Category – Book review
This is one book which anyone keenly interested in knowing our neighbour on the west needs to read. Madiha Afsal, a Pakistani by birth, currently living in the US has recounted the whats, whys and hows of Pakistan as it is today. The education, the gross development post-independence, the radical threats, and ways to improve have all been dealt with the toughest possible way. The scholar on Pakistan affairs explores the current situation in Pakistan through a Law, Extremist, and Education perspective.
The formation, classification and modus operandi of militant organisations in Pakistan, their attitude towards the West and India have been detailed. The core of the content however is why and how the State tolerates extremism and how their leaders post-independence have nurtured extremist ideologies. The role of the military commander Zia-Ul-Haq, under whom the maximum Islamisation of the country happened, post-independence has been detailed. The deleterious effects of terrorism on Pakistan’s economic, political, and social development have been examined in detail. The damage that has been done to the facade of the current generation in Pakistan by the extremist forces are beyond repair. They consider India to be their major threat and the re-attachment of Kashmir to themselves to be their sole purpose of existence. The findings of several PEW studies that showcase their grudge and enmity towards India are well detailed.
Next, the principal reason for the growth of the extremist forces – the lack of appropriate education is dealt with. The education system in Pakistan has been examined in detail with all its ill effects including its over-dependence on religion even in the provision of fundamental education for kids. The textbooks on Pakistan Studies contain naïve, one-sided descriptions of the history of independence and thereby the country, completely denouncing India and hiding the efforts of Indian leaders and freedom fighters. No world history is taught and students passing out of university possesses a uni-dimensional approach to events before and after 1947. On top of that, the curriculum-less madrassa education that is delivered by the ulema is criticised. Studies that expose madrassa education as the root cause for the development of extremist ideologies in Pakistani youth have been discussed. She explains through her narrative how a moderate Islamist differs from a radical extremist, though frequently these two words are erroneously used interchangeably. She also disappointingly expresses her views on how the legitimisation of the jihad has corroded the image of Pakistan, globally. Altogether how Pakistan can improve from better State level education at par with global standards and accurate exposure of students to world history can change the outlook on Pakistanis by the West have been discussed.
The effects of the blasphemy laws, their connotations, its misinterpretations have all been scrutinized. The famous Asia Bibi case is cited as an emblematic case in point.
The book concludes with an episode on Madiha’s observations for a better tomorrow for Pakistan which are detailed, unambiguous and sensible for a book of just 160 pages on print.
The excerpt that attracted me the most in the book is her anecdotes with supporting survey evidence on the notion of the major militant organisations in Pakistan, including the Pakistan Taliban, towards India and the West. The ever-boiling question “are ordinary Pakistanis extremists” is answered to the best possible extent by the author, taking into awareness all of her study outcomes. She also observes that the anti-Indian, anti-American thought processes cannot be easily uprooted from the ordinary Pakistani as they have grown up with a sense of being “victimised” by Indians. The feeling, she observes has cemented after losing East Pakistan a.k.a, Bangladesh in 1971, through a game-plan “masterminded” by India. The narrative details how the State relies on the ONLY unifying factor it has, post-independence, to hold the country together and to promote the anti-Indian and anti-Hindu agenda – their religion and how the various rulers have utilised this emotion to the best. President Ayub Khan describing Pakistan as the “fortress of Islam” can only be read in these lines.
Altogether, anyone who is a serious reader of Pakistan and its internal tumults, should read this book for better clarity and more importantly for the basics.
My review 8.5/10
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