The most common complaint I receive from people about CHUP is the definite lack of “light” and “happy” coverage of Pakistan. For that I apologize, and, thanks to a friend who passed this story onto me, managed to discover a silver lining to the events clouding our country this week. BBC News today reported on the “Inter Islamabad Madrassa cricket tournament.” The news agency noted, “Less than a year back, [religious] students like these were seen on Islamabad’s streets, armed with batons and guns, fighting security forces.” However, the “winds of change” following the February 2008 elections seems to have altered their attitudes as well. “Batons,” noted the BBC, have subsequently been replaced by “bats and balls,” as seminaries attempt to salvage their “badly-dented” reputation by holding this cricket tournament, the first of its kind.
The matches are being played with tennis balls and track suits instead of the traditional Pakistani shalwar-kameez, but they are not without controversy. According to the BBC, “One of several boards running the affairs of Pakistan’s seminaries opposed the tournament, calling it ‘un-Islamic.’” As a result, four teams pulled out of the cricket tournament. Some of the Red Mosque (also known as Lal Masjid) students told the BBC they attended the tournament against the wishes of their teachers. But one student asserted, “It gives us the opportunity to show to the world that we can perform in sports too, like our studies…We want to prove we’re not terrorists.” [Image courtesy of the BBC]
I am convinced that religious school reform (and not abolition) is the key to changing perceptions of religion amongst the lower economic classes of Pakistan.
This is a step in the right direction in bringing the madrassas back in to the centerfold of the ministry of education–instead of being at the flanks and doing their own thing. I think the next step should be joint school tournaments– between secular and religious schools to make both sides more aware of the issues of the other (similar to the combined Israeli-Palestinian pee-wee bball leagues).
I have always been an advocate for school reform and concentrating on strengthening the educational infrastructure in Pakistan’s schooling system. This is a great example. Education is not only academics, but also social awareness and tolerance. Great article and look forward to reading more like it. Maybe you can interview a teacher from a madrassa or someone active in education reform in Pakistan.