KARACHI, Apr 30: Hindu students in Pakistan’s Sindh province will be provided with religious books of their community in a bid to stop social intolerance against minorities in the country, an official said on Thursday.
The secretary of education in Sindh, Zahid Abbasi, confirmed that orders had been placed for the religious textbooks for Hindu students.
“These three Hindu religious textbooks will be available from the new academic session for classes three to five,” he said.
He said the initiative had been taken by the Sindh Education and Literacy Department and the books would be taught in government schools in the province.
A Hindu social welfare organisation, Prem Sagar Sanstha Karachi, is covering the costs of the books for the academic year.
The Executive Committee of the Sindh Curriculum Council on April 20 had approved the decision to distribute the Hindu religious books to Hindu students in government schools.
Zahid said that the main purpose of this action was to make students from religious minority groups feel inclusive and to promote more tolerance for religious and sectarian minorities in the country.
According to a study by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), it was found that there appeared to be a direct link between exclusionary narratives in textbooks and rising social intolerance against religious and sectarian minorities in the country.
In 2024/2025, the federal government’s National Curriculum Council (NCC) issued no-objection certificates (NOCs) for publishing religious books for students from seven minority groups enrolled in federally supervised educational institutions.
The NCC issued NOCs for publishing books on religions, including Hinduism, Sikhism, Christianity, Baha’i, Zoroastrianism, Kalasha and Buddhism, but until now these books have yet to be included properly for religious minority students in government schools in the country to replace Ethics or Islamic Studies courses. (PTI)
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