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A post of mine on All Things Pakistan , Inhospitable Reception, has generated a good discussion and it is was great to read that there are numerous Pakistanis who share the view that we must check our our tendency of stereotyping women and particularly foreign women.
Read the full post and comments here
William Darlymple’s article published in the Guardian is an insightful piece that attempts to be unbiased and reflects on some pertinent issues that afflict Pakistan. The piece examines the media stereotype - successful India and failed Pakistan - a little deeper and identifies a creaky education system as one of the major issues with the country.
While this is no news for us Pakistanis, it nevertheless makes us think why this crucial issue is not highlighted by the opinion-makers in Pakistan. There are endless debates on national media on politics and government-opposition stand-off. Perhaps the Pakistani upwardly mobile classes are a little removed from this debate since they have long abandoned the state run education facilities and chosen the private sector services. Hence the disconnect.
Darlymple writes:
…its desperate education crisis. No problem in Pakistan casts such a long shadow over its future as the abject failure of the government to educate more than a fraction of its own people: at the moment, a mere 1.8% of Pakistan’s GDP is spent on government schools. The statistics are dire: 15% of these government schools are without a proper building; 52% without a boundary wall; 71% without electricity.
…. out of 162 million Pakistanis, 83 million adults of 15 years and above are illiterate. Among women the problem is worse still: 65% of all female adults are illiterate. As the population rockets, the problem gets worse.
It can be argued that improved political system and democratic governance is essential to overcome this state of affairs. However, this may not be enough. After all, Malaysia achieved amazing success in building human capital under authoritarian rule. I am not suggesting that democracy is irrelevant but I think there is a deeper cause somewhere locked in our social and cultural ethos that needs to be identified.
Education requires utmost attention and advocacy by all those who want to see Pakistan progress and flourish in the long term.
“The Poor Neighbour” by William Darlymple can be read here.
Update: just as I posted this, this article came as a little shock.
A REPORT in this newspaper last month tells us that a cleric, Maulana Fazlullah, has issued an edict (fatwa), holding that education of girls is un-Islamic, and urging people in the villages of Swat to withdraw their daughters from public schools. Several thousand parents have acted on his advice, and young girls are now playing on the street instead of attending their classes.
The writer however rejects the stance taken by the silly Mullah and presents an account of five great Muslim women and hopes that this might ‘remove “Maulana” Fazlullah’s ignorance, make him seek God’s forgiveness, and stop him from misleading his congregations’.
How poor are they who have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees.
-William Shakespeare
I grew up in the post-East Pakistan era, and my only exposure to Bangladesh was initially through textbooks that were at best sheepish about the events surrounding its liberation. History was suspended by the school narratives. As a young adult, I was exposed to the injustices once meted out to Pakistan’s largest wing by an outspoken history teacher. Later, when I blurted out those acquired facts in characteristic drawing room discussions, I sensed an unease; silence was advised by a discerning elder.
Such silence, unfortunately, haunted the post-1971 social and cultural milieu of Pakistan. Later in life when I met real Bangladeshis, as opposed to the fictional characters that existed in my mental landscape, I felt a strange affinity despite the fact that we came from contested histories and realities. At college in London I remember long discussions with Bangladeshi friends where we disagreed yet agreed that we had a common future.
Therefore, the recent visit to Dhaka, the very first non fleeting sojourn, was an 
overpowering experience. Dhaka airport is just another airport. Like home, there are long queues broken by the protocol brigades and immigration officers struggling with the advent of technology. In Dhaka, the warmth of the people overwhelms you.
While there I could not help but think of Faiz’s only poem written in 1974, Ham ke thehre ajnabi, about how close relations become estranged. (more…)
I was in rural Sindh (in Pakistan) after many years. Met interesting people and many members of the ever expanding middle class.
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