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Pakistan Day: Will "Naya Pakistan" Be Truly Free?
Pakistan's Independence Day celebrations this year coincide with a momentous change in leadership. It has been brought about by the triumph of the insurgent Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) over Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), both regarded as dynastic political parties. PMLN and PPP are each controlled by a family. Pakistan's Prime Minister Elect Imran Khan is part of a generation that he says "grew up at a time when colonial hang up was at its peak." How will the acknowledgement of this upbringing affect Imran Khan's leadership of "Naya Pakistan"? Let's examine the answers to this question.
Colonial Era Education:
Imran Khan attended Aitchison College, an elite school established in Lahore by South Asia's colonial rulers to produce faithful civil servants during the British Raj. He then went on to graduate from Oxford University in England. Here's an excerpt of what he wrote in an article published by the Arab News on January 14, 2002:
"My generation grew up at a time when colonial hang up was at its peak. Our older generation had been slaves and had a huge inferiority complex of the British. The school I went to was similar to all elite schools in Pakistan. Despite gaining independent, they were, and still are, producing replicas of public schoolboys rather than Pakistanis.
I read Shakespeare, which was fine, but no Allama Iqbal — the national poet of Pakistan. The class on Islamic studies was not taken seriously, and when I left school I was considered among the elite of the country because I could speak English and wore Western clothes.
Despite periodically shouting ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ in school functions, I considered my own culture backward and religion outdated. Among our group if any one talked about religion, prayed or kept a beard he was immediately branded a Mullah.
Because of the power of the Western media, our heroes were Western movie stars or pop stars. When I went to Oxford already burdened with this hang up, things didn’t get any easier. At Oxford, not just Islam, but all religions were considered anachronism."
Colonized Minds:
It is refreshing to see Imran Khan's acknowledgement that Pakistan's elite schools are "producing replicas of public schoolboys rather than Pakistanis". Pakistan achieved independence from the British colonial rule 70 years ago. However, the minds of most of Pakistan's elites remain colonized to this day. This seems to be particularly true of the nation's western-educated "liberals" who dominate much of the intellectual discourse in the country. They continue to look at their fellow countrymen through the eyes of the Orientalists who served as tools for western colonization of Asia, Middle East and Africa. The work of these "native" Orientalists available in their books, op ed columns and other publications reflects their utter contempt for Pakistan and Pakistanis. Their colonized minds uncritically accept all things western. They often seem to think that the Pakistanis can do nothing right while the West can do no wrong. Far from being constructive, these colonized minds promote lack of confidence in the ability of their fellow "natives" to solve their own problems and contribute to hopelessness. The way out of it is to encourage more inquiry based learning and critical thinking.
Orientalism As Tool of Colonialism:
Dr. Edward Said (1935-2003), Palestine-born Columbia University professor and the author of "Orientalism", described it as the ethnocentric study of non-Europeans by Europeans. Dr. Said wrote that the Orientalists see the people of Asia, Africa and the Middle East as “gullible” and “devoid of energy and initiative.” European colonization led to the decline and destruction of the prosperity of every nation they ruled. India is a prime example of it. India was the world's largest economy producing over a quarter of the world's GDP when the British arrived. At the end of the British Raj, India's contribution was reduced to less than 2% of the world GDP.
Education to Colonize Minds:
In his "Prison Notebooks", Antonio Gramsci, an Italian Marxist theorist and politician, says that a class can exercise its power not merely by the use of force but by an institutionalized system of moral and intellectual leadership that promotes certain ideas and beliefs favorable to it. For Gramsci "cultural hegemony" is maintained through the consent of the dominated class which assures the intellectual and material supremacy of the dominant class.
In "Masks of Conquest", author Gauri Viswanathan says that the British curriculum was introduced in India to "mask" the economic exploitation of the colonized. Its main purpose was to colonize the minds of the natives to sustain colonial rule.
Cambridge Curriculum in Pakistan:
The colonial discourse of the superiority of English language and western education continues with a system of elite schools that uses Cambridge curriculum in Pakistan.
Over 270,000 Pakistani students from elite schools participated in Cambridge O-level and A-level International (CIE) exams in 2016, an increase of seven per cent over the prior year.
