ahmad Shah Abdali, every invader was
presented as the great saviour of Indian Muslims. Three generations of
Pakistanis have been indoctrinated with this concocted history to
create Islamic chauvinism and to belittle people of other religions.

No
wonder most Pakistanis developed a sense of superiority resulting in
unnecessary war-mongering. The military elite has been clinging to this
false sense of superiority in making wars.

According to Air
Marshal Noor Khan, Ayub Khan sent paratroopers in Kashmir because he
really believed that one Muslim soldier can overwhelm dozens of
infidels. Not learning any lesson from three lost wars, the elite
continued naming the missiles after Mahmud Ghaznavi, Muhammad Ghauri,
Nadir Shah and sundry.

The fact of the matter is that most of
the revered Muslim invaders plundered India to loot. Ghaznavi attacked
Somnath because it had the largest gold deposits in India. Hindu Rajas
themselves used to attack their religious temples for gold. Hindu
mercenaries were part of Ghaznavi’s invading force according to some
historians. They joined hand with the Afghan invaders for their share
in the booty.

Likewise when Nadir Shah is idealised as a great
soldier of Islam no one mentions that he ordered a three-day massacre
in Delhi because the locals killed one of his soldiers. The butchering
was indiscriminate and ironically, more than half of those murdered
were Muslims.

Ahmad Shah Abdali’s story is no different. He
invaded India many times, looted the riches and went back to
Afghanistan. On one of his trip, he appointed a Hindu as the governor
of Lahore. He had no ‘Islamic ideals’ like our fictional history
textbooks would have us believe.

Even Mughal emperor Baber did
not conquer Hindus but a Muslim dynasty of India to lay the foundations
of the Mughal Empire. Guru Nanak, in his Baber Bani, has described how
Baber butchered indiscriminately and demolished mosques along with
temples of other religions.

But history textbooks used in
Pakistan’s educational system never mention these historical facts.
They are instead tools for creating fake chauvinism and a false sense
of superiority. Therefore, it is not surprising that within 30 years of
Pakistan’s creation, religious parties like Jamaat-e Islami had a
monopoly over defining the ideology of Pakistan. And this ‘Murder of
History’, as KK Aziz would call it, has contributed towards religious
fundamentalism and extremism.

On the contrary, the real Muslim
intellectuals, the Sufis, who spread Islam in India, have been shunned
away by Pakistan’s educational system.

An overhaul of the entire
curriculum is a prerequisite for any positive change in the Pakistani
psyche. Unfortunately, it is reluctantly being done under US pressure,
which is leading to misperceptions of its own. But it has to be done
and someone has to do it.

Postscript: Hindu
extremists, led by BJP, are following the Pakistani model by
substituting history with mythological texts to whip up Hindu
chauvinism. This reminds one of the Punjabi proverb that it is more
common to pick up your neighbour’s bad habits rather than his good
behaviour.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\07\09\story_9-7-2008_pg3_3