M. Ayaz Naseem

Education and gendered citizenship in Pakistan

On March 11, 2004, the entire opposition in the National Assembly of Pakistan walked out in protest over the omission of Quranic verses pertaining to jihad from biology textbooks for classes XI-XII. According to the text of the news report: An opposition protest walkout from the National Assembly on Friday forced a government apology in what seems to be brewing controversy over how much jihad should be taught in the country’s schools and colleges. All opposition parties, despite their own known differences over Islamization, joined the MMA-led walkout to protest against a parliamentary secretary’s remarks during the question hour. …The inclusion of Quranic verses is not a requirement of curriculum,” said a written reply from Education Minister Zubaida Jalal in reply to a question from Laiq Khan (MMA, Sindh) about whether and why Quranic verses had been omitted from biology books for the intermediate first year. However, in this case, the Sindh Textbook Board has shifted Quranic verses from the book of biology for classes XI-XII to the book of biology for classes IX-X,” the minister said. While answering supplementary questions from MMA members, parliamentary secretary Jafar Hussain denied their charge that the government was omitting verses about jihad and Christians and Jews to meet what they called US conditions for helping the country’s education sector. (DAWN, March 12, 2004, online edition)

Creating “Invited” Spaces for Counter-Radicalization and Counter-Extremism Education

ABSTRACT In this article we present an articulation of how “invited spaces” can foster inclusive and authentic participation and public discourse on issues related to extremism and radicalization. Conversations on these issues that are of crucial importance to the general public are usually held in closed spaces or in spaces that are set up by those in power. Subsequently, we present an account of Symposia on Teaching About Extremism, Terror, and Trauma (TETT), as a transformative invited space in which conversations around extremism, terrorism, radicalization, and counter-radicalization took place with an aim for interchange of ideas between various stakeholders (public, policy makers, researchers, community-based organization [CBOs], nongovernmental organizations [NGOs], and students). We briefly report some of the salient conversations and the questions that come out of these conversations at TETT 2016. Finally, we make an attempt to answer one of these questions: What kind of pedagogy is needed to counter extremism and radicalization?

The Soldier and the Seductress: A Post-Structuralist Analysis of Gendered Citizenship through Inclusion in and Exclusion from Language and Social Studies Textbooks in Pakistan.

An important dimension of inclusive education is the discursive inclusion and exclusion in and by texts (curricula and textbooks). Such inclusion and exclusion seriously affects inclusive education especially with respect to the representation of gendered, ethnic, class based, racial and other minorities. In this paper I focus on gendered exclusion of women and to some extent minorities from the citizenship discourse in Pakistan. I argue that curricula and the textbooks in Pakistan discursively constitute gendered citizens through totalization, classification and normalization. These subjects are then positioned in such a way that women and minorities are largely excluded from the citizenship discourse.An important dimension of inclusive education is the discursive inclusion and exclusion in and by texts (curricula and textbooks). Such inclusion and exclusion seriously affects inclusive education especially with respect to the representation of gendered, ethnic, class based, racial and other minorities. In this paper I focus on gendered exclusion of women and to some extent minorities from the citizenship discourse in Pakistan. I argue that curricula and the textbooks in Pakistan discursively constitute gendered citizens through totalization, classification and normalization. These subjects are then positioned in such a way that women and minorities are largely excluded from the citizenship discourse.

Motherhood as a Counter-Hegemonic Reading of Citizenship and Agency

Dominant articulations and understanding of citizenship and agency are gendered. From the seminal reading (and understanding) of agency and citizenship by E. P. Thompson and T. H. Marshall respectively, to groundbreaking work on agency in Paul Willis’ Learning to Labor (1977), both the structures and the subject of these structures in relation to citizenship and agency has always been male. While Janice Radway (1984) tried in earnest to recast agency through a feminist lens, dismantling the master’s house with the master’s tools proved to be a formidable challenge.

Tagore and Education

An attempt is made here to capture some aspects of Tagore’s philosophy of education including those bearing on education in colonial India of his time. The outlooks he expounded on, led the educated classes of British India of his time to think and act outside the shackles of colonialism. Tagore’s educational philosophy and practice is outlined by delineating its liberating influence in the evolution of educational thought in colonial India at that time (1861–1941).

Social Media as Space for Peace Education: Conceptual Contours and Evidence from the Muslim World.

In this research, we present a conceptual framework to examine the potential of social media as an educational space for peace education. In particular, we examine the characteristics and dynamics of social media that set it apart from other traditional media and educational spaces. Specifically, we conceptualize features of social media such as: social media as ‘knowledge commons’; imagined communities of purpose; public and private voice; civic engagement; and the experts’ gaze. Finally, we provide empirical and discursive evidence from social media in the Muslim world with specific examples from the Pakistani blogosphere in support of the conceptual framework drawn earlier.

The Education System and Educational Policy Discourse in Pakistan

The history of educational policy making in Pakistan is one of laments, broken promises, and tall claims. Each successive government accuses the previous government of not being serious and committed to the educational cause of the nation. Each successive government promises to raise literacy levels to new (often unattainable) heights. Each regime promises to put in more money and allocate more resources to education. And each successive policy makes loud claims of harmonizing education with the principles of Islam. Yet, in real terms, education in Pakistan has remained largely underdeveloped both in quantitative as well as in qualitative terms. The questions that arise are: Why is the situation so bleak now and historically when it comes to educating the citizens? Are the governments, politicians, and bureaucrats not well-intentioned people? Do they intentionally make false promises? Are the educational planners actually not committed to the cause of raising literacy and educational levels and empowering the people of Pakistan?

Classification, Normalization, and the Construction of the “Other” in Pakistan’s Educational Discourse

Texts use gendered notions of space to classify groups and construct the other, especially with respect to Hindus and Muslims. Foremost in this respect is the designation of the space (country) in gendered metaphors. Commonly used metaphors are motherland, mother, dharti, and so on (virtually every Urdu and social studies textbook). Another metaphor commonly used is dharti ki kokh (“Earth’s womb”) from which crops grow, or arz e watan (literally “earth of the country”), to obtain which (in 1947) thousands of people (read: men) sacrificed their material belongings or lives and women lost “everything” (sub kuch, meaning their honor), while to safeguard this martyrs shed their blood.

Subject Positioning and Subjectivity Constitution in Pakistan

Pakistan did not get its first constitution until 1956. Since then, two more constitutions have been promulgated, one in 1962 and the other in 1973. The last mentioned has been hailed as the constitution on which there was a complete national consensus. For most of its life, however, the 1973 constitution has been suspended by respective military governments. I will not go into details of the constitutional issues here due to constraints of scope and space, but will instead concentrate on how constitutional discourse in Pakistan affected women.1 In each of the articles of the constitution that aim at safeguarding women’s rights, provisions to this effect have been explicitly stated. For instance, articles 25 and 34 of the 1973 constitution stipulate that: i. All citizens are equal before the law and are entitled to equal protection before the law. ii. There shall be no discrimination on the basis of sex alone. iii. Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the protection of women and children.

Michel Foucault and I: Applying Poststructuralism to the Constitution of Gendered Subjects in Pakistan’s Educational Discourse

One of the big questions before me is how useful is it to use poststructuralism, a primarily Western (and to some a canonical) theoretical lens to examine and understand gendered subject and subjectivity constitution in a specifically non-Western society like Pakistan. A second issue before me is how problematic is my position as a male in trying to understand gendered subjects in relation to Pakistan’s educational discourse.