Rewriting Indo-Pak History -- Together

One of the biggest obstacles to peace begins in the classroom. This is what we are doing about it. "They [non-vegetarians] easily cheat, tell lies, they forget promises, they are dishonest and tell bad words, steal, fight and turn to violence and commit sex crimes." An excerpt from a Grade 6 textbook being taught in Gujrat, India. "... the style adopted by Gandhi is nothing but cheating and hypocrisy and cunningness." An excerpt from a Pakistani textbook being taught in Punjab, Pakistan. Biased history in textbooks continues to shape the identities of millions of young minds and systematically lay the foundation for perpetual intolerance, mistrust, fear and conflict. These passages from Indian and Pakistani textbooks are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the hateful material being taught to young impressionable minds on a daily basis. It is the same material that ends up being tested through exams that determines the professional futures of these students. Any opinion that deviates from verbatim regurgitation of these narratives is penalized. While the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals correctly identify the importance of access to education (Goal #4), the world is yet to fully recognize the danger to the minds that actually make it to school. Minds that are exposed to biased historical narratives and systematically conditioned to be intolerant. We founded The History Project to help tackle this indoctrination, and which also follows the path laid ...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news