I
get this idea from a news story published in
Daily Mail
read
details.
Why should we also not employ jailed criminals
to clean the roads and other hard labour instead
of hauling them up in a compound and feeding
them. Many people who have seen the jail life in
Pakistan say it is rather comfortable for a
criminal and they wouldn't mind going
back.there. If Jailed criminals are made to do
hard labour in Public service it would have two
benefits, firstly social service free of cost
would be provided and secondly it would be a
deterrent for habitual criminals to like the
jail.-- Submitted by Amjad Ali, Chitral
(04 Dec 10)
Replace Urdu with Arabic
-4
With reference to the views
of respectable writers on the subject, I thank
them for the generation of a fruitful discourse
on a very important but hitherto ignored issue.
The writers have very aptly suggested to
introduce Arabic as a national language in view
of its religious, social, cultural, political
and economical benefits for the nation.
Introduction of Arabic in our curriculum will
renovate and reform our deteriorated society on
true Islamic lines because the root cause of the
degeneration of our individual paradigms and
social values is our ignorance of the teachings
of the Holy Quran. We have inherited Islam as a
religion from our forefathers and are Muslims
just by nomenclature and follow the conventions
and traditions of our ancestors by default
without any labor on our part to get an insight
of what we practice and what we should as
Muslims.
The Quran is the word of Allah revealed very
plainly in the Arabic language by our creator
for the guidance and salvation of entire
humanity in this world and the hereafter but the
pity is that we utter the verses of the holy
Quran in rituals without comprehending the
message of the creator as if we are articulating
some unintelligible magical spells while the
verses of the Quran reiterate again and again
the importance of learning the divine guidance
so that the universal principles of eternal
success can be practiced in letter and spirit.
Islam is a complete code of life and the do's
and don'ts are crystal clear in the verses of
the Holy Quran.
'And we have made the message of Quran very
easy, is there anyone to learn' sura Alqamer.
Unfortunately our diverse educational systems
have separated education in terms of religious
and secular against the very spirit of the Holy
Quran. Religious seminaries with their centuries
old syllabus, consider modern scientific
education as a forbidden fruit and their
graduates with inadequate knowledge and
obscurantist views try to mould the society
accordingly. These so-called scholars try to
inculcate the idea in the minds of the public
that the Holy Quran cannot be learnt without
entering a madrassa ,while we, the graduates of
colleges either give a fig to the teachings of
the Holy Quran by leading a careless and
irresponsible life or become a victim of the
priesthood propagated through madrassas. These
diverse and extreme views shake and destabilize
our societal edifice. therefore introduction of
Arabic in our curriculum from grade one up to
secondary level as a compulsory subject will
enable us to understand the message of our
creator. This will be helpful in the creation of
true Islamic society based on the universal
principles of the Holy Quran apart from
enhancing our social, political and economic
status. --Submitted by Saidul Abrar,
Moghlandeh Chitral. (03 Oct 09)
Replace Urdu with Arabic
-3
This is with reference to
the letters written by Editor CN Fardad Ali Shah
and renowned economist Dr Tariqullah Khan,
suggesting replacement of Urdu with Arabic as
the national language for Pakistan.
I fully endorse the valuable ideas of both the
writers. It was even the dream and wish of the
founder of All India Muslim league HH Sir Sultan
Muhammad Shah The Aga Khan-111, to have Arabic
as national language for the proposed and much
struggled newly born country. Later on due to
unknown reasons Urdu was declared as national
language. By saying this I do not mean to oppose
anyone who thought or is still thinking that
Urdu should be the national language. I have
great respect for all those who struggled hard
for creation of an independent state for the
Muslim majority people of Sub-continent and all
those who presently still thinking Urdu to be Ok
as the national language.
There is a big difference between 'it is OK' and
'it is better'. Look at it this way-In addition
to our religious rites and rituals we have to go
to Saudi Arabia every now and then. For our oil
requirements, for other financial help, looking
for labour employment, for conciliation,
arbitration and particularly for settlement of
political disputes we have to rush to Saudi
Arabia where we need to speak Arabic. For
political meetings we fly to Dubai where we need
to speak Arabic. Similar is the position with
other Arab countries.
