Daily Times

Even though I have spent most of my life in Sweden, still the scenes from my childhood often surface in my mind and replay like a movie. I have one such vivid memory of a ‘human chain of blind men ‘, a row of 30 or so blind persons, steering along, each with his hand on the shoulder of the person in front. The man in the lead carried a begging bowl, calling out loudly, “Give to the blind persons, Allah will shower you with His blessings”, and the others vociferously repeating it in a chorus. The entire neighbourhood echoed with their non-stop, loud chorus, and everyone in the lanes and bazars knew that the blind men were out and around.

To me the Punjabis, particularly the Pakistani Punjabis, present the same imagery as that of those blind men. I am aware of the fact that historically that was not always the case. It was not too long ago when they were systematically targeted and manipulated to become what they have: blind.

An English writer and research scholar, G W Leitner, noted in his book published in 1860, that in 1849, when Punjab was conquered and came under the control of the British, it was among one of the most educated and literate nations in the region. The system of education in Punjab was better than the European educational systems and the standard of education was also much advanced. According to Leitner, in the Lahore district alone there were 576 schools, colleges and universities, where more than 4,225 scholars and professors imparted education and conducted research work. Many of those scholars and professors belonged to Europe and other continents. A wide range of courses in different academic disciplines were offered in these institutions, and the standard of education was up-to-date, sophisticated and ahead of the European educational system.

The standard of excellence of education in the academic institutions was comparable with that of Harvard and MIT. According to some scholars and researchers, the literacy rate in Punjab at that time was 92 to 96 percent, which was higher than any nation in the world. Moreover, even at the present time, none of the European countries can claim to have such a high rate of literacy.

Before Punjab came under the control of the British, every Punjabi was first a Punjabi nationalist and then something else. Education was mandatory (especially for women). A quaida (beginners’ book) was legally required to be part of a bridal dowry. The village headman (sarpanch) was legally obligated to overlook the education of women in the village. Non-compliance or negligence of any kind carried sanctions and penalties. On the one hand, there was a large network of madrassas and schools, and on the other, every mosque, Gurudawara, temple and church was legally bound to have and run a madrassa or school on its premises. The medium of instruction in Punjab was Persian and Punjabi.

Now the question is why the Punjabis became a target and got pushed into the line of the blind. Well, their only fault was that they were nationalists, stood united and took great pride in being Punjabis. They were passionate about freedom and refused to be subjugated to foreign rulers. Punjab was their love and pride. They nourished it, fought for it and worked tirelessly for its progress and development to make it one of the most prosperous and leading nations of the world. This was their only crime for which they are still paying the price.

Ever since their arrival in India, the British always perceived Punjab as a ‘sparrow of gold’ and could not wait to gain control over the rich and magnificent land, but they were also aware of the challenge it presented, and for the longest time, they could not gather enough courage to invade Punjab. The Punjabis were known for their unity, nationalism, martial skills, valour and progressive mindset, and because of that, it was no surprise that Punjab had become a powerful nation in Asia. Punjab was unique as it had something that was missing in the other states. Finally, the British succeeded in gaining control of Punjab and that was not because of their strength, but because of internal dissensions, treachery and betrayal of some Punjabis. While engaged in a battle, each side thinking it was defeated started to withdraw and retreat. It is said that while the British forces were withdrawing and were on the run, they were stopped by disloyal and treacherous Punjabis who informed them that the Punjabi army had run away from the battlefield.

The British finally got what they had always fancied: Punjab!

Once the British gained control of Punjab, they designed and crafted a scheme to permanently enslave the Punjabis. As part of that ploy, they systematically initiated the policy of ‘divide and rule’. Slowly but surely, not only were the Punjabis manipulated and turned into an almost illiterate and ignorant lot, they were also robbed of their national identity and self-pride. The result was the blind and fanatic Punjabi.

As part and parcel of their evil designs, first the British started to close all madrassas, schools, colleges and universities throughout Punjab and then started to gather all books and beginners’ books. That they did with force. All those books and quaidas were collected by government workers or by those who wanted the reward money, as the British had announced a reward of one anna for a weapon and four annas for a book or a quaida. Along with the reward, they used force to achieve their objective. To keep and posses a book or quaida was made unlawful and carried severe punishment. Throughout Punjab, a number of books and quaidas were confiscated, collected and burned to ashes by the British authorities.

Now they were ready and fully equipped to introduce their own system of education in Punjab. As a general rule, the British wanted to introduce their system of education in India, first to brainwash Indians and produce a class of loyalists, and secondly, they wanted to end the usage of Farsi (Persian). When the British adopted the policy of introducing regional languages in place of Persian, the result was an increase in the literacy rate, but with that came a surge in nationalism among the people of that region. It is no secret that nationalism is known to spearhead movements for freedom, and that was not acceptable to the British, and definitely not when it came to Punjab. The British cleverly designed one system of education for the loyal and trustworthy, and another for the rebellious and the volatile. The usage of the mother tongue for the trustworthy, and Urdu and Hindi for the rebellious for education purposes, became the British education policy.

The British cleverly used their loyal Hindu and Muslim scholars of the Fort William College to devise and craft two different languages out of Hidustani or Hindvi language, which were Hindi and Urdu. The reason to select Hindvi or Hindustani was that it was the language of their most trustworthy and loyal people of the UP and CP. When it came to Punjab, their policy was to drive away Farsi, but with that they did away with Punjabi too. Punjabi was driven away to rob the Punjabis of their identity and nationalist fervour, putting a brake on the literacy rate. The British had learnt the secret of what a high literacy rate responds to from their own history.

(To be continued)

The writer is a serving Justice in Sweden