Sir: Article 22, clause one 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 Lahore Grammar School (LGS) is prohibited by the constitution. This argument rests on two false assumptions. First of all, studying a course on Comparative Religion is not the same as “receiving religious instruction, taking part in religious worship”. Knowing about the belief systems of other cultures is not equivalent to religious instruction, which 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 to 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.
And while academics who have contributed so greatly to educating an entire generation of Pakistanis are on the defensive, let me remind the public that we have an increasingly belligerent and aggressive Taliban that just killed perhaps up to 200 Christians. It seems, therefore, that if you educate 50,000 children you will be faced with FIRs, slanders on television and bans. However, if you kill 50,000 people, you will be called a “stakeholder for peace” in the country. Is it any wonder that people turn to violence and not education in Pakistan then?
DR TAIMUR RAHMAN
Lahore