Talking of the diminished
relevance of Urdu we see that in order to meet
our additional needs of oil and gas we have to
look towards our brother and neighbor country
Iran and Central Asian countries and to
Afghanistan, where we need to speak Persian. For
our strategic, financial needs and loans we have
to run to China where we need to speak Chinese
-even in Pakistan in different provinces we have
to speak different languages. My question is
that when and where do we benefit from our
present national language Urdu?
We should accept the ground realities and do
that which is better for us. In my view, not
only Arabic, even if Persian or Chinese too had
been our national language; it would have given
us great advantage as both these languages
possess big and deep history, culture, and
development in them in terms of knowledge in
science and technology.
1400 (Fourteen hundred) years ago when there
were no means of transport and communications
our Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) asked us to
go to (even) China in search of knowledge. Now
as the whole world has become a global village
we should make choice of that which is better
for us without any hang ups or making anything a
matter of false honour and prestige. --Submitted
by Zahir Uddin, Canada (01 Oct 09.)
Replace Urdu with Arabic
-2
'Replace Urdu with Arabic'
is a great idea of immense national
significance. The Editor CN has highlighted its
irrefutable religious, civilizational and social
importance. The benefits of the idea are of
similar high magnitude in terms of its economic
and financial implications. There is a huge
market for the Pakistani human capital in the
GCC region. However, a very large size of this
market is lost due to the linguistic barriers
confronting us in accessing the most competitive
fields such as health, education and the
financial services industry. With Arabic as
national language Pakistan could also have been
entitled to the membership of the economic and
monetary groupings in the region.
Due to the great religious and economic
significance of Arabic for our nation, despite
opting for Urdu as a national language, Pakistan
could still have invested in improving our
national literacy in the Arabic language.
Unfortunately, it was not done and immense
opportunities of national importance have been
lost by not giving Arabic its due importance in
our public policies.
However, for nations, 62 years are just the
beginning of a history. Looking ahead, the ideal
would be to amendment the constitution and adopt
Arabic as the second national language. Indeed,
our GCC and Arab well-wishers are expected to
offer financial and technical support to achieve
certain level of targeted national literacy in
the Arabic language over the medium term. In the
long-term, along with promoting its
socio-religious and civilizational objectives,
the policy of adopting Arabic as a second
national language will be highly instrumental in
accessing the GCC markets by the Pakistani
manpower.
I understand that the National Assembly has
established a constitutional reforms committee.
I would therefore, suggest that, as a follow-up
on his excellent idea, the Editor CN shall
submit the proposal to the constitutional
committee for their considerations. --Submitted
by Tariqullah Khan (27 sep 09)
Replace Urdu with Arabic
We as Muslims
pray five times a day in Arabic, recite the
Holy Quran, celebrate our births, weddings
and all important occasions even observe
death rites in the Arabic language, but
unfortunately 99 percent of us do not
understand the head or tail of Arabic. We
recite the Quranic verses in prayers by rote
without understanding their meanings. I
can't comprehend as to why do we choose to
perpetually continue with this fatal
deficiency.
Wouldn't it
be prudent to replace Urdu with Arabic as
our national language.
Urdu has no significance any way you look at
it, where as Arabic is inevitable for us
Muslims whether we like it or not. So why
not embrace it wholly and start
understanding what we say in our prayers at
least. We can start a ten year aggressive
program of converting to Arabic by making it
compulsory from class 1 right away besides
comprehensive Arabic literacy courses for
adults, so that after ten years we can
smoothly implement it as a replacement for
Urdu. Also read
http://www.chitralnews.com/Editorial 5.htm
--Submitted by Fardad Ali Shah,
Chitral (25 Sep 09)
Our Top rulers should be bachelors
I
wish to share
an idea with your readers -something which
lurks in my
mind. If we want to check
corruption in this country I think we should
have bachelors on the top echelons of our
Govt eg president, prime minister, governors
ministers etc. The reason is, I feel most of
the corruption is done to meet the monetary
demands of the wife, children or wife's
relatives. A bachelor person would be free
of these encumbrances and will not need to
be be greedy or corrupt, as his requirements
would be limited. --Submitted by
Sultan-e-Room, Booni. (31 July 09)
Research needed to solve world crises
With the passage of
time, the standard of every thing slowly but
steadily is eroding; from human values,
human needs,
human relations and education etc,
all things even love is becoming artificial
and commercial. I think this is the most
important challenge to the man from
Australia to
Japan and USA to Africa. Fear and
favour is taking its toll on every one all
over the world and nobody knows what is the
end result of this. I think a thorough
research should be conducted to resolve this
world crisis on priority basis.
