Will Arabic Language Solve All Of Pakistan's Problems
By
Anjum Altaf
March 15,
2021
How
convenient it is for people to earn brownie points at the cost of others and
with no cost to themselves. The Senate approved, with just one dissenting vote,
the Compulsory Teaching of the Arabic Language Bill 2020 mandating the teaching
of Arabic in primary and secondary schools in Islamabad. Within six months, the
language will be taught in all schools in the city from grades 1 to 5 while its
grammar will be taught through grades 6 to 12.
The
proposer of the bill claimed that "we would not go through the problems we
are currently facing if we understood the Holy Quran." A minister
concurred saying that the government "categorically supported" the
bill and according to Article 31 of the constitution.
This is one
of a piece with the Tahaffuz-e-Bunyad-e-Islam bill that was passed by the
Punjab Assembly last year requiring passing an exam on the Quran prior to
getting a PhD degree. So eager were the assembly members to earn free Hasanat
that many later admitted they had voted in favour of the bill without
having read it.
Courtesy of
Ali Usman Qasmi, a professor of history at LUMS, we know that this is also of a
piece over time. At the time of the making of the constitution, Maulana Kausar
Niazi, a minister in Mr Bhutto’s government, advocated Arabic as the national
language, it being the mother tongue of all Muslims because it was the language
of Ummahat-ul-Momineen – the Mothers of all Muslims. One valiant member
demurred arguing the case of Urdu since – being a 'Lashkari Zabaan' –
Urdu qualified as the national language of a Muslim state.
Much
earlier, in 1951, the Aga Khan had proposed the adoption of Arabic as the state
language to put an end to the language controversy in Pakistan. Our great
leaders specialize in never directly addressing burning issues; they would
rather go for convoluted and bizarre solutions that make the problems worse
than before.
If these
legislators really believe all the wonderful things that follow learning the
Arabic language, why don’t they vote themselves a two-year sabbatical to learn
Arabic thereby purifying themselves against horse-trading. That would truly set
an example for all the children whom they wish to turn into exemplary moral
citizens?
Asides from
this brazen hypocrisy, the nation should be deeply concerned about the
intellectual calibre of these legislators. Where is the evidence on which all
their holy claims are based? Have they evaluated the outcome of the religious
studies injected into the curriculum by Ziaul Haq, the 'warrior of Islam'? How
come they are themselves shouting to the heavens that Pakistan is the most
corrupt country in the world where not even a single project can be found untainted
by a scam?
How do they
explain the fact that almost three-fourths of students nurtured on this
overdose of religious studies have been found cheating on assignments during
this period of online teaching? What is the basis for the presumption that even
more such additions in the curriculum would change these trends?
Are the
legislators implying that perfect morality prevails in the Arab world where all
children and adults are fluent in the Arabic language? If not, why would the
language work miracles in Pakistan when it has not done so in those countries
that are fighting among themselves while speaking the same “language of the
heavens”? And, why has this mandate been reserved only for schools in
Islamabad? Is Islamabad particularly un-Islamic and thus in need of strong
medicine or is it particularly blessed to be the sole recipient of the
legislature’s benevolence?
How does
this radical intervention square with the Single National Curriculum that,
despite being meticulously planned by 400 pious experts, has no place for the
teaching of Arabic? Instead, the SNC has placed its hopes in the miracle of
English – poor elementary school children would learn maths and general science
in the language that neither they nor their teachers know with any degree of competence.
May the
Almighty have mercy on our children, hapless victims of the pedagogical
illiteracy and moral posturing of our rulers. It is easy to forget that
children have rights that they themselves are unable to articulate and fight
for. We need an independent agency representing children that would approve all
legislation affecting their rights and welfare. That would be the only way to
stop the damage inflicted by uninformed policymaking and the pernicious
competition of moral one-upmanship.
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Anjum
Altaf is a former dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at LUMS
Original
Headline: Arabic as panacea?
Source: The News, Pakistan
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