Author:
Publication: The Friday Times
Date: February 14-20, 2003
Muslims alone have the right to
rule the world and are allowed to kill infidels that stand in the way of
Islam. This is themmessage being taught to schoolchildren through textbooks
used in the network of institutions run by Jamaat ud-Daawa, according to
a research report on Hate Speech complied by the Liberal Forum Pakistan.
Democracy, Freedom, and Peace in
Textbooks: Campaign against Hate Speech reports that books published by
the Lashkar-e-Taiba (the first incarnation of ud-Daawa) immerse young children
in a culture that glorifies violence and hate. For example, the Urdu textbook
employed to teach children the alphabet uses Bandooq (gun) as an example
of a word that starts with the alphabet Bai, Talwar (sword) and Tank for
Tai, Jahaz (fighter plane) for Jeem, Khanjar (dagger) for Khai, Rocket
for Rai, and Tayyara (fighter plan again) for To-ay.
"Infidels are cowards by nature,"
claims the Urdu textbook used in the second grade (for seven-year-olds).
"When a holy warrior attacks them, they scream with terror and fear." Mujahideen
are glorified as the alpha male on a mission from God. They are the superheroes
that kill Hindus, fashion all sorts of gadgets from found material, and
make the infidel world cower in fear.
Art and music are forbidden so instead
of handicrafts, children are asked to purchase plastic guns and trained
to shoot at balloons. Games on the playground include playing guerrilla
and ambushing infidel convoys. Poems relay stories of young boys that wage
jihad. In Brave Child, ten-year-old Gul Rehman kills hundreds of Russians
in Afghanistan. Probably fictitious letters from jihadis killed in battle
strewn across textbooks. "If I am killed in battle celebrate," reads a
letter from one Abdul Nasir to his mother and sister which can be found
in the seventh grade textbook. "Make sure you conceal your body and never
wear perfume."
India is presented as Pakistan's
sworn enemy and Saudi Arabia as its best friend. Kashmir is presented as
Pakistani territory forcibly snatched by Hindus and Pakistan as a country
created only for Muslims. Children are instructed to "mercilessly beat
up" non-Muslims. "Every student should become a holy warrior," the second
grade textbook states. "We should all be willing to lay down our lives
for the great nuclear power that is Pakistan."
Published by the ud-Daawa press
these are given to students free of charge and are not available on the
market. TFT caught up with Abu Naseer, an official at the ud-Daawa Rawalpindi
center who explained the books were meant to inspire.
"We aim to inculcate a truly Islamic
spirit in our students," said Mr Naseer. "We earnestly desire to enable
our students to view Islam as a complete way of life rather than a mere
set of rituals. So through our textbooks we introduce our students to the
inspirational ideas and objectives of Islam, we introduce them to our glorious
past."
