PESHAWAR: The Jamaat-i-Islami on Wednesday blasted the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government led by its partner, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, for ‘removing’ Islamic contents from syllabus taught in public and private sector schools of the province and adjoining tribal areas.

“The provincial government has removed lessons on the life of Holy Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be upon Him), His wives and four caliphs from textbooks and inducted contents about Ranjit Singh, Raja Dahir, and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, who had campaigned against the British Raj and carried out non-violence movement in the Indian sub-continent,” JI provincial chief Professor Ibrahim Khan told party workers in Sarai Naurung area of Lakki Marwat.

According to a news release issued here, Professor Ibrahim said his party had formally conveyed its reservations to the provincial government about changes in syllabus and had tabled recommendations to the relevant quarters for it.

He said neither the government had taken the JI into confidence on making objectionable stuff part of textbooks nor had the government shared anything on it with the party.

Prof Ibrahim says his party won’t let government function if qualms not addressed

Professor Ibrahim said his party had repeatedly asked the provincial government not to change syllabus and retain material on Islamic teachings and values, including jihad, but to no avail.

“Repercussions of the step will be very serious. If our reservations are not addressed to ensure that the syllabus conforms to the ideology of Pakistan, then we will not let the provincial government function,” he said.

The JI leader warned his party would agitate against the induction of objectionable material in textbooks.

He said even the previous Awami National Party-led government could not muster courage to remove Islamic contents from syllabus.

Professor Ibrahim voiced concern over the ongoing agitation and riots in Islamabad and said the last elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata were rigged like other parts of the country due to the change in results.

He said his party would not allow anyone to derail the current political system but at the same time, it favoured drastic reforms in electoral system.

The JI leader said the ongoing agitation in the federal capital would end very soon and that those behind it would be exposed.

He said the provincial government had been asking the federal government for introduction of biometric system to ensure transparency in elections but to no avail.

When contacted, provincial information and higher education minister Mushtaq Ghani expressed ignorance about the removal of Islamic contents from syllabus.

He said he was unaware of the induction of material, which was in conflict of Islamic teachings and ideology of Pakistan, in textbooks.

Ghani said he didn’t know about the recommendations put up by the JI on the matter.

“Jamaat-i-Islami is partner in our government. If it has reservations about syllabus, we are ready for discussion with them on it,” he said.

The minister said the government had no intention to remove material on the life of Holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) from textbooks.

Meanwhile, an official in the textbook board told Dawn that the provincial government had agreed in principle to include all recommendations of the JI in new textbooks, which had yet to be published.

“The textbook board has received proposals and recommendations of the Jamaat-i-Islami and will be incorporated in new books,” he said on condition of anonymity.

The official said Ranjit Singh, Ghaffar Khan and other leaders were part of Indo-Pak history and therefore, it was impossible to remove their names or activities from the history.

He said according to the government policy, some contents about religious personalities could not be repeated in textbooks.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2014