After Partition, Pakistan's population had 15 per cent Hindus and 2 per cent Christians. If Pakistan had promoted diversity then, the next generation would have grown up in a multi-cultural, multi-religious society and exercised more tolerance.
General Zia-ul-Haq replaced this multi-cultural heritage with radical "Islamisation" of civil society and the army. The rich Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh legacy common to both countries was discarded.
Pakistan was once a land of learning, where universities like Taxila flourished and Ayurveda texts were written. It forgot its pluralistic tradition, unlike India, where for example, the contribution of the Mughal Empire is recognised and honoured.
Instead, generations of Pakistani students have received mono-cultural, mono-religious education, making them radical. When I visited Pakistan some years ago, I met several journalists and interacted with thousands of people.
To my amazement, they knew very little about India's freedom movement or Mahatma Gandhi and his principles of non-violence and forgiveness. Children in Pakistan know nothing about the Bhakti movement, the spiritual renaissance our sub-continent once witnessed.
By tampering with history books, educationists have done great damage to society. The soft power they appear to wield ultimately brings out a hardened attitude in people.
Extremists generally tend to be very insular. Unfortunately, even in India, these tendencies are seen today in protests about "Vande Mataram" being sung in schools and colleges, a fatwa issued to an actor for visiting a Ganesh festival, and objections to Valentine's Day.
These should be unequivocally condemned by society as a whole. A composite society will always promote harmony and peace and check extremism.
Since Partition, the minority population in India has grown manifold while Pakistan's minority population has fallen to 1 per cent. Pakistan's biggest mistake is not supporting its minority communities, because extremism in one religion does not remain contained in one.
Credits : http://in.news.yahoo.com/hindustantimes/20080123/r_t_ht_op_clm/top-a-lesson-from-pakistan-622486c.html
Chakradhar
www.chakradhar.net
http://zoomsays.blogspot.com
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