Cambridge IGCSE exams is also growing in popularity in Pakistan, with enrollment increasing by 16% from 10,364 in 2014-15 to 12,019 in 2015-16. Globally there has been 10% growth in entries across all Cambridge qualifications in 2016, including 11% growth in entries for Cambridge International A Levels and 8 per cent for Cambridge IGCSE, according to Express Tribune newspaper.
The United Kingdom remains the top source of international education for Pakistanis. 46,640 students, the largest number of Pakistani students receiving international education anywhere, are doing so at Pakistani universities in joint degree programs established with British universities, according to UK Council for International Student Affairs.
At the higher education level, the number of students enrolled in British-Pakistani joint degree programs in Pakistan (46,640) makes it the fourth largest effort behind Malaysia (78,850), China (64,560) and Singapore (49,970).
Teach Critical Thinking:
Pakistani educators need to see the western colonial influences and their detrimental effects on the minds of youngsters. They need to improve learning by helping students learn to think for themselves critically. Such reforms will require students to ask more questions and to find answers for themselves through their own research rather than taking the words of their textbook authors and teachers as the ultimate truth.
Summary:
It is refreshing to see Imran Khan's acknowledgement that Pakistan's elite schools are "producing replicas of public schoolboys rather than Pakistanis". The minds of most of Pakistan's elite remain colonized 70 years after the British rule of Pakistan ended in 1947. They uncritically accept all things western. A quick scan of Pakistan's English media shows the disdain the nation's western educated elites have for their fellow countryman. Far from being constructive, they promote lack of confidence in their fellow "natives" ability to solve their own problems and contribute to hopelessness. Their colonized minds uncritically accept all things western. They often seem to think that the Pakistanis can do nothing right while the West can do no wrong. Unless these colonized minds are freed, it will be difficult for the people of Pakistan to believe in themselves, have the confidence in their capabilities and develop the national pride to lay the foundation of a bright future. The best way to help free these colonized minds is through curriculum reform that helps build real critical thinking.
Here's an interesting discussion of the legacy of the British Raj in India as seen by writer-diplomat Shashi Tharoor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN2Owcwq6_M
Related Links:
PTI's Triumph Over Dynastic Political Parties
How Can Pakistan Avoid Recurring BoP Crises?
Dr. Ata ur Rehman Defends Higher Education Reform
Pakistan's Rising College Enrollment Rates
Pakistan Beat BRICs in Highly Cited Research Papers
Launch of "Eating Grass: Pakistan's Nuclear Program"
Riaz Haq
The ‘One Per Cent Republic’
Miftah Ismail Published November 10, 2022
https://www.dawn.com/news/1720082
Top corporate and other professionals only come from the urban English-educated elites, especially from the two schools I mentioned above. The only influential professions where non-elites can enter —bureaucracy and the military — are also set up such that once their people enter the highest echelons, their lifestyle, like their elite peers from other fields, becomes similar to the colonial-era gora sahibs, materially removed from the lives of the brown masses composed of batmen, naib qasids and maids.
Political power too is concentrated not in parties but in personalities. Except for one religio-political party, there isn’t a party where the head is ever replaced. Politics is based on personalities down to the local level, where politicians come from families of ‘electables’, where fathers and grandfathers were previously elected.
Is it any wonder why Pakistanis don’t win Nobel Prizes? We properly educate less than 1pc of our kids. Of course, we have smart, talented people. But most of our brilliant kids never finish school and end up working as maids and dhobis and not as physicists and economists they could’ve been. Pakistan is a graveyard for the talent and aspirations of our people.
According to Unicef, 40pc of Pakistani children under the age of five are stunted (indicating persistent undernutrition); another 18pc are wasted (indicating recent severe weight loss due to undernutrition) and 28pc are underweight. This means 86pc of our kids go to sleep hungry most nights and have the highest likelihood in South Asia of dying before their fifth birthday. This is our reality.
Pakistan works superbly for members of social and golf clubs. But it doesn’t work if you’re a hungry child, landless hari, a madressah student, a daily-wager father or an ayah raising other people’s children. Pakistan doesn’t work well for most of our middle-class families. This is why disaffection prevails and centrifugal forces find traction.
The real predictor of success is a person’s father’s status. Intelligence, ability and work ethic are not relevant. Of course, some manage to become part of the elite: but those are the exceptions that prove the rule.