--Submitted Atta Ur Rehman Atta, (12 July
09).
Proposed new Office timings
I have a suggestion to
amend the present office timings in the country.
I suggest office timings in all government
departments should be from one hour after fajr
Azan (dawn prayer call) upto the Zohar Azan
(noon prayer call)-about 8 hours duration.
Advantages of the changed timings, as I
perceive, are as follows.
1 - Waking for morning
prayers is a basic requirement for a Muslim and
most would say their prayers too when made to
wake up compulsorily at that time (like we
experience in Ramzan).
2 - Morning time is when
human faculties are in their most efficient and
creative mode. This can be used for productive
work instead of sleeping.
3 -At present the afternoon
prayers allowance during working hours is
grossly misused with officials leaving their
seats hours before on the pretext of preparing
for prayers. According to the new timings,
afternoon prayers time would be after office
hours, so there will be no excuse to steal
office working time.
4 -Enough daylight time
would be available to the govt employees to
attend to their personal matters after working
hours.
5 -It will inculcate a
healthy habit in us and we will not feel much
difference while waking up for fasting in
Ramazan.
6 -Even non Muslims in
Pakistan would appreciate these timings, as all
agree with the time old adage of 'early to bed
and early to rise, makes a man healthy wealthy
and wise. --Submitted
by Fardad Ali Shah, Chitral.
Proposal for prioritization in the Islamic
teachings recommended curriculum
We have made the Quran easy to remember: but
will any take heed?
( Sura: Al-Qamar) -Al Quran:
I have neither the qualities of religious
scholars nor hold any command on Islamic
knowledge like a Maulana, even I am not from
such high caliber English writers who express
events clearly, concisely and effectively up to
the standard of readers. Any how, as a social
analyst, attempt has been made through this
article to open a discussion theme regarding
improvement in the complicated curriculum of
Islamic Teachings recommended for private
Education Institutions as Pakistan level
confronted common issue. For example in Class
3rd theology course student have been taught
about Islamic battles it\s causes and results,
before educating him how to recite the Holy
Quran and the basic Islamic doctrines necessary
for every Muslims to avail nearness to his
creator. I am not opposing of awareness about
Islamic battles but only proposing
prioritization of the Islamic teachings in
accordance with the conscious level of the young
students in their studies. I think up to primary
level students must be taught the Holy Quran as
full time course to acquaint the young
generation in reciting and translating the Holy
Quran and other basic Islamic doctrines believed
necessary for building his strong belief upon
God. I fully endorse the honourable Pakistan
Text Books Board recommended course for higher
secondary level theology subject which is more
relevant and beneficial for students to get
general awareness about the Islamic civilization
and important social events of the prophet,
Muhammad (Peace be upon him) era.
It is clearly understood that Islam is a
spiritual religion incorporated in the Holy book
have been sent upon our Holy Prophet Muhammad
(Peace be upon him) through revelation in parts
ober a period of 23 years. Apart from the many
reasons one striking aspect behind the divine
revelation of the Holy Quranic verses in slow
pace upon our Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be
upon him) was to explain the basic Islamic
teachings thoroughly and clearly through open
education available for every human beings
without differentiation. Learning of the Holy
book and its basic teachings have been declared
obligatory to every Muslim being and adopt one’s
life in accordance with the teachings of Islam
is a means of salvation on the Day of Judgment.
God the creator of the universe has proclaimed
in the above quoted Quranic verse “The Holy
Quran has reveled upon you people, is simple and
understandable for every human being who wish to
learn the heavenly book and think over to adopt
it in his social life”.
Islamic Educationist through presentation of
Quranic teachings in the shape of advance
courses might be thinking to compete with fast
moving complicated scientific achievements.
