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As the daughter of a Pakistan Air Force officer, retreating into my childhood, I am controlling a clear flood of memories. I remember that the pink bogin has been drawn to the Valea colonial -style homes. Race in the morning for PAF Schools – a stone throw; And the uniformed ‘mamas’ and ‘aunty’ carry their briefing cases with calm, unprecedented stokes. There was a rhythm for our lives – cycling with friends at night, participating in base concerts and sharing a dinner below the sky that always looked safe. We lived in a world that has a reliable trust in duty, Kamardi and our parents who were wearing uniforms with dignity and pride.
But in addition to this calm, the initial familiarity of the strong facts of war and loss came. Patriotism was not just encouraged. It had entered our existence. Schools praised the martyrdom. The idea of dying for someone’s country was painted as a final honor. The textbooks raised the bravery of the heroes of the war. In the morning assemblies echoed with the enthusiasm of national songs and rehearsals. I remember how students who failed to recite the national anthem with great enthusiasm were punished by our physical training instructor. Josh was a patriot.
There was a constant possibility of loss. I witnessed some evidence. Young officers were killed in the service, with widows, small small small small small small little little little little little little little little littleen little little little little little little little little littlehans were celebrated as brave widows of martyrs. His grief was buried under a strong ceremony and the statement was raised. But after that, what I had with me was silent moments. The children were growing up without this calm, uniform presence. Unclear struggle after being kept in glass frames after medals.
At school, we were taught to see India as a permanent enemy. It is sometimes either blurred or completely absent to the difference between Indians and Hindus. Religious diversity within Pakistan was barely acknowledged, it was abandoned. This only deepened our collective ignorance. It took me several years in the statement that I was absorbed – maybe in decades. Only after that I started to understand how state institutions, educational framework and the media played a role in building a simple “vs in these” mentality.
This contradiction was particularly tough when I reviewed Article 22 (1) of the Constitution, promising that “no person who participates in an educational institution will need to get religious education, participate in religious ceremonies, or participate in religious worship other than himself.” My own schooling did not reflect this promise. We all studied with a single curriculum, often messages – both subtle and overtime – exclude and in addition.
These views returned with a new rise in the recent rise in tensions between India and Pakistan, which are active because of India’s ‘reaction’ to the Phalgam attack in Kashmir. Since the jungle statements took over Indian media channels and the screams of war echoed in their public conversation, I was shocked to reflect. Once a secular India I quoted in my political science lectures with respect now it felt like in the past. The most disappointing thing was that there was a change of well -known journalists, celebrities and well -received experts who were bleeding. People who spoke about colonialism in India closed their eyes on the whole conversation.
Pakistan’s education system has also changed – and is not always good. In 2020, a single national curriculum (SNC) was introduced under the promise of standardizing education and providing equal opportunities to all children, under the Pakistan Tehreek-Insaf government. Along with lifetime learning opportunities for all, a step towards meeting sustainable development purpose 4 on comprehensive and equal quality education was developed as a step. Initially, some people praised the move towards educational equality, SNC rapidly criticized after implementation.
We should make our children critical thinking, compassion and historical significance.
The Center for Social Justice Pakistan conducted a two-year review of the SNC-which was named in 2023 under the new government under the new government. Studies, what we are teaching at school. The content of school textbooks published by the Federal and Provincial Text Book Board in Pakistan was recently published and launched at the Sanjh Literary Fair 2025. These results were very disturbing. The textbooks also feature religious content in essential subjects such as Urdu and General Knowledge. This clearly keeps religious minorities in a difficult situation, especially when it comes to the examination of the content in the exam. The photography of minorities, women and disabled people is either a toter or reactionary. There is also the glorification of war and there is a hesitation and election image of history.
As someone who participated in this research, I could not overlook how little I had changed from my own school days. Despite constitutional promises to diversity and religious freedom, our classrooms still reflect big ideas. Although the most obvious forms of hate speech may decrease, gender -based exclusion, glorification of militancy and the renovation of religious centrality remain. These lessons, early and frequent reinforces, create global ideas of our future citizens.
Its risks are also very real. The current pace of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi’s Hindutva offers a mirror. Religious confrontation I once caught it in my childhood – according to Indian identity with Hindu religion – now being re -presented to the entire border. Politics of important politics and belief is turning nations into the echo of nationalism and religious superiority and education system. The media has played an inadequate role.
However, what I hope is, how Pakistanis responded to the modern point of India in India. Unlike the veterinols appearing in the Indian media, the Pakistani reaction was largely stopped. Using the ban on celebrities from the state to celebrities from the state to promoting peace and youth -driven memes, advocating hateful humor, a clear change in the tone. After decades of war, perhaps we now understand that the war is not romantic. This moment of unity, though short and ridiculous, was telling.
Our internal dissolution remains. In Pakistan, religious minorities are marginalized, often denying equal identity and respect. This treatment raises difficult questions, many of which are not ready to take answers. Not only this but as a gynecologist, it was annoying to see how women were used as a device on both sides of the border to prove the power of every nation. This is proof of rape -based ‘laughter jokes’, the use of excessive emotional symbols in disrupting each other’s women’s celebrities and calling military operations.
This rating that is born of gender, religion and nationality based on our other behavior should be eliminated. Includes begin not by state ceremonies but in classrooms and communities. If we have to truly honor our diverse national fabric, we must celebrate all the people who contribute to the development of Pakistan. Compared to “us”, “their” binarys should be broken not only politically but also emotionally and socially.
International media praised Pakistan’s prevention during the conflict. This moment should not only be reduced by diplomatic success. We must use this opportunity to reflect the inward. Deep questions beyond the clap: What are we teaching our children? What kind of nation are we preparing to inherit them? If we look for a peaceful, positive future, it should start with what we have in our textbooks. We should make our children critical thinking, compassion and historical significance. No child should ever feel like a second -class citizen in his own country. No student should be bigger to believe that identity is single or that belief determines loyalty.
Pride should be angry with self -realization. And if we want a Pakistan that flourishes in peace and equality, then our classrooms should start self -identity.
Farya Khan is a lecturer and human rights researcher in Lum. His research interests are at the intersection of education, gender and South Asian minorities.