Pakistan’s elite compact allows wealth and power to perpetuate over generations and keeps everyone else out. This is what’s keeping Pakistanis poor and why it’s necessary to unravel the elite compact. We need a new social contract to unite and progress as a nation.
Nov 11, 2022
Riaz Haq
Sagarika Ghose
@sagarikaghose
Modiji knows the “slave mentality” well. Every
@BJP4India
leader is desperate to send their children to study & work in the west,
@narendramodi
wears premium western branded accessories, the Sangh Parivar
@RSSorg
ideology is entirely borrowed from European ethno-nationalism and western fascism, Modiji himself is in a state of perpetual surrender to
@realDonaldTrump
. Slave mentality is what YOU have Mr Modi.
https://x.com/sagarikaghose/status/1997504264156123372?s=20
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Modi Urges India to Shed ‘Slave Mentality’ in Next Decade
Mr Modi said the country’s economic performance was linked to the faith of its people and an entire society was reduced to a synonym for poverty
https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/modi-urges-india-to-shed-sla...
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged people to completely rid the country of the slave mentality in the next 10 years and hit out at “so-called intellectuals” for trying to malign an entire civilisation by terming years of sluggish economic growth as the Hindu rate of growth.
Addressing an event in the national capital, Mr Modi said India is brimming with confidence at a time when the world is full of uncertainties and is scripting the story of growth in the era of global slowdown. He asserted that no country can move forward without self-confidence and every sector today is shedding the colonial mindset and aiming for new achievements with pride.
“This colonial mentality has become a major barrier in achieving the goals of a developed Bharat. That is why today’s Bharat is working to free itself from this mindset,” Mr Modi said.
The Prime Minister said such was the impact of this colonial mentality that even today, when many around the world describe India as a global growth engine, very few speak proudly about this achievement.
“Has anyone ever referred to it as the Hindu rate of growth?” he asked and reminded the audience that the term was used at a time when India struggled even to reach a growth rate of 2 to 3 per cent.
Mr Modi said the country’s economic performance was linked to the faith of its people and an entire society was reduced to a synonym for poverty.
“The message being pushed was that India’s slow growth was somehow the consequence of Hindu civilisation itself. And those who now communalise every issue had no objection to this term then. This term became part of books and research papers,” the Prime Minister said.
“The policy of Macaulay, which sowed the seeds of mental slavery in India, will complete 200 years in 2035. This means there are 10 years left. Therefore, in these very 10 years, we all must come together to free our country from the slave mentality,” he said.
Asserting that India is a model of high growth and low inflation, he said the country’s 8.2 per cent growth in the second quarter of this fiscal shows that it is becoming the growth driver of the global economy.
Mr Modi said that at a time when the world is full of uncertainties, India is seen in a different league.
The changes happening in India are not just about possibilities but are a saga of changing thinking and direction, he said.
“We are standing at a juncture where one-fourth of the 21st century has passed. The world has seen many ups and downs: financial crises, global pandemics, technological disruptions, and the world falling apart. We are seeing wars these situations, in one way or another, are challenging the world,” Mr Modi said.
The world is full of uncertainties, but India is being seen in a different league altogether, Mr Modi said, adding, “India is full of self-confidence. When there is talk of slowdown, India writes the story of growth. When there is a trust deficit in the world, India is becoming a pillar of trust. When the world is moving towards fragmentation, India is becoming a bridge builder.”
Dec 8
Riaz Haq
Indian Education Was Designed To Kill Original Thought
https://youtu.be/Zz23UcvdxVY?si=lfOKKiQbas1-CYtp
“We are derived intellectuals – we just recycle Western knowledge here.”
Professor Arun Kumar argues that India never escaped Macaulay’s design: our universities were built to churn out clerks and civil servants, not original thinkers who can solve Indian problems. From teachers proudly saying they don’t need libraries because they “only teach,” to AIIMS surgeons waiting for Pittsburgh and London protocols to copy, this is an indictment of a country that imports both Diwali lights and pharmaceutical APIs from China while spending 0.65% of GDP on R&D against China’s 3%. When World Bank-funded poverty studies call markets the cure, then quietly admit their policies need “safety nets” because they deepen poverty, you realise the real crisis isn’t just money – it’s that we’re running on non-solutions built for someone else’s economy.
3 hours ago