Nexus Between, Education, Religion, And National Identity in Pakistan:
Keywords:
Education, Identity, Jihad, Martyrdom, Peace, Politics, Religion, Terrorism etc.Abstract
In Pakistan the “nexus between, education, religion, and national identity”
is a complex phenomenon1
. Having removed the civilian elected
government amidst the political turmoil in 1979, Zia ul Haq’s military
regime sought internal political legitimacy and simultaneously tried to
counter two external threats, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the
Iranian revolution. Underpinned by Saudi ideology and American
assistance, the military regime sought political control through education.
The revised curricula became the primary source of the decline of
educational standards, and the ideas imported from Saudi Arabia and the
U.S. brought serious challenges to the very existence of Pakistan itself. The
destruction of pluralism, the new political order based on force and revised
curricula entailed insensitivity to minorities, glorification of war,
promotion of jihad and martyrdom, and paved the way for religiously
motivated terrorism in Pakistan. In addition, religious absolutism facilitates
intolerance toward people of other beliefs. Peace educators and concerned
citizens should take drastic measures to save the educational crisis from
turning into a disaster
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