By CSWs Press & Public Affairs Officer Ellis Heasley

‘No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate.’ (Nelson Mandela) 

While hatred can be ‘learned’ in many ways – from one’s family, or cultural background, or even from negative experiences with the object of said hatred – in Pakistan the teaching of hatred, specifically religious intolerance, is embedded in various forms into the very fibre of the country’s education system. 

A hidden agenda 

Perhaps at its most subtle, it takes the form of religious content being included in subjects where it isn’t contextually relevant. Students of English and Urdu may find that their textbooks contain stories and essays with religious themes that reinforce Islamic viewpoints, for example, while chapters on citizenship, ethics and moral values in social studies textbooks are predominantly framed on Islamic teachings. 

In an Islamic republic where most of the population follows Sunni Islam, one may be inclined to question where the harm in this lies. But particularly concerning is the fact that all these subjects are compulsory, at least up to the end of secondary education, and in some cases even continuing to the tertiary (i.e. university) level. 

History denied 

The curriculum continues to deliberately omit the contributions of religious minorities to the development of Pakistan, including in the fields of education, science, politics and military service. 

There is no mention, for example, of the three non- Muslim members of Pakistan’s first constitutional body at any level of the syllabus. Nor is there any acknowledgement of the country’s first Foreign Minister, Muhammad Zafrullah Khan (a member of the severely persecuted Ahmadiyya community, who went on to serve as president of the UN General Assembly and the International Court of Justice), nor of Cecil Chaudhry Sr (a Christian human rights activist and military hero). 

Elsewhere, religious minorities are outright demonised. Christians and Hindus are 10 frequently depicted as enemies of Islam in the history of the subcontinent, and some textbooks even contain derogatory language that denigrate non-Muslims as evil and heretical. 

In some cases, such discrimination is reinforced further still by teachers themselves. CSW has received multiple reports of teachers both directly and indirectly attempting to convince non-Muslims that their faith is illogical, subjecting non- Muslim students to physical and psychological abuse, and encouraging or permitting other Muslim students to do the same. 

Lasting consequences 

This has significant and lasting consequences for the social fabric of Pakistan. It is by teaching Muslim students that their non-Muslim counterparts are somehow lesser that some grow up to mete out extremist violence against religious minorities. 

It is by granting Muslim students who memorise the Qur’an 20 extra marks towards admission applications for higher education, employment and professional studies that religious minority students are placed at a disadvantage before they have even graduated. 

And ultimately it is by reinforcing stereotypes and promoting exclusion that the Islamist nationalist voices who have tightened their grip on a once proudly pluralistic nation will ensure that they maintain dangerous influence over generation after generation to come. 

Education is the answer 

Of course, there is a second part to the aforementioned Mandela quote: ‘And if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.’ 

If Pakistan is to truly honour the principles of peaceful coexistence and inclusivity on which it was founded, perhaps it should begin with education, with the empowerment of every child to see themselves – and all of their classmates – as valued and equal participants in Pakistani society and the nation’s future.

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This is a shortened version of a blog published on 6 October 2025. Read more at csw.org.uk/blog