And yet, in today’s Pakistan, Hindus and Christians grow up learning that their names can decide their place, or their exclusion. From the first day in school to the highest tiers of education, from local businesses to government jobs, the unspoken rule is clear: silence is safety, and speaking up is a risk.
The day a non-Muslim student sits down in a Pakistani classroom, they’re already swimming against the tide. The curriculum isn’t neutral. Textbooks celebrate “Somnath ki Fatah,” repeat lines like:
“Because the Muslim religion, culture and social system are different from non-Muslims, it is impossible to cooperate with Hindus” (Punjab Textbook Board, Grade 10 Urdu, p. 23)
Sentences like these not only manipulate history but influence developing minds.
As the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF, 2020) notes, these books portray Christians as Western sympathizers and Hindus as outsiders—locked outside Pakistan’s national identity.
A pioneering analysis of 145 textbooks by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) found hateful content in:
- Pakistan Studies – 15%
- History – 4%
- Minority places of worship appear only 7 times across grades 1–10
- Mosques dominate imagery at 66%
In Balochistan, students requesting to study Ethics instead of Islamiat often face barriers. There is often:
- No local Ethics curriculum
- No teachers
- No books
- No classroom time allocated
Dawn (2014) and The Express Tribune (2016) highlighted how Ethics often exists only on paper. Even when Sindh Textbook Board introduced Ethics in 2016, experts called it a symbolic move rather than real reform.
The inequity also appears in higher education. Until 2021, in the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT), Hafiz-e-Quran candidates received an additional 20 marks as recognition of memorization of the Quran. However, there was no equivalent recognition for Hindu, Christian, or Sikh students who memorized their own religious texts.
In April 2023, Pakistan Medical and Dental Council confirmed that this policy was abolished, moving toward equal evaluation.
However, inequality does not end after graduation. The National Commission for Human Rights (2024) reported systemic bias where non-Muslim candidates are:
- Underrepresented in skilled jobs
- Overlooked in public sector recruitment
- Often denied legal protection
Fear of false blasphemy accusations discourages minorities from leadership roles and professional visibility.
This is not just ignorance—it is a design. Minority children learn early that silence is safer than expression of identity.
The government has often avoided confronting these issues due to political and religious pressures, allowing the problem to deepen over time.
But change is possible. Solutions include:
- Rewriting textbooks to remove derogatory references
- Including contributions of Hindu, Christian, and Sikh communities
- Providing equal cultural representation
- Making Ethics a real educational alternative with trained teachers and curriculum support
- Publishing yearly discrimination data in higher education institutions
- Strengthening anti-discrimination employment laws
- Reforming blasphemy laws with legal safeguards
International organizations have also highlighted these issues. Reports show discrimination is not isolated but systemic.
USCIRF (2020): Textbooks still include derogatory references to religious minorities, portraying them as inferior citizens.
UCA News (2025): Religious minorities are largely absent from textbooks, while Islamic content dominates even non-religious subjects.
Balochistan Voices (2022): Minority students often must study Islamiat due to lack of Ethics resources.
Pakistan Today (2024): Some minority students face segregation in classrooms.
Express Tribune (2025): Mosques appear 66% of the time while other religious places are minimally represented.
NCHR (2024): Minority communities have limited access to quality education and equal employment opportunities.
Every time a child grows up believing Pakistan is only for one community, we take away their chance to dream freely.
Pakistan’s strength lies in its diversity. Teaching children to fear difference is teaching the nation to weaken itself.
