Ironically, though the state is busy killing the monsters it produced through bullets, educational institutions are working as factories to produce more ideologues through books
Changes made by the Awami National Party (ANP) to the textbooks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been undone (or will be in the coming months). For the first time since the end of the Afghan war, a provincial government had tried to create a curriculum based on true history and local cultural values for the students and tried to minimise the state’s ideological propaganda in the name of education. However, since the changes were made by the alliance of Pakhtun secular-nationalist parties, the mosque-establishment alliance was not going to accept them.
Pakhtun nationalists have always been considered by the state of Pakistan as a threat to its existence. From the National Awami Party (NAP) to the ANP, nationalist (secular) forces have been suppressed by the state through the use of brutal force and its ideological state apparatus. This hegemonic role of the state is responsible for the demise of the state as a pluralistic society.
Hegemony on the part of the state or certain groups within a state has always been destructive for the progress of nations. Gramsci says hegemony is the process of making, maintaining and reproducing of an authoritative set of meanings, ideologies and practices. For him, the term hegemony implies a situation where a historical class of ruling class factions exercises social authority and leadership over the subordinate classes through a combination of force and, most importantly, consent. The consent is taken through the use of the ideological state apparatus, according to Althusser. He says that ideology exists in an apparatus and its associated practices. Althusser designates the family, education system, church and mass media as the ideological state apparatus.
Pakhtun nationalists both in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have been under the wrath of the state since the creation of Pakistan. The state tried to weaken nationalists both through brute force and its ideological state apparatus. The nationalists were treated and portrayed as enemies of Pakistan. Great nationalist leaders like Bacha Khan and Dr Khan were demonised. Bacha Khan had to spend his life within dark cells established by the neo-colonial establishment in Pakistan. His crime was educating tribal Pakhtun children to “free them from the influence of the illiterate mullah’s influence”, and striving for provincial autonomy.
The use of force against nationalists has been a norm since the creation of Pakistan, e.g. the Bhabra massacre in Charsadda. Though we managed to get independence from the British, we remained colonised by our establishment through the imposition of a particular ideology through state media and textbooks.
The ideological state apparatus came into play in the 1980s when the curriculum was changed and an alliance of the mosque, barracks and a few political parties was established. Schools, colleges and universities were turned into parts of the ideological state apparatus. Curriculums were changed not only to produce ideologues who could fight the Soviet troops in Afghanistan, but who could also counter the nationalist forces in Pakistan that were resisting Pakistan’s involvement in the Afghan war. Since then, nationalists in Pakistan suffered unprecedentedly. The state managed to maintain its hegemony and the progressive forces were weakened and destroyed one by one. But meanwhile, with the weakening of the nationalists and progressive forces, the state had destroyed the social fabric in the country and had turned the masses at large into extremists.
After 9/11, the whole of Pakistani society suffered the consequences of the unholy alliance of mosques and our establishment. Religious ideologues created to counter the nationalist ideology through educational institutions and mass media have become a threat to the existence of the country. However, ironically, though the state is busy killing the monsters it produced through bullets, educational institutions are working as factories to produce more ideologues through books. The state media, a major section of the private media, educational institutions and mosques are still busy in creating these monsters, who in turn are ruining the very basis of the state itself. We need to realise that without breaking the state-mosque alliance and without changing the curriculums in schools and colleges, Pakistan cannot counter religious extremists. We need to teach facts to our upcoming generations. Through the use of the ideological state apparatus, the state has thrown us into dark tunnels, full of confusion. We do not know who our provincial and national heroes were. We have disowned our culture, traditions and our history.
We need to tell our children about the Gandhara civilisation. They need to know who Bhutto was and why he was killed. They need to know why the Bhabhra massacre occurred. They need to know who G M Sayyed was. And they also need to know their local and national poets, including Ghani Khan and Faiz Ahmad Faiz.
Without rectifying these mistakes it will be difficult for the state to get public support for the ongoing military operations in the Pakhtun belt. Pakhtuns will consider these operations a conspiracy. Unless and until the state tries to make changes in the curriculum and teaches peace and harmony to our children, we cannot kill the menace of terrorism. Our establishment also needs to involve Pakhtun nationalists in policymaking regarding Afghan matters. Pakhtun nationalist leader Wali Khan said in the late 1970s, “This fire you have lit in Afghanistan will one day cross the Attock bridge and burn Pakistan.” Had Zia listened to his advice, today we would have been living in a progressive, developed Pakistan.