Definitely Science has also been derived from
the Holy Quran, but science is in the endeavor
of captivation of universe that is why changes
occurring in the atomic and social sciences
syllabus from time to time. Such changes in the
Islamic Education Courses at least primary level
seem irrelevant and ridiculous may leads towards
ignorance of our mostly young generation from
the Quranic perception and the basic Islamic
Creeds deem necessary in the character building
of our future Scientists, Doctors, Engineers,
Educationist, Politicians and Social Workers so
and so, for the salvation of his inner soul. In
my opinion failure in the representation of the
true picture of Islam in the social life has
widened the gap between various stake holders,
has given birth to many fold Islamic Education
Systems encouraged religious rivalry and has
infused extremism in the society.
In addition to above discussed qualitative
benefits, introduction of the proposed basic
Quranic Teachings, with due recommendation of
Islamic Scholars in each Govt: and Non-govt:
educational institutions will create more
theology teachers vacancies to accommodate
unemployed graduates of the Islamic Madaris.
Provision of employment opportunities for the
presently deprived groups of our society will be
considered as quantitative benefit will further
play bridging role between the long separated
Islamic Organizations/Scholars to sit together
and to chalk out a joint strategy to develop a
solo Islamic system for interpretation of
Islamic Laws in solving the confronting National
level social life religious issues will pave way
to diminish extremism and release tension from
the society. --Submitted
by Asadullah Khan,,Kouzh Mastuj, Chitral.
Teaching Islamic management sciences in Madaris
I am not an Islamic
scholar, just a simple Muslim with little
knowledge and poor English .
First of all I respect my friend's idea to
introduce commercial education in the Deeni
madrasas either in global or local prospects but
I am sorry for not totally agreeing with this
idea due to following simple reasons:
1. The love of money is the root of all evil.
2. As a Muslim I need both physical and
spiritual education for my life. Now I am
living, tomorrow I may die. I love this world
partially.
3. Pakistan is an ideological state and the
Deeni madrasas have the greatest role in order
to protect our ideological assets, since times.
4. In Pakistan as all over the world, each
Muslim cast has a moral and legal rights to live
according to the Islamic principals narrated by
Quran and Sunna .
5. My life has many requirements such as
physical existence, needs and wishes spiritual
reformation and legal protection, so I cannot
deny any one on of these.
6. If some is of the opinion on the basis of the
theory of cause and effect that there is any
thread from the Deeni madrasas to others, it may
be someone's psychological complexity if I or
you are doing bad or persuaded for doing bad in
our family it need not necessary mean that all
our family members can be blamed for that.
7. You know in Pakistan even in Europe, the
unemployment rate is increasing day by day.
Highly educated persons with the highest
academic degrees are wondering about jobless due
to well known global crisis.
8. You know that Islam is the only religion
which does not accept global trends on the basis
of uncontrolled human wishes and aspirations.
Islam is the religion of peace, ego and welfare
for all humankind guaranteed by almighty Allah.
By virtue of Islam we entered from cave life to
modern civilized world, other wise it is said
that the history repeats itself. Briefly Deeni
madrasas in any form are the basic foundations
for human values and the best reformative
institutions for all mankind. So as a Muslim, we
should be proud of them. God help all of us to
be true Muslims -Ameen --Submitted by Atta
ur Rehman Atta, Chitral.
Improvement of Education system
Pakistani Nation is going
through very difficult times in it's chequered
history. Pak army is at war with militant
Taliban in the north west of the country. It is
believed that there is existential threat to the
mother land. Unfortunately extremism is
perpetrated in the name of Islam. We must defeat
extremism through multi pronged strategy which
has damaged the image of Islam throughout the
world. Islam stands for peace and tolerance.
There is no room for extremism and bigotry.
We have to rebuild our society on sound basis
through sound education so that the dream of
prosperous, progressive and forward looking
Pakistan is realized. I think, sound education
is the best antidote to the evils inflicting
Pakistan.
New education policy for 2009 is available at
the website of ministry of education for
Pakistan. The particular policy vision
formulated by the ministry of education is
education is a categorical imperative for
individual, social and natural development .the
system should produce responsible enlightened
citizens to integrate Pakistan in the global
framework of humane centered economic
development. The implementation of education
policy is a huge task, and it is the area which
does not caters to the needs.
