The grade 8 textbook published by Gujrat Center for Educational Research (GCERT), alludes to the creation of Islamic Islamabad with its capital in Khyber Ghat pushed into the Hindukush mountain ranges. “Gandhi was basically an extremist Hindu politician with highly pro-Hindu approach to politics. Due to Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement Quaid-e-Azam re- signed from the Congress in 1920” The term Hindu has acquired a negative connotation in Pakistan. Through repeated use of the term, M. K. Gandhi, as a personality, is painted in an anti-Muslim light while omitting most details regarding his philosophy on non-violent struggle in the Pakistan Studies book titled ‘Making of Pakistan’. Biased Textbook History, taught as a set of facts to children in their formative years, in the absence of contrasting narratives breeds a culture of unquestioning conformance and unchecked intolerance which manifests in a variety of forms, the worst of which is the violence that we see in the world around us today. The distortion of historical narratives has in turn played a quintessential role in manipulating our sense of self. Imagine for a minute that you aren’t aware of M.K. Gandhi’s reputation. Imagine that you were starting fresh, learning about the sub-continent’s history. What sort of an image of M.K. Gandhi would be formed in your mind? Or how would you view Pakistan if you grew up thinking its called Islamic Islamabad or that it really shouldve been a part of India. Or, as a present day Pakistani, how would you view yourself in this tale, tracing your ancestral past? The History Project researches history textbooks, and places narratives of a trans-national, shared history side by side, to highlight the commonality of our past, and the contrast in its perception. We introduce questions to highlight embedded biases and activities geared towards understanding competing perspectives. Lastly, we supplement our materials with illustrations to make it more engaging for our readership. Help us empower our future generations by introducing them to powerful concepts of multiplicity of narratives of history and the fact that history always comes with the narrator’s bias. Join the fight-back. Help us spread the word! thehistory-project.org/ facebook/thehistoryproject
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 19:04:58 +0000
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