Pakhtun nationalists have always been considered by the state of Pakistan as a threat to its existence. From the National Awami Party (NAP) to the ANP, nationalist (secular) forces have been suppressed by the state through the use of brutal force and its ideological state apparatus. This hegemonic role of the state is responsible for the demise of the state as a pluralistic society.
Hegemony on the part of the state or certain groups within a state has always been destructive for the progress of nations. Gramsci says hegemony is the process of making, maintaining and reproducing of an authoritative set of meanings, ideologies and practices. For him, the term hegemony implies a situation where a historical class of ruling class factions exercises social authority and leadership over the subordinate classes through a combination of force and, most importantly, consent. The consent is taken through the use of the ideological state apparatus, according to Althusser. He says that ideology exists in an apparatus and its associated practices. Althusser designates the family, education system, church and mass media as the ideological state apparatus.
Pakhtun nationalists both in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have been under the wrath of the state since the creation of Pakistan. The state tried to weaken nationalists both through brute force and its ideological state apparatus. The nationalists were treated and portrayed as enemies of Pakistan. Great nationalist leaders like Bacha Khan and Dr Khan were demonised. Bacha Khan had to spend his life within dark cells established by the neo-colonial establishment in Pakistan. His crime was educating tribal Pakhtun children to “free them from the influence of the illiterate mullah’s influence”, and striving for provincial autonomy.
The use of force against nationalists has been a norm since the creation of Pakistan, e.g. the Bhabra massacre in Charsadda. Though we managed to get independence from the British, we remained colonised by our establishment through the imposition of a particular ideology through state media and textbooks.
The ideological state apparatus came into play in the 1980s when the curriculum was changed and an alliance of the mosque, barracks and a few political parties was established. Schools, colleges and universities were turned into parts of the ideological state apparatus. Curriculums were changed not only to produce ideologues who could fight the Soviet troops in Afghanistan, but who could also counter the nationalist forces in Pakistan that were resisting Pakistan’s involvement in the Afghan war. Since then, nationalists in Pakistan suffered unprecedentedly. The state managed to maintain its hegemony and the progressive forces were weakened and destroyed one by one. But meanwhile, with the weakening of the nationalists and progressive forces, the state had destroyed the social fabric in the country and had turned the masses at large into extremists.
After 9/11, the whole of Pakistani society suffered the consequences of the unholy alliance of mosques and our establishment. Religious ideologues created to counter the nationalist ideology through educational institutions and mass media have become a threat to the existence of the country. However, ironically, though the state is busy killing the monsters it produced through bullets, educational institutions are working as factories to produce more ideologues through books. The state media, a major section of the private media, educational institutions and mosques are still busy in creating these monsters, who in turn are ruining the very basis of the state itself. We need to realise that without breaking the state-mosque alliance and without changing the curriculums in schools and colleges, Pakistan cannot counter religious extremists. We need to teach facts to our upcoming generations. Through the use of the ideological state apparatus, the state has thrown us into dark tunnels, full of confusion. We do not know who our provincial and national heroes were. We have disowned our culture, traditions and our history.
We need to tell our children about the Gandhara civilisation. They need to know who Bhutto was and why he was killed. They need to know why the Bhabhra massacre occurred. They need to know who G M Sayyed was. And they also need to know their local and national poets, including Ghani Khan and Faiz Ahmad Faiz.
Without rectifying these mistakes it will be difficult for the state to get public support for the ongoing military operations in the Pakhtun belt. Pakhtuns will consider these operations a conspiracy. Unless and until the state tries to make changes in the curriculum and teaches peace and harmony to our children, we cannot kill the menace of terrorism. Our establishment also needs to involve Pakhtun nationalists in policymaking regarding Afghan matters. Pakhtun nationalist leader Wali Khan said in the late 1970s, “This fire you have lit in Afghanistan will one day cross the Attock bridge and burn Pakistan.” Had Zia listened to his advice, today we would have been living in a progressive, developed Pakistan.
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