The implementation of the policy vision should
start right from the class room from where the
future generation of the nation is trained and
taught citizen ship. it should be non
discriminative and democratic. Students should
be treated as an individual and not as group of
persons. Individuality of everyone should be
appreciated and progress should be built on the
strengths of the students and weaker areas
should be dealt with affection, tolerance and
positive reinforcement, student will carry these
qualities to practical life .the basic objective
of education should be lifting of fear from
student's mind so that creativity is not
crushed. Aristotle says 'knowledge is virtue'
through sound education and learning individual
imbibes virtue and gets opportunity to re
engineer himself/herself which has become a pre
requisite for survival in the global village.
All of us should contribute something for the
better future of Pakistan. An American president
told his peoples at his inauguration ceremony
'ask not what your country can do for you, ask
what you can do for your country'. For every
Pakistani there is precious little choice left.
-Submitted by
Fida Karim Shoghore, Chitral
Improved education opportunities for all
I strongly feel that
education opportunities should be available
equally to all the children and youth of the
country. For that I have two proposals. Firstly,
like proposed earlier by another writer, the
syllabus and books should be same in all
educational institutions (both government and
private) upto the secondary level. If that is
not possible, then alternately I suggest,
privatise all government schools as they are a
burden on the government exchequer and also
responsible for falling educational standards.
In this way at least the
government school buildings would be better
utilized and also the standard of education
would improve due to competition in the private
schools visibly absent in government schools.
--Submitted by Muhammad
Ajmal Khan Advocate, Chitral
Root cause of our problems
Currently, Pakistan is at the cross-road of its
history. Beset with numerous crises of huge
proportions the country seems to be bogged down
in a quagmire. The leadership is on a catch-22
position as to how steer out of this troublesome
situation triumphantly. Every possible effort is
put in to put the house in order but to no
avail. The question arises that what are those
factors that have brought us to this sorry pass.
Obviously those at the helm of affairs are not
that much serious about the root cause of the
problems and seek a durable solution beneficial
for the entire nation in the long run.
Unless and until the root cause of the current
situation in our country is not identified for
good the problem can not be solved with mere
lip-services of the powers that be. So far as my
knowledge goes there are core problems in
Pakistan at this point that are threatening the
social, political and economic fabric of the
country.
This is no overstatement that corruption has
plagued it beyond repair. The institutions are
infested with corrupt officials in most cases;
and the accountability system to bring to book
the culprits has met a failure in the known
history of Pakistan due to lack of transparency.
The bad effect of corruption in Pakistan has
affected all departments of the government but
the irreversible damage to education system is
conspicuous. The mal practices in the education
system that we see in the present times need to
be paid much heed to so that the entire nation
can be properly educated to fight this menace on
their own.
The judicial system till recent times has
remained almost dysfunctional legitimizing the
extra constitutional actions the military
dictators. This in turn has provided the
military dictators to unleash victimization in
order to perpetuate their illegal rule. Many a
corrupt functionaries in the government
machinery sought protection under their umbrella
while a number of them were subjected to
political victimization for their bold
resistance to the military rule. We hope that
the re instated Chief Justice take up the
assignment with a renewed vigor to purge this
important institution of corruption.
The distribution of wealth is totally unfair in
the country.. The deserved are not given their
due share leading ultimately to social
injustice. Capitalistic mind-set should be done
away with by introducing the Islamic system of
equity and fair play. This is very important
given the rising wave of militancy in the
country. The viable solution lies in the the
prevalence of social and economic justice to
defeat the menace. Unfortunately, short term
strategies are preferred to long term strategies
fetching us little success in overcoming the
crises. No one care about individual
responsibility to contribute in the progress and
prosperity of the country.
This is high time that our leadership rose to
the occasion and addressed the root cause of the
problems that Pakistan confronts at present
keeping long term strategies in mind.
--Submitted by Khalid Pervaiz, Booni
Chitral.
A
much needed Change
Since independence 1947,
Pakistan has been made a laboratory of politics
where the general public has been subjugate
under each phase of time. The vision that the
great leaders had for Pakistan was never
visualized on ground by the political leadership
of our country. Keeping aside the Islamic mode
of governance and being reluctant to the Islamic
injunctions they have proved to be good students
of Micavillen Politics. Yet another western
philosopher says man is by nature very selfish.
This has been witnessed throughout the course of
history/
The unstable nature of politics is not a new
phenomenon for example, Italy sees changes in
the political leadership very often but what
remains constant is the system of governance
which leads to continuity of good policies. But
in our case the whole country is burnt for to
please a single politician.
