Article 22, clause 1 of the Constitution of Pakistan says: "No person attending any educational institution shall be required to receive religious instruction, or take part in any religious ceremony, or attend religious worship, if such instruction, ceremony or worship relates to a religion other than his own." From this clause conservatives conclude that teaching Comparative Religion at LGS is prohibited by the Constitution. This argument rests on two false assumptions. Firstly, studying a course on Comparative Religions is not the same as "receiving religious instruction, taking part in a religious worship". Knowing about the belief systems of other cultures is not equivalent to religious instruction that aims to convert people to those belief systems. That much should be obvious. Secondly, the constitution clearly states that one is "not required to". That is not the same as saying that "one is not permitted to". In other words, the phrase under consideration is not banning me from participating in religious instruction or even worship in a religion other than my own. It is merely saying that I cannot be forced to do so. The phrase actually does not prohibit me to attend mass at a Church or go to a Hindu temple if I wish to do so of my own volition. I think the entire episode is a complete affront on the principles of academic freedom and underscores the reason why we have been heading towards greater sectarian violence and intolerance in society. Progressives all over the country should take a stand against this sort of reactionary scaremongering about losing our religious values on account of learning about other societies and their belief systems
Posted on: Tue, 24 Sep 2013 23:14:41 +0000
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