Pakistani textbooks demonise Hindus! – BBC Urdu documentary

Better late than never, BBC has revealed the pathetic state of Hindus in Pakistan. It is apparent that Pakistanis are taught hatred towards Hindus right through their childhood. Holding dialogue with people having such a mindset can never be successful!

New Delhi – BBC Urdu published a video on YouTube on Monday highlighting the inherent prejudice against Hindus in Pakistani textbooks. The video features several Pakistani Hindus who point out the rampant anti-Hindu propaganda peddled by school textbooks in Pakistan and narrate the painful humiliation they had to endure at the hands of their friends, colleagues and classmates, simply for being Hindus.

BBC Urdu documentary reveals how state-sanctioned Pakistani textbooks demonize Hindushttps://t.co/ummkMwGnw7

— OpIndia.com (@OpIndia_com) April 13, 2021

1. Pakistani children are taught ‘Hindus are Kafirs’ and are conditioned to hate Hindus. They are told that Hindus are responsible for all the evils plaguing Pakistan.

2. One of the Pakistani Hindus, who identified himself as Rajesh, cited a Pakistani school textbook that described Hindus as ‘Kafirs’, meaning those who worship idols, and alleges that Hindus are misogynists who buried their new-borns alive if they happened to be girls.

3. Dr Kumar cites the 11th and 12th-grade books of the Sindh Text Book Board to highlight the use of epithets like “enemies of humanity” to describe Hindus and Sikhs. She further adds that the book claims that Hindus and Sikhs killed thousands of women, men, and children.

4. In this way, the textbooks raise perception among the Muslim students that Hindus in their country are traitorous and have no patriotic feelings for Pakistan.

5. Dr Kumar cited the 9th and 10th-grade books to point out how Pakistani books characterise Hindus as treacherous and deceitful. She says the books claim that Muslims and Hindus joined hands to fight against the oppressive British regime. However, the association could not last long because of the perpetual hostility displayed by Hindus towards Muslims.

6. According to well-known Pakistani academic expert AH Nayyar, hatred against Hindus is broached in a subtle way in Pakistani books. He explains when the history of Pakistan is taught, the battle between the Muslim league and Congress is portrayed as a fight between Muslims and Hindus. Nayyar says, Hindus are projected as villains in Pakistani textbooks, in a bid to justify the founding of Pakistan and the politics behind it.

7. Nayyar says, while the history of Muslim rule is prominently presented in these books, there is no mention of Hindu history. There is no mention of past Hindu rulers who preceded the Muslim rule in the region.