Examples not necessary!
Here in Pakistan the values change once a
certain political party exits and the other
makes entry. The democratic traditions have not
been given a chance to nourish, as we all hear
and read but the question is 'Whether that
guarantees good governance?' to be honest to
ourselves it doesn't. Once you make goals based
present policies (the incremental approach) it
saves the precious time and money and labor.
Unfortunately we our elected leadership had
never acted on our behalf.
Even if some MNAs from the
common folk make their way to NA, where policies
are made for the country, they don't have a say
in the process of policy making. The biggest
trauma with our country is perhaps the National
Assembly is a house full of feudal lords. When
the elites act on behalf of the common man they
do not come down the problems of general public
rather they have something else in their minds,
to perpetuate their aim they make policies
apparently for the benefit of the people but in
the long run they don't even give a damn to the
issues of the poor public. Let's take one
example, since ages it has been the demand of
the people that there should be a uniform
standard of education for all. Rarely it has
been discussed by the policy makers but it has
never been to their interest that's why they
never come up with concrete measures regarding
thereof.
Now if the country is outsourced (Ministers, CM,
PM, the president etc.) then the notion of
democracy fades away. It would be a new social
contract keeping the older aside where the
masses expressed their opinion through polls to
elect their leaders. But here in Pakistan
leaders are born (in the same families
astonishingly) never made. The masses super
impose their so-called cherished leaders and
they don't look for a change. We need to
exorcize out the apathetic and literally
illiterate politician if we want to be in the
race of prosperous nations. Mr, Fardad Ali
Shah's 'Suggestion for a system of governance in
Pakistan' shows a paradigm shift in the make up
of governments and political institutions.
Though models like
polycracy have evolved in countries like the
United States but it seems to be a futile
exercise as well. The essence of good governance
lies in the notion that the masses should
benefit as they are the real stakeholder of all
the policies being made. But democracy has
remained a lucrative business for a few interest
groups in the society and ignoring the majority.
For any system of governance tailored to the
needs of the nation it is indispensable must
that there is a public realization. Until and
unless the public does not heed to the problems
and issues related to the system of governance
in rule nothing handy could evolve.
The genesis of a good
system of governance is the realization by the
masses and a foreseeing acumen that would make
clear the pros and cons of a particular group in
rule or system in use. On the contrary our
nation has remained blind wittingly with a bias
of political loyalties. This die hard approach
has created political elite which does not even
practice democracy within their own party. The
concept of vote banks for particular candidates
makes the democracy good for nothing.
Keeping in view the track records of political
systems tried out in Pakistan one can easily see
what are the forces that have been severe
impediment in the way of good governance. Flush
out the feudal lords from politics and the
country is sorted!! --Submitted
by Syed Gohar Ali Shah, Islamabad.
A
Proposed Strategy to Teach
Islamic Management Sciences in the
Madaris for Enhancing their Positive Role in the
Society
The Islamic ideological state of Pakistan is at
an escalating war with the militia segment of
Madaris students -the Taliban. In this CN "Idea"
we recognize the complex historical and
geo-political causes of the rise of the warring
Taliban and the conflict that our nation faces
as a consequence. However, the focus of our CN
Idea will be on a single and simple point, that
in our view, can be the basis of integrating the
Madaris and their students into the mainstream
Pakistani society in a much positive and
productive manner.
In the first place we acknowledge that Madaris
are providing educational services to about 6
million poorest of the poor children of our own
nation. India, Bangladesh and Indonesia are some
of the other countries where Madaris also play a
similarly significant role in their respective
societies. In Pakistan, like the other countries
cited, Madaris are financed by (the over Rs. 96
billion) charities, awqaf and zakat contributed
by the public annually. Hence Madaris are not a
source of burden on our public resources. It is
therefore, highly appreciable that Madaris are
offering educational services to the poorest of
the poor without burdening the government
resources.
However, there is an extremely serious problem
with the curriculum of Madaris in that it is
entirely ancient in content and inspiration.
Hence the Madaris do not prepare their graduates
to participate in the development process, to
contribute to it and to benefit from it.
Therefore, the strategists of the Afghan-Soviets
war and other mini Jihads were and are able to
create a strong employment-market for the Jihadi
services of the warring Madaris students.
