Daily Times

A recrudescence of sidelining recalcitrant teachers in Pakistan is becoming palpable. In the recent epoch, we have seen myriad teachers being mustered out from the institutions in which they were teaching. This trend is emblematic of the shrinking space for dissent in Pakistan. Unfortunately, this trend is pervading every sphere of our state and society with a renewed vigor.

The academia which kowtows the narrative of the ‘state’ — no matter how distorted it remains– is awarded with all the perks and privileges, whereas teachers assiduously trying to nudge critical thinking and inculcating the habit of questioning in their classrooms are being shown pink slips.

In 1981, the Universal Grants Commission was constituted by the notorious military dictator Zia ul Haq’s regime to Islamise the education sector. This marked the genesis of Pakistan’s intellectual decay. An instance of this intellectual decay of our nation is illustrated by Stephen P. Cohen in his book The Idea of Pakistan. He writes that the Universal Grants Commission issued the following directive to prospective textbook authors:

“To demonstrate that the basis of Pakistan is not to be founded in racial, linguistic or geographical factors, but rather in the shared experience of a common religion. To get students to know and appreciate the Ideology of Pakistan and to popularize it with slogans. To guide students towards the ultimate goal of Pakistan– the creation of a completely Islamicized state.”

This is exactly how totalitarian states work. They feed the society with dogmas and gradually legitimize them with exotic fears and necessities. The totalitarian state tries to control the emotions and thoughts of its subjects at least as it controls their actions. Consequently, the society brims with conspiracy theories which are perpetuated by the ruling elite, civil or military, to ensconce itself in the power corridor of the state. The ultimate goal of this spin-doctoring is to control the ‘public opinion’. George Orwell in his terrific anthology of essays Fascism and Democracy writes on the importance of public opinion:

“The point is that the relative freedom we enjoy depends on public opinion. The law is no protection. Governments make laws, but whether they are carried out, and how the police behave, depends on the general temper of the country. If large number of people are interested in freedom of speech, there will be freedom of speech, even if the law forbids it; if public opinion is sluggish, inconvenient minorities will he persecuted, even if laws exist to protect them.” So after the marginalisation of religious and ethnic minorities the dark horses have now honed in on academic minorities.

Educationists play a pivotal role in shaping a nation’s public opinion. Ergo, in Pakistan special efforts are done by the ‘state’ for keeping the educationists docile and subservient. Those who truckle to the ‘state’ are given plum positions of VCs and Deans, while the obstreperous ones are pushed up the creek

Educationists play a pivotal role in shaping a nation’s public opinion. Ergo, in Pakistan special efforts are done by the ‘state’ for keeping the educationists docile and subservient. Those who truckle to the ‘state’ are given plum positions of VCs and Deans, while the obstreperous ones are pushed up the creek. Adding more insult to the injury, the recent legislation in Punjab– Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board(Amendment) Bill 2020– requires Pakistan Studies, Urdu literature and language books to be approved by the Muttehida Ulema Board. One can only wonder that why Pakistan Studies and Urdu literature and language books require the imprimatur of Ulema? Why are the scholars of Urdu and South Asian Studies not being assigned this task? Can the Ulema teach the Indian Act, 1935 and Cabinet Mission Plan better than the scholars of South Asian history? When exactly will we curtail the inordinate influence of the clergy in our education system ? Wasn’t Universal Grants Commission enough to create a whole generation of intellectual pygmies?

Recently, Prof. Pervaiz Hoodbhoy, the genius essayist, physicist, mathematician and a nuclear scientist was told that his contract for the forthcoming year is not being renewed by the administration of FC College. The reason for this unanticipated action was described as ‘overstaffing’ when ironically he was the only physics teacher in the college. Another brilliant academic Ammar Ali Jan was recently asked to walk the plank. “National security” managed to be the reason. Apparently, this ‘national security’ doesn’t seem to be threatened when ‘state officials’ are seen distributing envelopes containing money of taxpayers to the miscreants who have been wreaking havoc to the public property and law and order situation in the country. The chutzpah that Ammar Ali Jan demonstrated by taking up this gauntlet will be remembered for long. Mohammad Hanif, another teacher and author was shown the door by Habib University a few days ago. Earlier, the copies of his bestselling satirical novel A Case of Exploding Mangoes in which he had lambasted the former military dictator General Zia ul Haq were seized in raids by ‘state officials’ in Karachi. Another lecturer of Political Science at GCU, Lahore, Zagum Abbas was sent home in March this year because he was ‘political’ and outspoken on the issues that the teachers and students in the campus were up against. It is abstruse that how a teacher without being vocal about politics can teach Political Science. Such queer ways of reasoning are unfathomable for any sane mind. The reason for the expulsion of these teachers is axiomatic: they refused to conform to the textbook narrative of the ‘state’.

There is always a light at the end of the tunnel. But, unfortunately in Pakistan the tunnel does not seem to end. Every government rather than ameliorating the weaknesses and bottlenecks in our education system further derails it. Progressive and enlightened teachers are a blessing. Our students must not be bereft of this blessing. It has become imperative now for the people sitting at the helm of affairs to draw a line and decide what kind of a state they want Pakistan to become; totalitarian, where every dissenting voice– doctors, judges, journalists, teachers– is suppressed or democratic, where dissent and freedom of expression are deemed as essential for the growth of state and society? Do they want our posterity to become enlightened and pragmatic or do they want it to become imbecile and unrealistic? Their choices of today will determine the future course of actions of the state in this realm. The pressure being put on the progressive teachers has now become untenable. This ‘academic martial law’, as some people have called it, must not be given impetus.

The writer is a freelance columnist based in Karach