The Shariat Bill and Its Impact on Education and Women, in Against All Odds: Essays on Women, Religion and Development from India and Pakistan.

Saigol. R.
Bhasin K. and Menon R. (for India) and Khan N. S. (for Pakistan). Published by Kali for Women and Isis New Delhi, p.p.82-94, 1994 (International)

The paper presents a detailed historical background to the Islamisation process in Pakistan focusing primarily of Zia ul Haq's use of fundamentalist Islam to legitimize his illegal rule. Women, minorities and other powerless groups were his target and he successfully managed to lower the status of women during his regime. The paper then analyses the Sami Latif bill of 1990, which advocated implementation of shariat in Pakistan. This bill targeted four major areas including education, mass media judicial system and economy which clearly show a desire to monopolize the legal and ideological apparatus of the state. Even though the focus of the paper remains on education it analyses the watered down version of this bill finally put in place by Nawaz Sharif's first regime and its impact on the judiciary. The author points out that the religious right is fully cognizant of the fact that the two major arenas to control ideology are the media and education, therefore they targeted these strongly and systematically. She further adds, that during the Zia regime all modern, scientific and liberal ideas were removed from the curriculum in favor of glorification of the Islam and military. Since all political movements was banned and the liberal parties were barely able to survive under the martial law, the only arena left for political activity was that of education institutions, which was utilized by the right wing to the maximum. The author then takes up the specific clauses of the shariat bill of 1991 and analyses their impact on women. Starting with the content of the curricula the implication of the bill shall be that all curricula shall be ideological leaving no room for questioning or argument. In higher classes the religious content increases by one third and the military-nationalistic content doubles in Urdu, Islamiat and the Pakistan Studies curriculum. The second area of indoctrination of Islam is science, where students are not allowed to question thus the system is generating robots. The third sphere according to the author is the already crippled democracy, where the present oligarchy using British methodology is teaching their own children western concepts and leaving this education for the poor. The state is thereby ensuring its stability and power by providing the children of the lower class government education, teaching them the Islamic values of 'subordination, obedience, submissiveness, and docility'. According to the author this is the reason why there is no longer an emphasis on teaching any subjects that create awareness of social inequality and oppression. Building on this argument the author analyses the impact on women. The segregation of education on gender lines shall also serve to subordinate women further, according to the author the values of docility and obedience shall be indoctrinated in them. Furthermore the notions of Islamic morality shall be used to justify their subordination. In conclusion the author raises the question of who shall be the interpreter of Islam and is apprehensive that this will go into the hands of the religious right.

Key Words: Islam, Education, Shariat Bill.