Thus reforming the curriculum of Madaris has
been the center of proposals for enhancing the
positive role of Madaris in our societies (for
the large intellectual and policy work done all
over the world on this subject, see, this Google
search result: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=madaris+reform&btnG=Search).
However, all the suggestions of reform are
vehemently rejected by the Management of Madaris
on the pretext that these proposals are
conscious attempts of "secularization" and
Western indoctrination.
To address this dilemma, our CN Idea is an
analogy on the Malakand "Nizam Adl Legislation".
Pakistan, as an Islamic state cannot say "no" to
Islamic legislation, The law must however, be
interpreted and implemented by the state and its
institutions and
and this cannot
be left to groups of people..
Therefore, we suggest that the federal
government shall force the Madaris to introduce
the following courses in their curriculum at
various stages:
Islamic Accounting and Auditing Standards
Islamic Financial Management
Islamic Banking
Shariah Supervision of Businesses
Strategic Management of Awqaf and Zakat
Organizations
Islamic Economics
Islamic Capital Markets and Asset Management
Numerous other related courses.
Introduction of these and related courses will
develop professional competencies of the Madaris
graduate in the modern management sciences. On
the other hand, the booming global Shariah-based
businesses will beneficially employ the new
breed of the professional as opposed to the
warring Taliban.
We expect that many Madaris will not object to
such a home grown strategy of curriculum reform.
In case of non-acceptance by some Madaris, the
state institutions will have higher moral
grounds and public support to enforce the reform
like that of the enforcement of the Malakand "Nizam
Adl Legislation".
We understand that this CN Idea has the
potential of bringing a far reaching positive
change in the Madaris educational system and
hence in promoting an inclusive economic
development. Through CN we urge the provincial
and federal governments to consider the proposed
strategy seriously. It can be expected that
advisory and technical assistance from relevant
international organizations and Islamic banks
will be readily available for capacity building
and strategy implementation.
--Submitted by A Chitrali.
Suggestion for a new system of governance in
Pakistan
Systems of government in
practice do not come from heaven; they are man
made and thus always are subject to modification
and alteration according to the requirements of
the time.
As democracy and
dictatorship have both been alternately tested
in Pakistan time and again without positive
results, a new system of governance is what is
needed to be tried out.
According to the new system
politics should be put aside for some time and
Government appointments including President,
Prime minister, Governors, Ministers , etc
should be appointed on merit. Now the key
question is who will decide the merit. The
answer is: Let the machine do it as it will be
fair and square!
According to my proposal,
advertisements should be floated for the posts
of president, prime-minister, governors
ministers, etc and any Pakistani who meets the
basic laid down qualifications in the
constitution should be eligible to to apply for
it.
Tests, formulated by world
experts, supervised by the UN, should be
conducted on the internet. The tests should be
exhaustive and include every requirement for the
job. It should also include psychological tests
to check the elements of human values ie
honesty, integrity, dedication etc.
The results of these tests
will give us the most suitable persons for the
job. Why is bureaucracy in our country always
getting the better of politicians is because the
former is a product of some kind of a process
(though far from being ideal) of selection on
merit.
Politicians making the government in the present
system do not have to be capable. What we have
experienced thus far is that they are either
incapable or are too much entangled in the
trivial and (mostly personal) demands of their
'supporters' and henchmen, to take Collective,
bold, independent and healthy decisions in the
interest of the country or their respective
constituency. This is the root cause of our
problems and has never been paid attention to.
Capable people selected on merit after thorough
grilling through elaborate tests would do
wonders to the country which is not poor in
resources, but has been grossly mismanaged all
the time. --Submitted
by Fardad Ali Shah, Chitral.
Standard syllabus in educational Institutions
I suggest that syllabus and
text books of all the schools in the country
should be the same. The syllabus should be
carefully prepared by experts, keeping a balance
and should be equally applicable at my village
school as at the Aitcheson College. Similarly
exams should be held simultaneously in the whole
country and the question papers should be the
same. The high standard of a school would then
be judged by the performance of its students
instead of high fees and foreign textbooks etc.
This will bring harmony and social equality in
the society and genuine merit would be
identifiable easily.
--Submitted by Faridul Haq, Chitral.