While the age-old propaganda machine i.e. media is a state apparatus we all are somewhat aware of, this blog will glance at the use of the academic curriculum and its indirect role in increasing conflict in students.
During my Olevels, we were constantly told as well as taught how Pakistan Army won all the wars, resolved with perfect grace every conflict and how noble of a Muslim nation Pakistan is. Interestingly, in the same narrative construction it was always the “other” Hindus, Sikhs and non-Muslims who killed and slaughtered Muslims during the partition and committed frightening atrocities – causing students to develop a certain hate amongst Hindus and Sikhs from their early age.
However, coming to university and studying history from a comparative analysis and actually “academic” perspective in Pakistan Studies, I truly realized the magnitude of conditioning and narrative building that I had been a consumer of. For exp, the brutalities of the Pakistani Army rampant raping and murdering our own Bengali Muslims and East Pakistanis during the 1971 war was only the tip of the iceberg.
Now, my point here is not to demean Pakistan Army, as with all state institutions over the globe this is evident. But the point is to create awareness that the schools are telling lies about our history and while trying to hide facts – the curriculum is actually telling the students to automatically hate India without telling Pakistan’s own horrors. This hate towards Non-Muslims such as Hindus and Sikhs leads to a mental animosity and conflict between Muslims and Non-Muslims.