Understanding the Role of Education in Promoting Violence and Terrorism in Pakistan

Abstract

In Pakistan the “nexus between, education, religion, and national identity” is a complex phenomenon1. Having removed the civilian elected government amidst the political turmoil in 1979, Zia ul Haq’s military regime sought internal political legitimacy and simultaneously tried to counter two external threats, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Iranian revolution. Underpinned by Saudi ideology and American assistance, the military regime sought political control through education. The revised curricula became the primary source of the decline of educational standards, and the ideas imported from Saudi Arabia and the U.S. brought serious challenges to the very existence of Pakistan itself. The destruction of pluralism, the new political order based on force and revised curricula entailed insensitivity to minorities, glorification of war, promotion of jihad and martyrdom, and paved the way for religiously motivated terrorism in Pakistan. In addition, religious absolutism facilitates intolerance toward people of other beliefs. Peace educators and concerned citizens should take drastic measures to save the educational crisis from turning into a disaster. Keywords: education, identity, jihad, martyrdom, peace, politics, religion, terrorism