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Intolerance towards religious minorities in education

Writer's picture: Sheikh Abdur Rehman 23100194Sheikh Abdur Rehman 23100194

Martin Luther King Jr. mentioned, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."


According to minorityrights.org, 3.72 percent of the total population of Pakistan constitutes religious minorities. Pakistan has a strong stance on ending racism in its foreign policy. Still, in schools, it has been observed that students often interact less with the people who belong to minorities, though this trend is very little in the universities. But when a student is in school, it is high time to teach them about religious tolerance and that faith is personal and has nothing to do with professional life. I have seen people criticizing Dr. Abdus Salam, who was from a religious minority by faith, but this thing has nothing to do with his work. He was a great physicist and received a Nobel prize for electroweak unification theory. This was something many people from Dr. Salam's age weren't able to do. And the people (who criticize Dr. Salam) I am talking about here are well educated, but they do not seem to be when they speak about such a great person in an odd way. I respect Dr. Salam because of his contribution to science. He was a person who spent all his Nobel prize grant for the development and promotion of science, and yet people who do not even know about a thing speak against Dr. Salam just because he belonged to a minority. I think that this attitude should be finished, and we should teach people that faith is personal and has nothing to do with the professional life of a person. Moreover, in schools, children should be taught about religious tolerance and why it is important. There is one more thing. There is Abdus Salam Centre for Physics in Islamabad, which was under criticism. Let's acknowledge the work of scientists and should have tolerance and respect for the people from other religions because respect is a thing that makes us human beings.


The teachers should go through training programs where they should be taught about religious tolerance, and then in return, they can teach religious tolerance to the students so that we all as Pakistanis can live in peace.






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It is sad that religious minorities are largely neglected in our text books, even if they bring Nobel Prize for the country.

I remember another religious minority, Rana Bhagwandas, who was the first Hindu and third non-Muslim to serve as the Pakistani Chief Justice. But unfortunately, we do not learn about his life in our text books. o the life of any other.

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that is sad actually

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The case of Dr Abdus Salam is a perfect example of religious intolerance ,he was a very accomplished physicist but his achievements were looked down upon only because he was from a minority .In any other country his achievements would be looked upon with pride but unfortunately here people are blinded by religious differences. we need to respect the rights of minorities and learn to live in peace.I think it is very important as you mentioned to teach religious tolerance in our schools and colleges in order to promote this message of peace ,as our religion tells us to

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yes exactly. we should also learn that religion has nothing to do with the professional life of a person

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Besides training, there must be an accountability mechanism to check if the teachers are promoting intolerance. Also our curriculum especially the history textbooks teach religious hatred towards minorities. That curriculum must also be revised to exclude anything discriminatory towards a minority.

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yes, these are very valid points and need to be addressed at the earliest.

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For such kind of people, I remeber what Bullah Shah said:


"Parh parh ilm hazaar kitaabaN

kadi apne aap nu parhya nahin

Jaa jaa wardey mandar maseeti

kadi mann apne wich wareya nahin

Anven larda shaitaan de naal bandeya

kadi nafs apne naal larya nahin"

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this is so true!

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22020386
Aug 13, 2021

This is so important! People kill and shun others in the name of religion, or in the name of patriotism. Even though Islam promotes tolerance, and so does the white section of our flag. It is so crucial to instill values of tolerance and acceptance in our youth to limit chaos and "otherising" people.

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Yes exactly, but it is going to take time. Still, lets hope for the things to get better.

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