A ban on bans

Like medieval times we have come to a point where the overzealous among us would be quite happy burning books – or at least banning them. The Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board, which should ideally be encouraging the reading of books has ordered that 100 books currently being taught in private schools in Punjab be banned for teaching content that is deemed ‘anti-Pakistan’, immoral and containing blasphemous content'. These books have been published by 31 publishers including Oxford and Cambridge. The PCTB has also started a critical review of 10,000 books being taught at private schools across Pakistan to determine if they are acceptable.

In the meanwhile, the Punjab Assembly on Wednesday passed the Tahaffuz-e-Bunyad-e-Islam Bill 2020 which gives the Directorate General Public Relations (DGPR) powers to visit and inspect any printing press, publication house, book store and confiscate any book, before or after printing. The legislation covers in some detail the restrictions placed on publishing and the corresponding power to the DGPR.

In the first place, it is always unwise to start willy-nilly banning things, whether these are books, websites or movies – unless there is an obvious violation of laws such as those on hate speech. We must also remember that it is always beneficial for children and young people to obtain a variety of opinions on key topics, analyze them and form their own opinions. This should be the prime purpose of education. Teaching people how to think is a skill that will help them throughout life. So will learning about leaders of other nations. It would be a shame if we started banning books based on a narrow-minded vision of what education is or ought to be. What is written in books is always open to interpretation. A wide range of material is beneficial for learners of all age groups and taking too narrow a view on this will only stifle the purpose of developing the mind and helping children turn into adults able to form sensible opinion and thinking of their own. We also need to understand that what we are teaching our children is how they will eventually view the world. Do we want to teach them that the world is as limited as their own vision or do we want to teach them that there is diversity – of people, cultures, faiths and politics? Learning about the Other does not take away from a person; it only makes you stronger and more assured of yourself. But perhaps we need to teach that to our legislators and bureaucracy first.